By Adrian Wray, account director, APS Group.
Print has long been a traditional staple of many marketing campaigns but there can be no denying it’s suffered an image crisis in recent years. The tectonic shift toward digital marketing and increasingly stretched marketing budgets means print has to work harder in a sector it once dominated.
Champions of digital delivery would have you believe that print has had its day; however it shouldn’t be counted out and still has a central role to play in the evolved and multi-channel marketing mix.
The way we consume information has changed dramatically and the sheer number of available channels which brands can use to reach their customers has exploded.
The arrival of social media has rewritten the rules of marketing. The focus is on personalised dialogue and marketers now recognise the need for and value in developing meaningful two-way conversations between themselves and their customers. Response-figures support this shift – with personalised communication prompting as much as a 300 per cent up lift in response rates.
Customers want to feel important and special – you might be undertaking a mass marketing exercise but the customer doesn’t want to feel one of thousands, they want to be spoken to as an individual.
Modern technology is enabling communication on a personal, local and mobile level. It’s this personalisation that sets the digital arena apart – to succeed and retain relevance in this environment, print activity must follow the same rules.
In many respects, print marketing actually provides the consumer with a tangible piece of marketing collateral that is more personal than digital – after all you can hold it in your hand.
As the digital stampede continues, the amount of printed collateral tumbling out of your letter box diminishes and so its value and standout increases, ultimately increasing the chances this contact will be converted into business.
You hear more stories of resistance to the naked commercialism delivered by digital channels than by the humble direct mail or print collateral. While mobile marketing gets to grips with the concept of boundaries, opt-in communication and junk mail (once the scourge of print), print is stealing an advantage.
When combined effectively with digital strategy print makes for a more compelling customer experience and ensures maximum impact.
The bottom line is that, when developing a marketing communications strategy, print should still form a key pillar in any campaign proposal. Marketers need to make sure that strategy is intelligently targeted, personalised and backed up with a strong presence across other media - especially the internet, social media and mobile.
It’s not a case of one marketing channel competing for supremacy – used properly and strategically different marketing channels can work together.
For example – a financial services company launches a new investment product. As a starting point the company might review all their prospect data and develop a full colour, personalised mini-brochure.
The brochure includes a call to action via a PURL (personalised URL), which encourages prospects to visit a tailored web page where ‘frequently asked questions’, videos and a newsletter sign-up function are available.
Then, in a similar vein to the brochure, an email and mobile campaign is also initiated and supported by a team of sales people following up those people whose interest didn’t convert to sales.
All these factors must work in harmony to deliver the brand experience and convert prospects to sales.
In summary, print is not as prehistoric as some might suggest, when used effectively it can maximise message penetration for digital activity and is still a vital tool in any marketer’s arsenal.
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