Below are a few techniques and tips to help you make the most of both digital and print marketing by encouraging cross pollination across media and driving and tracking consumers from print to digital and vice versa.
People just want to hold stuff!
People will always like to hold things – feel them, touch them and put them on their coffee table to be reminded of them. For example, brochures and business cards; these are marketing staples that your business should never let go of. They are little souvenirs that people hold onto after they’ve had a glimpse of an experience using your product, enjoying your services or visiting your venue.
Print marketing can be personal and the possibilities are endless
With variable printing techniques printing personalised media is easier than ever. Variable printing has actually been around for some time and is a technology that allows you to personalize graphics and images as you print them, without slowing down the print process.
Variable printing is perfect for direct marketing drives where you have existing data on your intended recipients. An effective use of variable printing could be using it in conjunction with a social media campaign. For example, you could encourage subscribers to sign up for freebies and, on occasion, marketing materials. You can then target your printed marketing around certain interest groups by gathering data from Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. This goes far beyond targeting basic demographics like gender and age.
One reason digital marketing is so effective is because of its ability to bend depending on the audience, as advertisements and promotions cater to internet users’ browser histories and social media interests. Personalised print media harnesses the same power as these catered forms of online marketing. Moreover, personalised print marketing actually has a distinct advantage, in that audiences can recognise the extra effort required to customise a print in comparison to the digital sphere, so they feel even more special, absorbing your message on a much deeper level.
Multimedia campaigns increase user interaction
There is a clear correlation beginning to emerge between print marketing and digital media and as smartphone and tablet technologies progress, the world of print is finding ways to keep up. An example of this correlation is the use of QR codes. QR codes are effective in connecting people in the real world to online platforms. They can be used in print marketing to connect audiences to your website, play videos to share with others, merging their physical and digital experiences seamlessly. QR codes and personalised URLs are brilliant ways of building bridges between your printed marketing and owned media in the online space.
With consumers scanning the codes or entering the URLs on their smartphones at the same time they are consuming the printed material, not only can you drive traffic to your online campaigns but you can track cross pollination and gather interesting data on your users, such as when and where they are interacting with your printed material. QR codes in particular allow you to get really creative as well and can be printed onto practically anything.
People are social, and so is print
Social media remains the single most effective digital tool for reaching a lot of people in a short period of time. As print marketing campaigns provide physical resources for face-to-face interaction, print materials are social by nature. Translating that social experience to your audience’s personal use of social media is as easy as displaying your Instagram username or Twitter handle on your business card. You can leverage your social media very easily if you have cultivated your followings – social media can act as the perfect jump board for launching your printed marketing campaigns. As mentioned, this can be perfect for traffic flowing from print to digital but it can also be used to push traffic the other way.
Use Call to Actions to drive traffic from print to digital
A lot of printed marketing material is passive and designed primarily to spread a product or offer or raise awareness of a brand. By incorporating CTAs into your printed materials that encourage consumers to visit your social media page or website for more info or maybe the prospect of exclusive offers, you can use your printed materials to drive more traffic online. You could also include special promotional codes to incentivise more traffic, whilst harvesting reliable data on cross pollination.
Less print means less competition
Because digital marketing is so cost-effective, fewer businesses are relying on print media and some have stopped using it altogether. This is good for business, because with fewer print marketing materials out there, your campaigns are going to stand out that much more.
Let’s look at the cost of print again
Most would think that print marketing is expensive. However, when you look at the whole picture, print marketing is actually proven to be one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies out there. Not only is print marketing cheaper than digital marketing in some cases, it’s also incredibly effective. There have been many studies that conclude that print marketing is certainly worth the expense.
I think it is fair to say – Print marketing is evolving, developing and growing. It’s bridging the gap between the comforts of tradition and the trends of modern times. Print marketing is adaptive, effective, practical – and yes, it’s still relevant.
PRINT SYSTEMS AUSTRALIA
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