In an increasingly digital world, the future of printed material is uncertain. With digital marketing campaigns delivering a much more measurable return on investment and with as much as 22 national print magazines ceasing publication in the past five years in the UK according to Press Gazette, it may be easy to overlook print as a worthwhile medium within a marketing strategy. However, there are many arguments that can be used in its favour. In fact, when we are constantly bombarded with digital content on an everyday basis, a beautifully designed piece of print is more likely to stand out and be cherished. Do you remember the days when your letterbox or doormat would fill up with “junk mail” and you would barely have time to go through it…? It might even go straight into the bin. Well, now it seems that the post that comes through the letterbox is manageable while the mail that comes into our online boxes is almost impossible to keep up with!
Of course, direct mail is not necessarily the only (or ideal) route to any print marketing material being seen by the right audience. Printed branding collateral takes many forms. Examples include business cards, brochures, magazine and newspaper advertisements, flyers or promotional invitations and self-published magazines and guides.
So, what exactly are the benefits of investing in printed marketing materials? For one, it commands a more focused type of attention. Away from the screen, a printed brochure is not going to run the risk of interruption from a pop-up ad, a phone call or a social media notification. A study by the United States Postal Service has shown that print material is read at a slower pace than digital content and that the reader takes in more information. Interestingly, the same study also found that while viewers had no preference between print and digital advertising, their emotional response was higher to a product seen in a physical format than that seen on a digital screen.
Overall, not only is it clear that printed media makes for a more engaging experience, but it also more likely to stick around and benefit from repeated exposure. A business card or brochure can turn up in a briefcase or pocket and remind someone of your business months after it was handed out, while a magazine can take up residence in a living room in the same way a coffee table book can and be subject to multiple turns of the pages and multiple readers. It has also been said that printed material adds credibility to a business. Whereas online ads can be perceived as somewhat invasive or spammy, there is a sense of authority in printed matter that builds trust.
Even if it has been proven to have more staying power and credibility, the question must be raised, does printed marketing material convert to sales? While the results cannot be tracked in the same way a digital media campaign can, some businesses feel direct mail marketing initiatives actually bring in more revenue than online advertising. The trick is to have one format compliment the other. The printed matter must make for a captivating experience that will lead readers to the digital platform, where they will be able to engage with a product or service and buy into it because of the positive emotional association already created IRL (that’s digital speak for “in the real world”!).
With rich colours, beautiful finishes and a wide choice of textures and papers, there is a tangibility to print that even the most exciting digital content can never achieve. And because it is a slower medium to digest, the chances of it stopping people in their tracks are higher in this fast-paced digital world. So to answer our original question, ‘is print marketing still relevant?’, we would say it is not relevant but rather a vital part of any brand’s marketing mix. It is important to give customers something they will remember and the likelihood of print being remembered his undoubtedly stronger than a digital ad.
At Degraf, we have always been strong advocates of printed media as part of a brand’s communications strategy, especially when it is produced to complement a digital campaign – to drive warm leads to a website.
If you would like to discuss creating a piece of printed design to promote your business and how you could link this with your digital assets, please do get in touch!
