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For one reason or another, there seem to be a surprising number of misconceptions floating around surrounding print marketing. Whether concerning its efficacy, functionality, or even its ethicality, there seem to be rumors swirling around every aspect of this time-tested marketing practice. Unfortunately, taking such misinformation at face value can result in missed opportunities to strengthen your marketing strategy. That’s why we’re here to debunk these printing myths for you and show you the light when it comes to print.
Myth: Print is bad for the environment.
Reality: Print is sustainable.
Paper is often misconstrued as being a leading cause of deforestation, and thus, bad for the environment. To be fair, the logic behind this sentiment seems solid at first. Paper is made from harvesting tree and deforestation is caused by over-harvesting trees. So, paper must cause deforestation. However, this is simply not the case.
Most paper companies in North America certify that their paper comes from sources that practice sustainable forest management. These practices ensure that trees, one of the planet's only renewable resources, reach the end of their life cycles before being harvested, thereby keeping forestland sustainable. This initiative also financially incentivizes landowners to continue sustainable harvesting of their woodlands, rather than urbanizing them or permanently converting them for some other purpose.
Myth: You can’t track the ROI of print marketing materials.
Reality: There are plenty of ways to track the ROI of print marketing materials.
You might be thinking, “How on earth could you possibly track the ROI of print marketing materials?” You may not be able to track how many people look at your printed materials. However, your marketing pieces don’t need to be digital for you to measure their success. There are several trackable elements that you can include in your print campaigns to measure your ROI:
You can use unique coupon codes to see how many sales occurred as a result of customers viewing your ad.
QR codes are another great way to track your print. These can be connected to campaign-specific landing pages that allow you to gauge print-driven traffic.
You could also include unique social media hashtags that are easily measurable by looking them up on a given platform.
If the main goal of your print campaign is to simply get customers to reach out, unique emails and/or phone numbers are a fantastic tool to track these interactions.
Myth: Print can’t be customized on a customer-to-customer basis.
Reality: Print can be easily personalized via variable data printing.
Many people believe that you must print one cookie-cutter design for each individual print job. This poses a problem, especially when it comes to direct mail. Naturally, you would want to add touches of personalization, like names, greetings and other components that tailor your campaign towards different segments of your audience.
Luckily, this insinuation couldn’t be further from the truth. Technology now exists that allows you to modify individual aspects of your print, from one piece to the next, in one single run. This is known as variable data printing. Modern machinery has made it possible to do this quickly, effectively, and economically. So it’s perfectly within reach for the average business owner to create personalized print for all their customers.
Myth: Print is not an effective marketing tool these days.
Reality: Print is just as effective, if not more, today as it has ever been.
Today, in the age of digitization, it’s a somewhat common belief that print has become an obsolete form of marketing. If you share in this belief, you may be surprised to learn that print marketing is just as effective as ever and is even superior to many other marketing mediums in a variety of ways. Don’t believe us? Just look at these statistics:
82% of consumers trust print ads when making purchase decisions.
Roughly 80% of consumers act on direct printed mail advertisements.
77% of consumers report recalling brands that advertise through print.
Print ads are among the top most preferred advertising mediums according to consumers.
Print ads require 21% less cognitive effort to process than other types of ads.
On average, consumers devote their focus to print ads for 20 minutes or more.
Consider that, online, your target audience is being constantly bombarded with distracting content. With print marketing, the number of potential distractions is cut down drastically, making it more possible to engage the target enough to convert them into customers.
This is not to say that digital ads should be pushed to the wayside. Digital ads are still effective; however, print can supercharge its efficacy when used in tandem. In fact, when you combine print marketing with your digital marketing efforts, ROI has been shown to increase by a whopping 400%.
Now that you know the facts, are you ready to kick your marketing efforts into high gear by investing in print? There’s no better time than now, and no better printer than Omega.Get in touch with one of our printing experts today, by calling (609) 645-1940, or by simply clicking here.
Written By Omega High Impact Print Solutions’ Digital Marketing Manager, Emily Steel