Make It Legitimate with Print – Printing Your Marketing Materials for a Lasting Impression

Digital has changed everything about the way businesses promote themselves, from marketing to customers to tracking customer satisfaction levels.

On the surface, it can seem as though everything should shift in that direction, but there are still many reasons to continue to invest in print collateral and printed marketing materials.Brands already realize the value of having an eye-catching website and a strong social media presence. But when it comes to trust, customers still rate print ads as most effective in helping them make a purchase decision. While this doesn’t take away from the importance of digital channels, it does highlight the need to keep print as part of your customer outreach strategy.

Here are a few reasons print marketing materials help legitimize your business.

Print Is Memorable

Working with Temple University’s Center for Neural Decision Making, The U.S. Postal Service conducted a study to determine the cognitive effect print materials have on a customer.

The study found that not only did customers spend more time on print ads, but they also tended to remember them more quickly and with more confidence.

With so many marketing materials flashing across a customer’s smartphone screen, it isn’t a stretch to imagine print ads have a more lasting impact. Whether it’s an ad, announcement, or thank-you note, a piece of print collateral is also more likely to physically stay with a customer longer than an ad they scroll past on a screen. That postcard or catalog may not immediately make its way to the trash bin, which means customers will see it multiple times before its disposal.

Print Establishes Tradition

For decades, businesses used paper to communicate with customers and business associates, with bills, discount offers, and other materials often arriving by postal mail. Even as the internet began to take over, large corporations continued to invest in print materials, readily producing business cards and brochures at events, as well as sending coupons, flyers, and catalogs to customers.

Customers often associate print materials with a larger company that has a long history.

Print gives the impression that even the smallest business is a full operation, complete with a team of hundreds of employees and a steady revenue flow. This can build a trust that will give customers confidence as they consider making a purchase.

Print Is More Personal

Email messages and Facebook ads can only go so far in winning customers, especially when they have revealed a desire for a personal approach. Seven out of ten Americans say they find direct mail marketing more personal than an online ad, with more than half saying they trust it more than any kind of advertising.

To make your print marketing campaigns more effective, make sure you apply the same marketing personalization efforts you use with your digital campaigns.

If you can create one set of print materials for existing customers, for instance, and another for those who may have attended an event or shown an interest in your products through your website, you’ll be more effective than if you try a more generic approach.

Print Stands Out

Few digital messages can stand out the way a well-designed print piece can. Elements like glitter, embossing, high-quality paper, and bright colors can engage customers through both touch and sight, jumping off the page in a way that goes beyond a screen. Millennials have even joined in on the preference for paper-based correspondence, gravitating toward greeting cards and calligraphy classes as a break from screens.

Direct mail isn’t the only way brands can win customers with paper. Takeaways like business cards and brochures are a great way to stay in front of customers long after they’ve visited your brick-and-mortar location or met you at a conference. The right print collateral can make a big difference in making a lasting impression on the people you meet.

Print Complements Your Digital Efforts

Although customers are increasingly shifting their purchasing habits online, print marketing can be a great way to boost your digital campaigns. A direct-mail flyer can urge customers to check out your website and print materials with your web address can be perfect for people to refer back to after meeting you at an event.

One area where print marketing complements a business’s online efforts is through catalogs. An impressive 90 percent of customers admit to buying a product after first seeing it in a catalog and nearly half say catalogs stimulate their interest in items. Catalogs and sales flyers can be a great way to give your customers a look at your products, with the understanding that they’ll make a purchase on your website or in your store.

Printed marketing materials can make a big difference in your business’s marketing efforts. For best results, make sure you take steps to create materials that stand out from standard print items, using colors and paper quality that appeal to the eye and the touch.

 

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