8 Reasons You Need Print Marketing in a Digital World
07/17/2019
Ever hear a businessperson wonder out loud if he or she would be doing enough marketing with only the web? Know …. for nearly every business, physical media is always necessary for complete marketing.
Here’s 8 powerful reasons why:
1. It Cuts Through the Clutter
It’s not about what's "enough" to market, it’s more about what will cut through the noise. Print marketing, done well, can slice through the clutter like a machete through warm butter. And, in business, you either stand out or sink. Stand out.
2. Over-Digitization has People Craving the Analog
Some folks geek out on digitizing everything, but isn't it more insightful to notice trends like the resurgence of vinyl? People are “unplugging” with the ritual of cleaning, carefully playing, and more fully immersing in the rich sounds of well-cut vinyl records to unwind. A digital-only life can seem empty, leaving people craving the analog, the physical. Give them something "real". Others agree. According to The Print Report, like vinyl, "Print marketing is enjoying something of a renaissance at the moment."
3. Your Audience Needs a Balanced Diet of Content to Consume
Only doing digital marketing is like only eating carbs and never eating protein. Your muscle tone would wither away. We need a balanced diet for the best health. Your prospects need a balance of media types to more fully learn about the distinctive benefits you offer. Don’t deprive them!
4. It Gets Your Business Out of Flatland
Consider the panoramic, huge, 360 degree world around a prospect and all the various ways he or she might pick up and be intrigued by your print piece. Compare that to the little, 2-dimensional screens of the digital world. Aren’t they small and flat by comparison? You’re adding a whole other dimension to their lives with print marketing . . . well, at least with the ways they can become aware of and grow to love your company and the many special benefits it offers them.
5. It Opens More Opportunities for a More Distinctive Market Presence
The low-barrier of social media channels means they are crowded. Doesn't it show more market leadership to go somewhere new? Digital marketing is mostly noise so gets tuned out - a side effect of it being so easy for everyone to generate. You can get tuned out as well by being lost in the noise if you are only digital.
Print opens up more opportunities to stand out by going where your competition doesn’t exist. And don't you want your company to be a larger-than-life, full-of-vivid-character brand that connects with your prospects in unique ways in the physical world instead of just projecting through electrons?
6. It Adds the Missing Primary Sense: Touch
Imagine Star Wars without the music . . especially the ceremony scene. It’s missing something isn’t it? Without sound, the emotion goes flat. Without print media, your marketing is missing the kinesthetic - the sense of touch. Give your audience something to hang onto.
7. It Enters the Other 17 Hours and 17 Minutes of Your Prospect's Day
Let's back up and look at the entire typical day of your prospect. According to a new study, adults spend 6 hours and 43 minutes looking at screens each day! That leaves 17 hours and 17 minutes of time away from screens where only physical media will impact them. And, yes, people spend too much time looking at screens.
8. It Can Add to Digital Marketing Rather than Competing with It
The “S” of the SEEC Model is “Synergy”. That’s synergy between print and digital marketing. You can combine them to multiply the effects and minimize the downsides. For example, Postcards with QR codes to scan for a free info piece that subscribes the inquirer to an email newsletter combine the high response rate of postcards with the low cost of email marketing. Have the best of both worlds and, with a little expert guidance, do print and digital together.
So, in the process of using all the wonderful attributes of the internet to market your business, make sure you keep both the baby and the bathwater and have a great analog marketing program too!
Of course, using high level expertise makes it all work. Need some help knowing how to get bang for the buck with print marketing? Give us a call at 843-745-0001 or click here for a free consult at Ross Printing- we’d love to help!