“PRINT IS DEAD!” they say marching down the streets with their pitchforks and iPhones. Well, not really, but they do say that and it’s hard not to believe them. In a world where every advertisement follows you around web page to web page the idea of printing and mailing seems so retro right? Wrong!
Printing can actually be your best platform for advertising and reaching potential clients. It all comes down to knowing how to do it. Now I am not telling you to drop every digital advertising tactic you have and jump on the direct mail train. What I am saying though, is in the right situation Direct Mail is your best option for getting the word out. Here are four bullet points that will show you how Direct Mail can be effective.
•Direct Mail allows you to target specific audiences
With Direct Mailing you can target the exact audience in the exact location that you want. Let’s say you are a take-out restaurant that stays open later than any of your competitors. It would be in your best interest to locate your clientele and let them know how late you stay open. In this case it could be college students, so with direct mailing we can find all of the students in a ten-mile radius and send them your menu! Just like that you have woken up a whole group of hungry students looking to get some late late night grub.
•Print is da bomb
So I probably just dated myself with that phrase but its true, Print is da bomb! You can do amazing things with print and packaging that you can’t do with digital media. Have you ever opened any packaging from Apple and absolutely fallen in love with the box (I do this all the time)? Well that is part of Print! Talk to your printer/designer (me) about what you can do to spice up your packaging.
•Print and Digital can be friends
That’s right, print and digital can get along. In fact, they should get along to optimize your marketing. You can use a personalized URL (PURL) on your direct mailing to feature an offer for your customers through QR code or a URL you can track. This way you have the pretty package and still get to stare off into your smart phone. Win win!
•The cost of postage has gone down
Yes! The cost of postage has gone down for the first time since 1919! Now for those individuals who buy a book of stamps for a few letters a year this isn’t going to mean a whole lot. But if are a business sending out direct mailers this can potentially save you a lot of money. So get on it before it goes up again!
The bottom line here is that print is not dead; in fact it’s alive and well. With the right marketing tactics you can make print and direct mail work for you in ways that digital advertising just can’t.
