Print in a Digital World
While you may think that print in a digital world is no longer relevant, you couldn’t be more wrong. Print materials are still very much effective. Consumers have a certain emotional connection with print material. By handing out business cards or leaflets, it’s as though you are inviting them into your company. Whereas with social media, it doesn’t quite have the same effect.
Print actually generates greater comprehension than digital. Recent studies have shown that people are more likely to read an article when it’s printed. This is said to be down to the fact that it’s a better sensory experience. Not only this but, there a less distractions. When reading an article online for example, there may be pop up ads, cookie policy notifications and more. All of these things can put someone off reading an article as they don’t have the patience for it.
How to Work Print into Your Digital Marketing Campaign
Despite the fact that print media options are decreasing because of the ever-growing online marketing materials, they should still be a large part of your marketing campaign. When you work your print and online materials alongside each other, they can be very cost effective.
If you were to chose an online outlet that it cheap to run, such as social media and run it alongside brochures, you have a winning campaign. It also works both ways. So, lets put this into perspective.
Scenario
- Consumer sees your brochure in a shopping center. They like what they see and take one home. Once they are flicking through your brochure, they decide to look online to see what more you have to offer.
- If a consumer orders one of your products and you send over a mini leaflet or a brochure in with the item, they can browse in their own time.
This is a great example of how print can lead your consumers to your digital platforms. Everything about your business should be found on your website. It can be a little hard to get all of this information into a brochure. Therefore, using print as a gateway to other marketing materials is the perfect way to go.
Don’t forget:
- When designing anything in print, your main focus is to draw attention and drive consumers to your POS (point of sale). You need to think about what is it you’re going to do to get potential customers to this point.
- If your business becomes successful and products are selling right off the shelf, ensure that all the packaging, displays and vouchers reflect your brand. By creating consistent branding throughout, you are keeping your business fresh in people’s minds.
- When making face-to-face sales, handout brochures, vouchers and business cards. By doing so, it makes the sale seem more personal. Therefore, there is a higher chance that your customer will return.
- Everything must reflect everything your brand stands for. Whether it is your company’s beliefs, mannerisms and values. Your employees, print/digital marketing materials, store and displays must have strong branding all throughout.
Creating Printed Marketing Materials
Your print materials need to reflect your digital materials in order to engage consumers. Everything you create, catalogues, brochures, web pages and blogs all need to contain the same basic elements. These elements are, visuals, bold headlines and eye-catching content. While they are still all separate pieces of work, they must have the same vibes.
In order for your business to be successful, all your material needs to reflect your brands position, authority and persona.
So, as you can see, you can’t just abandon print. It may not be the talk of the year, but it is still very much needed as part of a successful marketing campaign. Print in a digital world is still very much alive.
For more information about how to create successful print materials, please see our blog, Elements of Successful Print.
We hope this blog has been helpful. If we can support you marketing needs in anyway, please contact us today. Our team will be happy to help.