In our modern age, where digital means of advertising are prevalent, is print marketing “dead”? In marketing circles, it’s a common question that spurs surprisingly complex answers.
Print marketing is supposedly outdated, but 56% of consumers perceive it as the most trustworthy advertising method, AllBusiness.com reports. This discrepancy can throw up a lot of confusion for people inexperienced in marketing, but here’s why you should consider adding print to your palette.
Print still makes sense where you meet customers face-to-face
While digital might admittedly have shed print marketing of much of its former glamour, the latter still makes more practical sense than its digital counterpart in certain contexts. Those include retail stores and events where you come into physical contact with your target customers.
Even if you don’t run such a store or hold events, you could still arrange for your print products to be distributed in such areas as waiting rooms where you aren’t necessarily present in person.
Print allows you to craft highly targeted campaigns
It’s easy to assume that this particular benefit must be reserved just for digital marketing, but a closer look at the facts tells a slightly different story. One member of the Forbes Communication Council admits that certain industries have “grown solely from hyper-local print advertising”.
She cites her own industry, that of private investigators, as an example. Another Council member has even predicted that direct mail will be the “last bastion of print ads”, as “a physical mailbox will be the last place that print can reach that digital can’t.”
High-end customers remain drawn to tangible advertising
Examples of such advertising include glossy magazines and leading publications, the rather literal weight of which resonates effectively with prestige customers and clients. That’s no escaping that people are often more inclined to dispose of an email than, say, a printed flyer, brochure or book.
Printing out content for luxury customers isn’t necessarily an expensive endeavour, either. Buying a suitable printing machine from Duplo International could even let you do the printing in-house.
Print can be effectively integrated with digital for marketing purposes
According to marketing experts interviewed by The Drum, print marketing’s valuable role for the future is as part of a mixed, rather than single-channel, strategy. Indeed, this approach to print marketing often results in the best ROI and response rates.
Over 3 out of 4 small businesses, in fact, are already using this approach – meaning that, if your own startup isn’t following suit, it could too easily be left behind.
AR could help restore the relevance of print marketing
An advertising method that once seemed antiquated can suddenly look surprisingly futuristic when AR – augmented reality – is brought into the mix. Advances in this technology should make it easier for print ads to be seamlessly integrated as part of a multi-faceted brand experience.
Besides, with AR technology already built into smartphones like the iPhone and Google Pixel, use of this tech – already strongly associated with Snapchat – could continue to rise in popularity.