Ever-present digital media hasn’t put print to rest. In fact, studies indicate that while digital media is key for generating interest, print media wins the day when it comes to generating action. For example, the News/Media Alliance reports that over 90 percent of 18- to 34-year-old women took action after seeing an ad in both a magazine and on its website. They also found that magazine print ads lift brands when it comes to increasing consumer awareness and intentions to buy.

This means the multichannel, one-two punch of print and digital performs better than either platform alone. Multichannel marketing also ensures your message goes to all prospects—even those who rely mostly on one medium. So, whether you’re looking to generate leads, boost brand loyalty or make sales, going prigital will supercharge your campaigns.

The Power of Print

In an age of screen fatigue, print’s enhanced touch-and-feel tangibility makes it stand out with qualities like these:

·       Increased credibility: 82 percent of consumers surveyed trust marketing messages in print magazines and newspapers, and 76 percent trust direct mail marketing, including custom magazines and catalogs. All forms of online marketing and advertising are less trusted, especially pop-up ads.

·       Better engagement: Print readers are more focused on and likelier to recall marketing messages than digital readers. Brain research finds that print content yields higher comprehension and retention rates than similar digital content. Print also activates neural activity associated with desirability and reward.

·       Higher return: In a survey by NCSolutions, the return for ads in print magazines was 50 percent higher than for digital display ads. Other data show that 70 percent of households with income higher than $100,000 are traditional print readers.

The Desirability of Digital

With 49 percent of shoppers saying they use Google to discover products and services, digital marketing strategies such as search engine optimization, social media and granular web analytics are necessary for most businesses. Advantages include:

·       Laser-focused targeting: Digital ads can generate high-quality leads with precision by both accessing a massive demographic and homing in on highly specific groups.  

·       Flexible, results-based strategizing: Digital spend allows easy experimentation with search, display and social advertising to maximize returns. Evaluating how creative options and placement strategies perform in real time lets you drop low-performing approaches and boost high-performing ones.

·       Personalized communication: Analyzing data from digital campaigns can drive action such as offering individual customers perks and incentives that promote brand loyalty, with 91 percent of consumers saying they’re more likely to shop with companies that provide relevant offers, content and recommendations.

Benefits of Multichannel Marketing

An integrated, multichannel plan can strategically deliver messages through a variety of carefully selected channels, with benefits like these:

·       Cohesive narrative: Crosslinked media channels reinforce one another and create familiarity, enticing customers to warm up to your brand and ultimately take action.

·       Better performance: Integrating print and digital marketing into a comprehensive initiative often has an exponentially positive effect on reach and conversion.

·       Increased return on investment: Repurposing, adapting and re-directing core messaging and creative saves money while increasing reach and performance.

·       Familiar customer experience: Establishing a presence across traditional and newer media lets you reach customers where they are.

Creating Effective Integrated Marketing

Consider these tips for developing an integrated, multichannel marketing plan.

·       Identify influential channels. Deepen your understanding of your target audiences and the media they frequent so you can leverage channels that do best at driving conversions for your brand. Consider diverse options such as interactive magalogs, custom magazines, events, social media campaigns and search ads.

·       Develop a strong identity. Give messaging a consistent look and feel in elements such as photography, graphics, language, color palette and fonts to ensure consumers recognize your business in any context or on any platform.

·       Strategically repurpose content. Built a case study? Include it in your e-newsletter, post an excerpt on LinkedIn and publish highlights in your company brochure. Have a new website video? Tease it on social media and repurpose its information as an e-newsletter article and blog post. Investing in a photo shoot? Search outtakes for potential social media posts.

·       Drive traffic toward goals. Have each marketing element drive people toward a desired action. Example: A shortened URL or a QR code in a print piece offers a convenient route to a website or custom landing page where customers can fulfill your goal (a purchase, subscription, lead, etc.).

·       Measure print engagement. QR codes can provide details about users and help capture leads. Vouchers and coupons can feature unique codes that tell where they originated. Customized landing pages can provide customers exactly the information they want in a design format consistent with your campaign. Dedicated phone numbers can track inbound calls generated by specific marketing materials.

·       Seek help. Partnering with an experienced agency for select projects lets your busy team focus on other priorities and brings fresh perspective to your marketing program.

In short, print is an effective and trackable marketing tool that partners well with digital to expand your reach and increase campaign effectiveness. Not sure where to start? Let the experts at Wainscot plan your multichannel strategy. Schedule a consult today!

‍