What Can Print Do for Your Next Marketing Campaign?

Is there a place for print marketing in today’s digital world? Many professionals think the success of marketing relies on a solid online campaign, but if you need to outdo the competition and create a profitable marketing strategy, the printing industry is far more successful than many believe.

So, how does print compare to digital and is it just as, or even more, successful when it comes to marketing your business?

Here’s why start-ups should give print a go and how they can make a success of it with limited company cash.

How do print and digital marketing interact today?

Digital is consistently more successful when it comes to grabbing attention and boosting conversions. That’s the general belief among many in marketing and business. However, only 20% of users click on any online banner advert. Bearing in mind that most of this 20% won’t even convert into a sale, is it worth paying the competitive price for the digital space? What about print media? If you also consider that 63% of UK adults still read magazines (according to YouGov), and only 10% regularly read these online, maybe digital isn’t so perfect after all.

But how reliant is the printing industry on marketing? Surprisingly for some, marketing is a huge part of print. 34% of all printing is for advertising and marketing products, such as event programmes and tickets, while 30% is for products such as newspapers, magazines and brochures. So, not only does marketing rely on print, but print relies on marketing.

Basically, you have two factors to bear in mind when launching a marketing campaign on any platform: what’s the final cost and how is it going to compare to your competitors. There are about 80 new businesses launching in the UK every hour, according to a report by StartUp Britain (a national, government-backed campaign), so you want something that’s going to be unique and cost-effective. Fortunately, there are several techniques available to make a budget-friendly print marketing campaign.

Making the most of print marketing: direct mail

Unlike leaflets, posters and pull up banners; direct mail has a typically less respected name in print marketing. But this is a gross underestimation — just take a look at these figures:

7% of the UK’s advertising expenditure was on direct mail in 2009.
In 2015, 2.5 billion+ direct mail coupons were exchanged.
54% of consumers in a survey said that they’d be happy to get direct mail from brands that might interest them.

But surely direct mail can’t surpass digital?

In fact, hiring a company specializing in direct mail services in Rockville, MD (or elsewhere) to produce your print media appears more than capable of beating online communications. 80-90% of direct mail is opened as opposed to just 20-30% of emails. Clearly, this is a win for start-up companies looking to get their message across to potential new consumers.

Making the most of print marketing: brochures

The brochure is a sleek, persona and professional piece of print marketing that is easily done with minimal cost. Designing a quality brochure is all about advertising your brand and getting a point across concisely — that means in as few pages as possible. Remember; the goal of your budget brochure campaign is to encourage consumers to act, not take up an hour of their time reading.

Crucial features of a quality brochure include:

Clear layout.
Proofed and quality-checked copy.
Interesting header.
Short and informative content.
Clear call to action.

The final step before distribution is ordering. The more brochures you order in bulk the less the overall cost in the long-run. However, you don’t want any to go to waste, so you need to think hard about how many you truly need for good coverage.

Print certainly holds a strong position in the marketing industry and shouldn’t be cast aside for digital. Whether you opt for direct mail, brochures or another form, print marketing can be a profitable way to boost your brand and transform your start-up.