The importance of Investing in Quality Print

CHARITY ADVICE

The importance of Investing in Quality Print

With all the advances in digital technology and more people living and working online than ever before, it would be really easy to believe that print is on the decline. In fact, many organisations even choose to assume this, focusing all of their marketing efforts online and abandoning more traditional methods. While this would be easy to believe, it simply isn’t true.

Print is still very much alive and actually outperforms other forms of marketing with certain audiences.

The key, as with every form of marketing, is to use it right.

It’s not good enough for an organisation to make up some slapdash flyers or business cards just to have some printing materials that they can distribute in bulk.

Print marketing needs to be TARGETED UNIQUEand most importantly, HIGH QUALITY

If print marketing is used right and in combination with other media avenues, it actually has the potential to significantly increase your response rates. As well as results, it also offers many other benefits. To help you make the most of your print, we’ve put together a list of the main advantages as well as tips of how to improve the quality of print that you have.

The Benefits of High Quality Print

1. Print is More Engaging & Memorable - the key with print marketing is due to how our brains capture and process information on paper. Reading is slower, deeper and more-focused, which allows our brains to comprehend what we’ve read and remember it. People tend to engage more with print as there are less distractions. They are also less likely to skim read text on print, so are more likely to digest the whole message.

2. Credibility - offering your audience high quality and reliable print content consistently will develop credibility and therefore trust in your brand. A massive audience still doesn’t ‘trust’ the online world, so print is an alternative tool to drive these people to your website or to contact you direct.

3. Brand Consistency - print helps to establish your organisation in the offline world, therefore, this builds credibility of your digital outlets and an instant recollection of your organisation by association. Two very essential things to building a loyal audience!

4. Print Targets a Wider Audience - it’s so easy for people to unplug their digital devices, but print remains front of mind. What’s really great about printing materials as well is that you can target very specific markets, plus they are in circulation for longer instead of the 5 or so minutes you get on twitter.

5. Sets You Apart from Competitors - as many organisations think that print doesn’t have a place in marketing, there is a whole audience that aren’t being targeted by them. By running effective print marketing campaigns, you’ll stand out from your competitors and reap the rewards!

6. Print Ads Drive Action - it has been found that print marketing makes products and cause more desirable and therefore drives more sales and support. Why? Because print is tangible and engages the senses. Multi sensory connections make it easier for readers to visualise doing, feeling and experiencing, therefore it increases the demand for them. It has also been said that print ads appeal to “influentials” more than digital ads, these are consumers who have the ability to sway other consumers.

Remember:

Print has the potential to build brand awareness and generate return on investment, however, like all forms of marketing, the most effective method is using them all in combination. It’s not enough to just set up each platform and leave it ‘do it’s job,’ each element of marketing needs time and money invested in each.

It might be that print is not the best method for your organisation, but without trying it first, you could be missing out on reaching your audience and impacting your target market. Print is a cornerstone component of marketing that will help you drive results, so be sure to give it your full efforts and test it in multiple ways like digital campaigns to find what works for you.

Easy Tips to Improve Your Print Quality

1. Identify Target Audience - spend some time identifying yourtarget audience or audiences. This will allow you to create a message and design that engages and captivates them more, ultimately driving more results.

2. Choose Quality Material - a quality finish can make all thedifference. Your printing materials reflect on you and your organisation, therefore you want people to remember you for your quality and professionalism rather than being associated as ‘cheap.’

3. Be Creative - the more you can stand out the better! Considerexperimenting with different textures, such as a velvet finish, die-cutting shapes, such as flyers in the shape of your service, or even smells. Anything that makes you unique will ensure that you’ll be hard to forget!

4. Stimulate as Many Senses as Possible - The more sensesyou can engage, the more of an impact you will make. We associate memories with senses, so it makes sense to utilise this and make your organisation memorable!

5. Less is More - when it comes to content on your printingmaterials, try to convey your message in the least amount of words as possible. Materials that contain less information are more likely to be read as people naturally take the path of least resistance.

6. Know What Constitutes Success & Measure it - printmarketing is completely different to digital marketing, so metrics such as engagement are going to be almost impossible to measure. Decide on a metric that says success to you, whether that is sales or referrals etc, and measure this over a period of time. Only when you understand the goal and purpose of your print can you know if it is effective!