3 Unusual Reasons Print Marketing Still Works
With the Internet, there is no need for printing flyers or postcards anymore, right? Hasn’t print gone the way of the dinosaur? Many assumptions about print marketing are patently false. Print advertising is far from dead, in fact, as more people turn to the internet to advertise, now is the perfect time to consider a print marketing campaign. Here are three great reasons why print marketing is still king.
Print Marketing Can Pay for Itself
Hard to believe, but even as a top-of-funnel marketing method, certain print marketing can pay for itself. Naturally, there are some variables that come into play when calculating the cost of direct mail, including the size of your list, the expected value of each completed transaction or lead, and the method or printer you use to print direct mail postcards.
However, in many scenarios, according to the Direct Mail Association the nominal cost for a list, postcards, and postage makes direct mail a low-cost marketing option that drives leads and acquisitions. They estimated that direct mail, when done properly, outperforms all digital channels combined by nearly 600% in response rates. Imagine, from every 100 postcards you send, receiving 3-4 hot leads that are interested in your product or service. When businesses consider the value of each lead against the low price of direct mail, it’s easy to see why so many still rely on it.
Print Marketing Engages Consumers
So, why exactly, when we have all the technological benefits of internet marketing, does direct mail still manage to receive an overall 3.7% response rate? The answer isn’t terribly complicated. Print marketing engages more of the senses and is impossible to avoid.
Even among more technically savvy generations, people categorically prefer print to digital formats, with one study in the book Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital World, suggesting that 92% of college students prefer print books to e-books.
Part of the problem with digital media is the ease of access to distraction. When you interact with a door hanger or a business card, more senses are engaged than with digital media, if even for just a second
Print Marketing Builds Credibility with Your Audience
Print gives a sense of credibility that simply doesn’t exist in online media anymore. More and more of the population are becoming increasingly critical about the things they are reading online. With the influx of “fake news” during the election cycle in 2016, the rise of click bait, fake fundraising drives scams on websites like GoFundMe, people are becoming more and more critical of the things they read online. However, print marketing seems to be almost unimpacted by this deluge of false information. For someone to make up a rumor online about a political candidate, all it takes is a few keystrokes and a domain name. The time and financial costs to do so are simply non-existent. However, when someone puts in the time to buy marketing materials for their local business, you know you can trust the advertisement to be accurate. Getting your brand in front of consumers with print marketing material adds credibility to your business as not being a “fly-by-night” operation.
Concluding Thoughts
While print marketing may get a bad rap as the “old-school” way to do things, the reason that it has existed for so long and continues to be effective is the simple psychology behind it. The way people use the internet is always changing, much in the same way the people are interacting with print marketing because of the internet is always improving.
