Email, newsletter, print mailing, or posters? Every day, marketers are faced with the decision of which dialog marketing strategy is the most effective.
In today’s fast-paced world, it is immensely important for companies to acquire new customers and retain existing clients in the long term through an effective and optimally planned dialog marketing strategy.
Digitization has significantly changed our understanding of communication and advertising. Nevertheless, these changes do not mean that print is ‘dead‘; rather, it should be seen as a complement to digital communication. With the digital change, print has evolved. Target group-specific and content-rich print materials appeal to customers differently than a YouTube clip or a tweet. In the past, mailboxes were overflowing with advertising; now it’s e-mail inboxes. So print is well on its way to becoming a premium marketing tool and is therefore continuously receiving great attention. Because of this increasing exclusivity, it is precisely digital technology that makes print more attractive. While digital advertising tends to be focused on reaching relatively small numbers of narrow markets, poster printing enables your marketing campaigns to span generations, geography, and genres. It is one of the most cost-effective marketing methods, since it allows you to reach thousands of people from just one print.
The combination of print and online media, however, can be designated as an optimal marketing approach. It allows addressing consumers in a more targeted, individualized, and at the same time more cost-effective way than with conventional brochures.
Cross-media marketing combines print & digital marketing
The reach that can be achieved with online marketing is correspondingly large. Digital media are very appealing, not least because of the permanent presence of smartphones and digital services such as apps. Online marketing is measurable and can be controlled through campaign management. But does this mean that the end of print marketing is approaching? Not at all! Print is far from being obsolete and will continue to be widely used. In combination with digital marketing, it can even increase its potential enormously. Haptics is still a very popular approach within marketing; a purely virtual brochure can be interpreted as less animating as a printed version. This is because print conveys a certain value: feeling, scent, and colour brilliance are all crucial factors. They are aspects that online marketing cannot represent in the same way. It is precisely these sensory perceptions through haptics that are difficult to renounce. Thus, a combination of print and online media is a promising way to reach as many customers as possible, with different preferences.
Cross-media marketing measures
- Personalize your print materials
Digital printing allows print to offer a personalised customer experience: from personalised graphics and images to embossing or engraving. Put your customer data to good use and inform your audience via personalised letters and greeting cards. Printed matters can now be produced individually in small runs and with the best quality. Each brochure can be unique and can contain only the products that fit the individual ordering behaviour.
- Use QR codes and personalized URLs
QR codes and personalized URLs are easy to use, especially with smartphones. Every scan or click is tracked and provides valuable insights into customer behaviour. Simple QR codes can also direct new and existing customers to an individualised website. You can place them on every medium, from catalogues to sales letters and brochures.
- Use powerful call-to-actions (CTAs) to drive customer dialogue
You can include CTAs in print and in digital materials. For example, you can use social media icons in brochures or flyers, promotional codes in mailers, coupons with an expiration date in emails. CTAs drive traffic and provide insights into consumer behaviour and the effectiveness of cross-media efforts.
Instead of treating digital and print as competing elements, their combination should be perceived as promising opportunity. A cross-media advertising strategy, for example, combining personalized print mailings and online marketing, can be an optimal marketing solution for your business.
