“Give me one good reason why I should market in print.”
Anyone selling marketing and advertising services … either as ad sales or just selling the idea to your boss … has probably heard this challenge, in some form. And if you sell ad space in your publications, you’ve run into this resistance before, no doubt. What you need is answers backed by data.
So instead of one good reason, how about three?
1. Print creates visuals that stand out from the crowd.
“Print creates an experience that is visually appealing to the eye,” writes Stacey Hawes in Epsilon. “Seeing (along with giving, receiving and handling) tangible objects remains a deep and intuitive part of the human experience. Our clients often share with us that print enables them to get more personal with their marketing programs helping to create a ‘1-You’ experience.”
She cites catalog browsing as a good example, with consumers spending far longer engaging in a print catalog than they do with an online promotion.
2. Print drives new demand.
Print is a proven driver of interest and demand for products.
“Think of print as an experience,” Hawes writes. “With today’s advanced technologies, marketers have innovated the catalog experience by integrating AR (augmented reality) with their catalogs by adding quick response (QR) codes that activate mobile phone cameras and trigger a ‘digital twin’ of the product. This digital replication is life-like and allows the consumer to preview features they’d see in-store.”
This in-depth interaction draws the buyer into the sales journey as they picture themselves right into your sales funnel. High-end retailers and the auto industry have understood this for years. Print has that power to engage and drive results.
3. Print drives ROI.
Yes, print is more expensive to create than digital. And it’s worth it, Hawes notes.
“Print is an expensive marketing channel when compared to others currently available; however, clients continue to see the value and increase in ROI from leveraging the direct mail channel,” she writes. “U.S. advertisers spend $167 per person on direct mail to earn $2,095 worth of goods sold. That’s a 1,300% return on their investment.”
The evidence is there; you can fill your sales quiver with lots of good evidence to make the case. So the next time something asks, be ready to answer them in bottom-line terms