The New Role of Print Marketing In Today’s Digital World

In Defense of Print

Here are some of the most commonly cited points supporting print’s future:

• A far higher percentage of printed mail gets opened than email – more of the message gets read and the response rate is higher (thanks in part to no popups and other digital distractions)
• Print offers marketers a way to extend campaigns to people that are hard to reach digitally
• Print is more trusted than on-line information (as far as we know, no Nigerian prince has ever sent a direct mail piece to anyone)
• Print’s appeal to multiple senses – touch, sight, even smell – has been proven by brain scans to elicit a stronger emotional response and better retention
• Printed materials are easier on the brain to read than onscreen
• Print can have a much longer shelf-life and greater readership than digital – often bouncing around homes and offices for months

• Print offers a way around the avalanche of emails and other digital messages that bury most of us. Recent stats show that globally about 150 billion emails are sent each day and 120 billion of these are spam. That’s over 20 emails a day per person on earth.
• Many big tech companies like Verizon, Amazon and, yes, Google use direct mail (for instance Google Ad Services sends out mailers to B2B customers showing how Google ads for their businesses can look in search results).

More to the Story

We believe all these points. We also believe that the demise of magazines or newspapers is mainly a business model issue, not a reflection on the value of print. And we believe that print isn’t dying. It’s evolving to better integrate into the new world of marketing, customer preferences and buying habits.

To illustrate that point, here’s the story of another industry that’s also been rumored to be dying. Brick and mortar retail.

The Rumored Death of Retail

If you try googling “retail is dead,” you’ll get over 200 million hits. That’s because, like print, pundits have been predicting the demise of brick and mortar retail stores for the past decade. On the surface this seems entirely believable. Ecommerce sales – in part thanks to the pandemic – are through the roof. Chains like Macy’s and Nordstrom’s have closed a number of store locations. Other chains are out of business including Lord & Taylor, Francesca’s and Toys “R” Us.

But a deeper look tells another story. First retail foot traffic is now close to pre-pandemic levels. Shoppers want to shop. There are more store openings planned in 2021 than closings – over 3,300 – including new stores from Sephora, Dick’s, Dollar General and more. More important, many chains including Target, Macy’s and Nordstrom are opening new concept stores that offer shoppers an innovative array of services and brand experiences. Nordstrom’s include in-store pickups of online orders, in-store fashion consultants, try-ons with onsite tailoring, even nail and coffee bars. These allow brands to build meaningful and ongoing relationships with customers in ways that can’t be done online.

The Point? Overall brick and mortar retail isn’t dying. Just the bad parts are.

The rest is evolving to give shoppers the personalized experiences they can’t have online and to better integrate with retailers’ online programs. And that’s exactly what needs to happen with most print programs.

Adapting Your Print Program In A  Changing World

How to best adapt your program depends on a many factors including your current print program, what you’re selling and to whom. Still we can offer you sample ideas to get you started – all of which we have the capability to help you execute.

1. Integrating Your Direct Mail with Your Digital Marketing
We can help you make your print program work more in tandem with your digital efforts including, for instance, using QR codes to drive traffic to websites and landing pages. Or tracking your first-class direct mail pieces and letting you know when they arrive. That way you’ll know just when to follow up with an email or call to magnify the impact of the mailing.

2. Do What You Can’t Do Digitally 
Print offers you opportunities to connect with customers in ways digital can’t. So, when you’re presenting your brand to a customer – particularly a high-end brand – it can pay to be creative and wow them with an amazing printed piece – exciting to open, fun to read and a joy to touch, look at and even smell. To give you the options to make any printed piece a knockout we’ve collected a suite of the world’s best printing and finishing technologies including foil stamping, embossing, film laminating, digital die cutting and routing and more.

3. Personalization
Sometimes opening a mailer or letter with “Hi First Name” isn’t enough. If you know more about your recipient – past purchases, pain points, the industry that they’re in – our digital, variable data printing capability allows us to cost-effectively customize every piece with different copy and even images to help you build a stronger emotional connection with your brand. As an example, we help a non-profit raise money by segmenting their donor lists into several segments including corporate donors, small individual donors, non-donors and past donors who haven’t given recently – and then tailor the messages accordingly.

Long Live Print

Let’s summarize. Like brick and mortar retail stores, print offers you a non-digital channel to reach potential customers – and can play a valuable role in most marketing mixes. Print also allows you to offer customers experiences that the digital world can’t. But only if your print marketing program is keeping up with changing customer needs and expectations.

So, if you’re interested in how our exceptional service, craftsmanship and world-class suite of production and finishing capabilities can help your brand, we invite you to talk with us.

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