174: Print can be a useful differentiator

When everybody’s crowding the inbox, try the mailbox.

My friend Todd Lebo from Ascend2 sent me a new research study on the use of print in marketing.

Yes, that’s right. Print. You might think print is dead, but if you didn’t get the memo, I announced the death of “the death of print” quite a while ago.

Print publications and print marketing still have an important role, but of course it’s a smaller role than it used to be.

Allegra and Ascend2 partnered on some research on this topic. I’ll provide a link below.

“58 percent of marketers,” they say, “expect to increase their use of printed marketing materials in the coming year,” and marketers who have used printed materials in the past year are more likely to have seen an increase in revenue.

Brochures and flyers are the most popular printed marketing materials, followed by non-post card direct mail and promotional signs.

High printing and production costs are the main barrier to more extensive use of print marketing, but ROI remains high.

The main thing holding people back from using print is simple preference. They prefer digital channels – possibly because they think digital marketing is easier to track. That may be a misconception, and I’ll provide a link below on that topic.

The report discusses a lot of things about the quality of the printing, which is an interesting differentiator. You can make a printed brochure really stand out with specialty finishes, die cuts, high quality paper, and so on. There’s nothing really analogous on the digital side.

Marketers who use direct mail say it improves brand awareness and the company’s image.

This research study strengthens the idea – at least in mind – that on both the marketing and the product side, print is a luxury option. Don’t use it as the workhorse. Use it for small lists. For your best customers. Use print to make an impression.

Links

Impact of Print and Mail in Modern Marketing Strategy
https://www.allegramarketingprint.com/impact-of-print-in-modern-marketing-strategy

Online advertising: The funny, fuzzy math
https://martech.org/online-advertising-the-funny-fuzzy-math/

The death of “the death of print”
https://krehbielgroup.com/2023/10/21/im-announcing-the-death-of-the-death-of-print/