With the rise of social media, online advertising and the digital world in general, print marketing is often overlooked by marketing strategists. However, start-up businesses with limited funds might be missing a trick if they don’t capitalise on the incredible successes of print marketing.
Print marketing remains massively effective, even with the advent of digital marketing. But how? Where The Trade Buys, a specialist that produces roll up banners and other printing services, explains the advantages of print marketing and how start-ups can make a success of it as part of a budget campaign.
How does print marketing measure up to digital?
Almost any type of service and product is available online, so it’s no surprise that the web is also home to a lot of advertising and marketing campaigns. The digital world has tremendous range and power, reaching millions of customers in seconds. For this reason, companies believe they have the best chance of getting their marketing message to their audience on social and digital platforms. However, only 20% of users click on any online banner advert. Bearing in mind that most of this 20% won’t even convert into a sale, is it worth paying the competitive price for the digital space? What about print media? If you also consider that 63% of UK adults still read magazines (according to YouGov) and only 10% regularly read these online, maybe digital isn’t so perfect after all.
The history of print marketing, rather than holding it back in the modern world, actually just proves how successful it is. When created and executed properly, it can be very lucrative. In fact, out of all printing, 34% is for advertising and marketing products like event programmes and tickets, while 30% is for products like newspapers and magazines.
Can start-ups afford print marketing prices?
In short, yes. Start-up companies with even very limited funds can carry out successful print marketing campaigns — as long as they keep their eye on and outdo the competition, of course. There are about 80 new businesses launching in the UK every hour, according to a report by StartUp Britain (a national, government-backed campaign), so you want something that’s going to be cost-effective but successful. Luckily, there are several techniques that you can utilise to make your print marketing campaign a success on a budget.
Why brochures are an excellent alternative to digital
If you’re wondering what a good substitute for digital marketing is, you might want to consider brochures. This form of print marketing delivers a professional look and clear brand message to potential customers, which is just what you want from a marketing campaign. When designing your brochure, just remember that your priorities are to ensure your branding is clear, your message stands out and your style is eye-catching. Don’t think you needs lots of pages to say what you want. Creating a budget brochure means keeping it short and sweet, so sticking to a few pages (we suggest 8 to 12) is the goal.
An effective brochure should include:
- Clear designs.
- Intriguing headlines.
- Succinct and informative copy (i.e. give only necessary details if you want to save you money in printing costs).
- Unique selling points.
- A strong call-to-action.
- Precise and correct print. (no spelling and grammatical errors).
What about when it comes to how many brochures you need to distribute? The more brochures you order, the less you pay per copy — but there’s no point in ordering thousands if you only need hundreds. Nobody wants to see their cash wasted, so make sure you utilise your budget wisely.
Why direct mail is an excellent alternative to digital
Many experienced marketing strategists overlook direct mail when it comes to advertising their brands. But this is a big mistake. Sometimes referred to as ‘junk mail’, direct mail can work wonders for your business. In 2009, direct mail accounted for 10.7% of the UK’s entire advertising expenditure. Also, in 2015, more than 2.5 billion direct mail coupons were exchanged and 54% of consumers that were surveyed revealed that they’d be happy to get direct mail from brands that might interest them.
If you need more convincing, just compare it to its digital counterpart: 80-90% of direct mail is opened as opposed to just 20-30% of emails. Clearly, this is a win for start-up companies looking to get their message across to potential new consumers.
Print is still riding high when it comes to marketing, despite the exponential rise of digital. When you take a good look at it, you realise how affordable it really is. Of course, we know the global range of digital is impressive. But for start-ups, print marketing is a cost-effective, personal and professional way to boost your brand and transform your business as it’s growing.
