Print Marketing Is Still Not Dead

Yes, we spend more time online now. Some of us do almost everything online. But that does not mean that print doesn't work. It does. So much so, that MarketingProfs uses a huge banner as their subscription form that says Print's Not Dead: Print Marketing Will Thrive in 2014 and Beyond.

If you're not familiar with MarketingProfs, they bill themselves as "real world education for real world marketers." I think of them as a trustworthy source of statistics accurately measuring what is working and what is not.

Print marketing statistics prove print marketing is not dead

Print marketing statistics that prove that print marketing is not dead as a form of small business marketing and that direct mail marketing is here to stay:

• 56% of all consumers trust print marketing more than any other advertising method.
• 7 out of 10 Americans report that they find direct mail advertising more personal than online ads.
• More than 3 out of 4 small businesses use both print marketing and online efforts combined. This strategy usually offers the best return on investment and gets the best response rates.

Evaluate your current print materials

Your company probably already has some printed marketing materials. But have you updated them? Do they feature your most important social media accounts? Have you included a QR code so you can track precisely which print items are driving traffic, leads or sales? Is there a consistent look and feel across all your marketing materials?

Review your printing process

While it may be easy to just hit print to your color inkjet printer, that is the most expensive way to print. Anything you need in volume should be either outsourced to a printing company or handled by your in-house print department.

Give serious thought to whether you should do printing yourself or hire someone. If your company prints in huge volumes, you may want to go with something like production printing from Riso. If not, outsource high-volume print work to a local printing company.

Predictions on the future of print media

Not only is print marketing not dead, some are even predicting a resurgence in printed media:

"Custom print magazines will make a resurgence as a premium content delivery channel due to decreased print competition and a desire by audiences to re-connect with tangible, high quality publications that offer deep content expertise that fills their needs, surprises and delights them."

Be aware that while print is declining as a media in the United States, in other countries print is on the rise. If you operate in another country or internationally, note the differences.

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• Marketing to Teens: How to Build and Refine a Successful Campaign
• 8 Crisis Management Tips for When Your Business Seems to Be Falling Apart
• To Sell to Customers This Year, Keep It Simple
• 5 Tips for Allocating Your Digital Marketing Budget

Increasing sales using direct mail

Now that our email inboxes are so full of spam, but our traditional mailboxes are increasingly empty, many companies are seeing stronger profits using direct mail. This YouTube video has many good tips to get you started.

Here are some highlights from the video:

• Direct mail is underappreciated based on effectiveness
• Examples of businesses benefiting from using direct mail
• Main reasons to use direct mail:
  1. Get new customers
  2. Reactivate previous buyers
  3. Introduce current customers to new products
  4. Up-sell / resell / cross-sell

Direct mail is much more advanced today than it has been in the past. Businesses can use demographics to understand their target market. By segmenting your mailing list you can target particular products to customers most likely to be interested.

Variable data printing (VDP)

Variable data printing is an advanced method of better targeting printed materials. Using VDP you can mix-and-match images and messages in the same print run. Wikipedia defines it as:

"Variable-data printing (VDP) (also known as variable-information printing (VIP) or VI) is a form of digital printing, including on-demand printing, in which elements such as text, graphics and images may be changed from one printed piece to the next, without stopping or slowing down the printing process and using information from a database or external file."

Mail merge or the ability to personalize correspondence with your name is a simple version of variable data printing. With the growing profiles made possible by social media, a company could theoretically customize each message with an image or text specific to the recipient.

For example, women could receive a message with a female photo while men receive one of a male. Or the image on a mailing could reflect a known hobby to capture more attention. Companies could target segments of their mailing list based on whether someone enjoys golf or works out in a gym.

RELATED: Print Advertising Pros and Cons