If you’re looking to make your marketing strategy more effective, the solution might just be a classic—print marketing.
While digital marketing may be the primary focus for marketing teams today, print marketing still has a lot to offer, and can complement digital strategies well. So, an optimal combination of digital and print media could help you meet your marketing objectives faster and more efficiently.
Since print marketing is now being used much less today, it has the advantage of catching more attention when used strategically. Keep reading to learn why you should leverage print marketing to grow your business.
1. It’s effective when you require immediate action
When you want your audience to respond quickly to an event invitation or claim a special offer within a short timeframe, print marketing can complement your digital strategy.
When promoting events
Try using physical invites for your events. At a time when digital invites via email and social media are common, you can stand out by sending a physical invite for your event. Here’s why:
- Creates a physical experience: Even the act of opening the physical envelope and holding the invite is an engaging process that people will appreciate, and this may increase the chances of them attending your event.
- Textures and design elements can be delightful: Using interesting physical design elements and textures can draw more attention to the invite and make it a pleasure to read.
- Can be personalized: Today, personalization has become the norm, where we expect even simple marketing emails to address us by name and be tailored to our preferences. Similarly, physical invites can be created for subgroups or individuals with a personal touch.
And the best part is, these printed invites don’t have to be used in isolation—you can link it to your digital strategy. This can be done through QR codes or NFC technology, directing people to a webpage where they can RSVP.
Read more on creating event buzz that lasts
Combining print and digital media creatively, with good design and content, can turn an invitation into a memorable experience, making it effective and impressive.
For special offers and seasonal sales
Print marketing can help you communicate timely discounts and offers for holiday and festive seasons. Coupons and discounts that contain unique codes can be gifted to customers in print form, and even personalized.
When customers claim these codes, you can obtain valuable information on their preferences, which can help you further refine your marketing strategy.
Special URLs can also be created and included on print materials, directing people to a specific page of your website to find more information. From there, users can make a purchase with just a few clicks.
2. It can convey important information in an aesthetically pleasing way
Increasingly, users prefer concise, visually-appealing content that conveys a message efficiently and effectively, without demanding too much of their focus. Print media can help you do that—you can say more with strategic design and content using printing techniques by creative design experts.
Inspiration for using print materials creatively
• Three-dimensional indenture, wood sculpture, handmade prints, and lino cutting are some effective techniques that can be used to hold people’s attention
• With golden embossing, colors on lamination material, and gloss lamination, you can highlight important parts of the content and communicate information effectively
• The texture of the material along with the design used in print media will help you get people’s attention—for example, recycled and used paper is not commonly found, and can make a strong impact, showing support for green initiatives
These unique techniques and design elements can provide an experience vastly different from digital marketing, helping your brand stand out.
3. It has great credibility and reach
People trust print
While print media numbers seem to be dropping, it’s not true that they’re dying. In fact, many consumers today still trust print ads in magazines and newspapers more than they do online ads.
Many prefer print ads to annoying and intrusive pop-ups. Digital advertising is getting increasingly sophisticated and relevant, but recent surveys suggest that people will still stop to look at and consider a good print ad when they come across one.
And this doesn’t mean older generations alone—studies say Gen-Z are also interested in consuming offline media such as print magazines when they want to unplug, being affected by digital fatigue as well.
Interestingly, direct mail has a 37% higher open rate than email marketing, which suggests people do read their mail!
Print is accessible to more people
In the context of India, for example, a large percentage of people don’t have access to news online and so consume print media, which is widely distributed and inexpensive.
So, for certain organizations looking to reach wide audiences, publishing announcements and ads in print makes sense.
Newspapers also communicate events relevant to specific regions, so newspaper ads in local papers can help you reach the right local audience.
Print can promote luxury goods to the right audience globally
Magazines typically have distinct audiences, with readers who share certain interests and consumer preferences. So, a high-end brand advertising their products to a niche yet global audience could also benefit from print marketing—their ads can reach the right people in various parts of the world at the same time.
Because well-established magazines are typically run by experts in their respective fields, their credibility can encourage readers to view your brand positively as well.
While greater investment in digital marketing is necessary for businesses today, they can still tap into the power of print marketing to create effective integrated marketing strategies.
4. It can help boost brand recall
From the customer’s perspective, print media marketing provides a different experience from digital marketing. Typically, print gives people a chance to pause and consume information without distractions.
For example, at a big event, people may stop to read a brochure at an event booth. Similarly, when they pick up a newspaper, there are no notifications, links, or incoming messages to distract them from what they’re reading.
There is also the physical experience of receiving mail, which requires them to open packages, unfold paper, turn pages, etc., which becomes more memorable for a customer than a fleeting social media ad.
Traditional marketing also includes merchandise and gifts that can boost brand loyalty, such as keychains, shirts, cups, bottles, pens, and other forms of merchandise. Since these objects are practical and can be used daily, they work as subtle and effective ways to market your firm and improve brand recall.
5. It can direct traffic to your digital collateral
Linking your print media to digital media can help you grow your online presence. For example, consumers who come across your company in a newspaper ad can follow a link or QR code to reach your website, social media profiles, and more. From there, with impactful digital content and design, you can turn users into customers and fans.
6. It may delight customers in a post-COVID world
While the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated companies’ digitalization and digital marketing efforts, it also contributed to an increased demand for direct mail, outdoor signage, and creative brand packaging as online shopping grew.
Print and other forms of tangible marketing collateral also help you establish a connection with customers who otherwise interact with you purely online. Today, with so many of us working and making purchase decisions online in isolation, a brand seeking to make an offline connection stands out.
Adding print marketing such as sending coupons, free gifts, and brochures on related products—with online shopping deliveries or on their own—can make you memorable and support your branding and marketing efforts.
From “Print vs. Digital” to “Print for Digital”
For a long time, digital and print were seen as separate and even opposing marketing approaches. But over the years, the benefits of integrated marketing strategies have become clear. Together, they can attract and retain customers, and help your business and brand grow.
Whether print or digital, it’s essential to present your target audience with compelling content and design that resonates with them. At Chittlesoft, our creative experts can help you create sales and marketing collateral—both digital and print—to help you get results. Get in touch to learn more.
