Whether you want to increase sales, awareness, or engagement, one goal that all print marketing campaigns have in common is a high return on investment (ROI).
Here are seven simple but essential steps to take that’ll maximize your print ROI and reach your desired results.
1. Target to the Right Audience
It won’t matter how great your content is if it isn’t seen by the right people. You need to consider who you want to reach and what you want them to do. Your ideal audience consists of people with a problem you can solve, and who will pay for that solution. What do these people have in common? Who are they? What do they need? What language and tone will appeal to them and their lifestyle?
Once you’ve answered all these questions, you can build a campaign that appeals to that audience and achieve a higher ROI.
2. Be Relevant
Don’t promote Valentine’s Day chocolate during Thanksgiving; it’s just not what your audience (or anyone) wants. Center your campaign around what your audience will be looking for when it launches. Some of information this will come from common sense (Christmas tree ornaments in December), and you can determine the rest by researching trends and past insights to make educated predictions. Offer you audience what they want, when they want it.
3. Spell it Out
Make it easy for your audience to say yes to your offer. Speak in their language (see number 1) and use clear, concise copy and visuals to explain exactly how your offer will improve their lives. Then make it as easy as possible for your audience to act. Offer incentives that will encourage them to act now (discounts or early bird bonuses), and provide instructions that make it easy for them to go through the process, such as a map to your store or a QR code to your website.
4. Be Valuable
The product or service you’re promoting should be a real solution to your audience’s problems, and in addition to telling them about the solution, give them something valuable right off the bat, such as a discount code or industry insight. Consistently providing value will build trust and credibility with your audience, increasing the chances of them buying in and improving your ROI.
5. Personalize Your Content
Thanks to variable data printing, you can personalize your direct mail on a whole new level. Addressing your target by name, for instance, builds a personal relationship through your direct mail. You can also use variable printing to segment your campaign into slightly different offers based on demographics, location, or purchasing history within your target audience. Furthering your value through this level of personalization will make individual audience members more inclined to say yes.
Related: Why is Personalized Printing Important in 2019?
6. Integrate with Digital Campaigns
Creating a campaign that spans print and digital is a great way to maximize your ROI. Building on the idea of making things easy for your target, you can use QR codes on print pieces to intuitively direct your target to similarly themed websites, landing pages, or social campaigns. This will reinforce your brand statement and offerings at all touchpoints, and the obvious calls to action in your digital spaces will prompt engagement.
7. Take Out the Trash
Irrelevant and incomplete data can be expensive; in addition to being wasteful to both your funds and the environment, appearing in the wrong mailbox can damage your brand’s reputation. Delete duplicate and incomplete records, make sure your unsubscribers are unsubscribed, and enlist professional services to ensure you’re not mailing the deceased or people who have changed addresses.
If you want to put these steps into practice and maximize your print return on investment, Print Three can help. Get in touch with the print experts at a Print Three location near you.