Whoa! Wait a minute!

Despite the burgeoning of the internet as the major vehicle to reach potential customers, print is still alive and kicking, so don’t be too quick to plan the funeral. In fact, it’s still one of the best ways to raise brand awareness.

But one little ad in your local newspaper won’t make a quantum dent in reaching your target market. Consistency and repetition are vital. In marketing, the ‘rule of seven’ states that a potential client needs to see your ad at least 7 times before they make a connection. When they’re ready to buy, your name is top of mind.

Besides print ad campaigns, promotional material also plays a vital role in your marketing mix. There’s nothing better to put your company in the spotlight at conventions, meetings or trade-shows than a content rich, snazzy piece of eye candy. No one is going to walk by your trade-show booth and pull out their Blackberry to peruse your site. They will later, but your print collateral is the intro point so it’s important to make a good first impression.

Slow Cooking or Instant Gratification?

All forms of media can be used for either building brand awareness or to make an instant sale.

Online advertising is fast becoming the primary method for direct response. Email marketing campaigns to a targeted database are the most popular along with offers and opt-ins on landing web pages.

However many organizations are still using the highly effective snail mail approach. You know, those pesky multi-page mailers about the latest health cure that read longer than some novels. Love them or hate them—they work! When targeted to the right audience and written with a savvy strategy that only a hot copywriter can pull off, those direct mail pieces rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales.

The ‘but wait…there’s more!’ approach (cheesy as it seems) really does persuade people to open their wallets.

Keeping it Green

Naturally online advertising is the ultimate environmentally conscious choice however there’s no denying that print still plays a big part in reaching potential customers.

The good news is a new paradigm is emerging in the print business. Printers are changing their reputation from a dirty industry to a clean one. This article in Green Biz shows what is being done and how you can support eco-friendly options:
http://www.climatebiz.com/resources/resource/environmentally-preferable-printing

By choosing printers that use chlorine free, 100% recycled paper and vegetable based inks, you will maintain your pro-environment leadership position AND still be able to show off without the guilt!