With the rise of social media and other online marketing, is there still a place for the once called ‘traditional marketing’ strategies such as leaflet distribution and direct mail? This blog will bring some facts, opinions of top marketing strategists, and a recommendation on how to get the most out of any print marketing you do do.
So, is print marketing dying?
Thankfully (for Mr Flyer) the answer is a very simple no! According to Joe Poluzzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute (CMI):
“...there has never been a bigger opportunity for brands in the printed channel than right now.”
This quote was taken from a blog you can read here. But this blog is from back in 2012, so it’s surely irrelevant now? Well, he subsequently devoted a good chunk of his book, ‘Epic Content Marketing’, released December 2013 to the subject of print too. Following this, the world renound Marketing blogger Jeff Bullas wrote this in a blog from 2016, cited from the CMI:
“According to the CMI’s annual report in 2015 the top three paid advertising methods in the B2B sphere in North America were Search Engine Marketing at 66%, Print or Other Offline Promotion at 57% and Traditional Online Banner Ads at 55%. This single stat alone should make it clear that the bottom has definitely not fallen out of print advertising in financial terms.”
But surely social media is better?
Social media is certainly here to stay, and is a hugely positive and welcomed marketing medium for pretty much all marketers. However, as illustrated in the chart below (again from the Jeff Bullas blog), the power of printed marketing ranks top:
“The first is a survey conducted by Nielson in 2014 looking into the retail sector and how US consumers arrive at purchasing decisions. The results were unequivocal in presenting the power of printed materials over digital in this area, with 56% of consumers surveyed citing mailed materials as the chief source of information used to make purchasing decisions (some 20% higher than the nearest digital influencer).”
So should I scrap social media from my marketing plan?
Absolutely not! Personally, whenever I hear of a new business (to me) or when a new enquiry comes through, I will google them to see how they appear online. I’ll assess their website, look at their social media and see how active they are, and go on review sites to read what people have to say about them. Online will always play an influential role in your marketing mix; I wouldn’t be writing a blog if it didn’t! With marketing you want to reach people through multiple platforms according to your offering, your target demographic and your budget.
How does print rank so high?
According to Joe Pulizzi, “The printed word is still perceived as more credible to many people than anything on the web. It goes to the old adage, “If someone invested enough to print and mail it, it must be important.””
If you think how many advertising emails you receive daily, how many businesses post things on social media and how many adverts pop up on Google; now compare this to how many well designed printed flyers you receive through the post, it is no surprise so many people give that printed item so much more attention.
What to do next?
Print marketing is an incredibly effective solution to marketing your business to your key audience. If you would like to learn the strategies which make print marketing so effective, please contact us today and discuss your business with one of our print marketing consultants. Alternatively, you can take a look at our print management service by clicking here.
