At Print Three, we’ve already debunked the myth that print is dead. We’ve also shown that while you can’t deny digital marketing’s effectiveness, it’s necessary to bridge the gap between your print and digital marketing.
There are also certain instances where the World Wide Web won’t do, and classic print can’t be rivaled. As the saying goes, everything old is new again.
Here are three forms of print that will never be adequately replicated by digital media:
Professional Business Cards
A fancy e-mail signature, a savvy linked in profile, or an online portfolio don’t stack up to the personal touch of a business card. Digital branding tools are at the mercy of online navigation, whereas a personal business card is a physical keepsake someone puts in their wallet, keeps on their desk, or sticks to their fridge.
Your professional business card can carry the same information you’d fine online (such as profiles and portfolios), making it easier for potential clients or employers to access and view your brand!
Much like the above example, you can make your personalized business card memorable, creative, and a keepsake for recipients. You don’t need to shackle yourself to a business card that is merely a vessel for personal information.
Since it’s a physical item, a personal business card makes you stand out with no navigation necessary, while digital branding alone would equate you to a needle in the online haystack.
Direct Mail Marketing
While the content of direct mail advertising is essential, similar content can be executed via e-mail. Part of what separates direct mail from e-mail marketing is the envelope, since it can be eye-catching, interactive, and clever, such as the above example.
These are not advantages afforded to online e-mail newsletters and e-blasts, which are handicapped by the limitations of inboxes and subject heads.
Once the envelope is open, many successful direct mail campaigns offer some kind of promotional product, or engagement piece to further entice potential customers. Items such as key chains, beer bottle openers, or other creative items are always effective, provided they thematically fall in line with your direct mail marketing campaign.
Comparatively, e-mail cannot offer something as immediate and tangible, therefore they cannot compete with a well crafted direct mail advertising campaign.
People’s tolerance for unsolicited e-mails, no matter how eye-catching or clever of a subject header, is low. It’ll likely end up in trash folders and your address could be filtered into spam. People are skeptical of e-mail security, given bulk e-mail’s propensity for being rife with viruses and scams.
Click here for some wonderfully creative and interactive direct marketing ideas.
Traditional Advertisement and Signage
Be it a billboard to promote the new feature on a car, a poster to promote your band’s big gig, or wide format signage for your booth at a trade show, there is no digital equivalent to match these print media needs.
Contrary to popular belief, not everyone is perusing their phones while in public. If someone’s driving, they aren’t navigating the web through their mobile device (unless they’re okay with a hefty fine and demerit points). Billboards fill the ad space which digital cannot, by reaching the millions of people on the road.
It’s near impossible to use your mobile data while on the subway, giving posters a distinct advantage in reaching the millions who are using the trains, as well as the forgotten mole people.
People at trade shows are networking and interacting, not glued to their cell phones; wide format printing signage can both promote and direct people to your business’s booth.
Print Thrives Where Digital Can’t
People are growing increasingly numb to digital advertising. While it aids in brand awareness, and can effectively eek its way into consumers’ consciousness, physical print remains the way to truly leave a lasting impression.
You may have killer digital campaigns. Your social media is tight, your Google ads are on point, and your e-mail marketing has wicked conversion rates.
But you may be neglecting essential print marketing materials such as professional business cards, wide format printing, or direct mail marketing, missing out on crucial opportunities to bolster your brand, your business, or yourself.
Thankfully, Print Three can offer our expertise and four decades worth of experience in print media and brand marketing to help you bolster your print marketing! Find a local Print Three near you to learn more!