This is a fast-changing world where everything revolves around the internet. Technology is advancing day by day. Businesses are using new methods of marketing to dominate the market and attract new customers but, in this changing environment, we should not underestimate the power of print marketing.
Table of content
- What is print marketing?
- Origin of print marketing
- Types of print marketing
- Benefits of print marketing
- The drawback of print marketing
- conclusion
So, what is print marketing?
Print marketing or print advertisement refers to the earliest and most traditional form of marketing. In which businesses use printed material like newspapers, magazines, postcards, brochures, business cards, etc to promote their products and services.
But print marketing has changed a lot due to several reasons like technological advancement and consumer trends but it hasn’t lost its effectiveness.
It is still very effective to grab potential customers.
Origin of print marketing
Before diving more deeply into “What is print marketing?” let’s discuss the origin/history of print marketing.
As we discussed above, print marketing is the earliest form of marketing.
Print marketing has been going on since ancient civilizations. It was practiced in ancient China and Egypt in which they wrote text and drew images on wood, fabrics, and walls to advertise their products.
After ancient civilization, the printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century 1440, and it was a crazy invention at that time.
Due to this, mass production of printed material like newspapers, pamphlets, and books has been started which helped many businesses to market their products.
Due to the popularity of the printing press broadside ballads, posters, and handbills were used in the 16th century to market goods.
These posters were used to advertise, promote political leaders, and inform people about events and news.
In the 17th-19th century, the newspaper began to gain popularity.
The newspaper was the best medium for businesses to advertise their product and connect to customers.
Due to this, companies connect to their customers and give them information about new products.
After the 19th century, advancement took place in printing technologies, and lithography and colored printing were born which makes the advertisement more attractive or appealing.
In the early 20th century, magazines and catalogs came into the market and became the best option for companies to advertise their products and services.
These printing materials are best to convey the message to their customers and specific to their audience.
Businesses use these mediums to provide detailed product descriptions to their customers.
Now in the 21st century, we can see many people shifting towards online news reading platforms (apps and websites).
Now many companies spend their money on new marketing methods rather than on print advertisements, but it doesn’t mean print marketing is dead, it’s still very efficient in many ways.
Types of print marketing
After discussing what is print marketing? and its origin. Now let’s discuss it’s several types through which brand promote their products and services.
Let’s understand print marketing types one by one.
1. Newspaper
Newspaper is the widely used medium for advertisement of their products. They help a brand to reach a broader audience as well as a local audience.
Newspapers also provide time-to-time information that is up to date and people also trust newspapers more than any online information because established newspapers have a long history and a reputation of credibility and trust.
Newspapers also provide businesses with multiple options to display their ads like inserts, classified ads, display ads, and many more.
This helps businesses to choose according to their goals, budget, and nature of their business.
2. Magazines
Magazines are a great medium if a business wants to target a specific audience. It helps to reach the right audience or you can say to grab the potential audience. It contains attractive visuals which helps to attract the audience.
Magazines are published on a monthly or quarterly basis and they provide brief information about the product and services which helps the reader to grab more information about the brand.
Just like newspapers it also provides multiple options to businesses to display their ads according to their goal, budget, and the nature of the business.
Due to the high-quality display, visuals, illustration, and targeted nature of readership, it is more expensive than a newspaper.
3. Billboards and posters
These are printed materials in large format designs for high visibility. These are mostly seen in public places to promote products and services or to inform people about any event. The high visibility nature of billboards and posters creates brand awareness.
These are best if the business wants to target a local audience and they provide 24/7 continuous exposure. Attractive or creative billboards or posters attract people and compel them to buy the company’s product.
These are costly because of high visibility, maintenance, and production costs. Only businesses with a good marketing budget can afford it.
4. Direct mail marketing
Direct mail marketing is a method where promotional printed material like postcards, letters, catalogs, and brochures are sent directly to the customer through mail. This is an old method but is still relevant and effective.
This type allows businesses to connect with customers at a deeper level and increase engagement. Businesses keep track of customer data and behavior which helps them to design the mail according to the customer.
For example- If a person shows interest in a product then the business will send him a personalized discount mail to increase the likelihood of conversion.
Direct mail also helps to target a specific audience and send them mail to increase ROI.
5. Flyers and leaflets
These are the sheet-sized printed promotional materials that are used to promote products and services or to inform about any event. These are single sheets that can be printed on both sides and these are handed to people mostly on streets and events.
It is good for small businesses because they are very cost-effective and good for targeting local areas. businesses also use them to announce discounts, sales, and their new products.
An appealing and unique flyers and leaflets can help a business to create more awareness and generate more leads.
6. Brochures
Brochures are bi or tri-folded booklets and they contain lots of visuals, text, and charts. They have more information about the produce. Brochures are used to inform, educate, and grab the attention of customers so that they can promote their products and services.
Just like flyers and leaflets, brochures are also used to target specific audiences or local area customers but brochures are considered a more professional way to advertise than flyers or leaflets because they are mostly used to advertise high-end products and services.
The benefit of print marketing
This marketing type plays a vital role when it comes to making a powerful print marketing strategy. This marketing method is old but it doesn’t lose its effectiveness.
In the digitally advanced era, the print has gained renewed significance so let’s explore print marketing by discussing its benefits.
1. Trust
We all know that nowadays the internet is full of misinformation and you cannot trust anything you see on the internet.
In the case of print material, people take it more seriously they provide a sense of permanence that digital content may lack. People trust them because they are very traditional methods of doing marketing which has been going on for years.
2. Targeted approach
Printed material helps businesses target local customers or specific audiences. they are the best way to attract the local as well as potential audience.
For example- posters and banners are effective for promoting local events, magazines are effective for targeting a focused audience, and billboards are effective for targeting local audiences.
3. Brand awareness or recognition
Brand awareness is very important when it comes to growing a business. A well-designed or appealing print material attracts customers by creating a positive impact on them and increasing brand awareness.
For example- a well-designed brochure or postcard will create a positive impact on the customer which will lead to a positive image of the business.
4. Versatility
Print marketing offers a wide variety of options to businesses when it comes to promoting their brands. Options like newspapers, magazines, brochures, postcards, billboards, posters, and many more. businesses can choose any option according to their goal.
It also provides multiple ways to display the ads according to the budget, goal, and nature of the business.
The drawback of print marketing
Even though print marketing is very relevant and effective but it also has some drawbacks-
1. Limited reach
As discussed above print marketing is only beneficial when you are targeting a local or specific audience. It cannot advertise your product in another country.
So if you are trying to take your business to a global level then print marketing is not for you.
2. limited analytics
print advertisement is a great way to create brand awareness but it gives you very little analytics about the customers which is not a good thing.
Without good analytics, you cannot track consumer patterns and behavior which will create difficulty in making effective strategies.
In this case, online marketing will be the best case for businesses.
3. Sometimes it is expensive
Print marketing sometimes can be expensive because print material should be attractive to attract customers and it requires the expertise of the graphic designer and other professionals to make it appealing.
It can also be costly if a business is updating its information from time to time because when a business changes its information time to time then they have to make new printing materials to promote them.
4. Dependency on other channels
Print marketing is mostly dependent on distribution channels. They are the main reason for their success because the right distribution channels help print marketing enhance the visibility of printing material.
The right distribution channels will focus on the quality and it will deliver the printed material timely on the event.
For example- the right distribution channel will do timely delivery of newspapers to your house.
The future of print marketing
As we can see, every year several new technologies come which replace the old way of doing work and make people’s life more easy. Technology has a significant impact on print marketing techniques and methods. It has made them more innovative.
Nowadays people use their mobile phones to read the news from a website and businesses use mail to inform their customers about sales, discounts, and a new product.
But does it mean print marketing will decrease its popularity in the future?
The answer is NO, It is still a healthy way to promote your brand.
According to Statista, in the print advertisement market, the number of readers is expected to amount to 3.2 bn users by 2028
According to Conquest Graphics,
82% of consumers trust print advertisements the most when making a purchase decision.
73% of people said they prefer receiving print advertisements.
80% of people said they look forward to receiving print ads in the mail.
And 88% of people take their time to look through the print ads.
So as we can see print marketing is still going on healthily and technology will affect print marketing by making it more innovative.
new methods will born like digital printing technologies which allow businesses to tailor print material to individual preferences which will help them to connect to the customer at more deeper level.
Due to technology the QR code, augmented reality, and other interactive elements bridge the gap between print marketing and new technologies.
conclusion
print marketing is a traditional and effective way to advertise any product or service. It provides businesses with different ways to market their brands like brochures, leaflets, newspapers, billboards, etc. Businesses should also try to adopt new methods to make print marketing more effective.
Businesses should try to combine the strengths of digital and print marketing to create a holistic strategy and leverage the strengths of both.