Don’t listen to those “all or nothing” folks out there. You’ll be hard pressed to find a customer out there who prefers to receive all forms of communication digitally. Heck, maybe you’ll find one—but everyone’s different, and that’s what you need to plan for.
While over the past few years you’ve probably spent less and less money on print and more towards digital—that’s normal, and doesn’t necessarily mean print is being phased out altogether. There are positive effects of having printed materials working with your digital space in your marketing efforts.
A nice benefit of keeping printed materials in your marketing mix is that a physical marketing piece doesn’t change. Something you post on social media will disappear into the abyss, but that printed piece will stay there as a constant reminder. While it’s still important to use social media, you just have to shift your focus a little bit. You can’t expect to use print and digital in similar ways and see results. Acknowledge their unique features in a way that still sends the same message to build your brand.
Be sure to keep personalization at the top of your mind when using print and digital in your messaging. Clients and prospects like it when you take that extra step. Tailor your messages so they cater to the recipient’s preferences. In a digital campaign, pictures and text can be altered to fit your audience. Once you get initial contact with them, you can always follow up with a printed piece that has more information or a special to bring them into closer contact with your business.
Because of print being physical, you have that ‘touch’ aspect that you can’t take lightly. This is a powerful part of your marketing where you shouldn’t take the cheap option. Make sure the right amount of time is spent on design, paper and how it’s printed. Creating a quality printed item will lend more credibility to your business.
Experiment with how your business can use print and digital together in your marketing mix. Leaving one or the other out is a recipe for a marketing disaster.
