What is Print Advertising and Why You Need it

In a world obsessed with online marketing, most people say that print advertising is dead and buried. We beg to differ.

Print advertising is not only alive but works like a charm, even in today’s age. And every marketer that includes print marketing material in their advertising strategy gets a great open and response rate when done through direct mail.

However, to ensure that your print advertisements get great results, you’d need to invest in the quality of your marketing collaterals, their designs, copy, and, of course, your offer.

You cannot just send and distribute anything and expect to get results. To convey your marketing message to the right people and leave a good impression of your brand on your customers, you’d need to invest in quality.

In this guide, we’ll explain why your business needs print advertisements and what kind of print marketing materials you can use to grow your sales.

But before we get into the nitty-gritty of marketing material, let’s first understand what exactly print advertising is.

Let’s dive right in.

1. Provides Credibility

When you put your advertisement in some of the widely known newspapers and magazines, it works to your advantage. The publications, which are known for providing good content, already have a large audience that listens to them.

Now, leveraging this credibility, you can advertise your products and services in those print media. It’ll be like third-party credibility, and people will notice and read your message.

2. High Influence

According to the American consumer’s MRI survey, consumers are more than 50% influenced by magazines and newspapers. Hence, along with digital marketing, print advertising in your marketing strategy can be a massive plus for you.

3. Long Attention Span

Unlike blogs and online advertisements, print marketing is known to have your prospects’ attention for a longer duration.

This is mainly true because when people are online, they have multiple tabs opened in their browsers. Several different channels are trying to get their attention through different means, like pop-ups, ad videos & images, etc.

However, it’s not the same in print advertising. When people read a magazine or a newspaper, they usually just read that at a time. So the probability of your message going to them is comparatively higher in this form of marketing.

4. Tangible

Everyone is talking about how they should lessen their habits of using online channels. They unplug every now and then just to maintain the balance. And when they do it, they probably like to read some good stuff offline present in a tangible form.

That’s when they turn to magazines, direct mails they received, newspapers, etc. And hence, your advertisement has an excellent chance to get read this way.

5. Highly Targeted

With print advertisements, you can target your audience effectively. For example, it enables you to choose which section of the newspaper you want to print your ad in. This way, only the highly targeted prospects will read your content.

Apart from that, you can also choose to get it printed on a particular day. For instance, Sunday times, Tuesday times, etc., you can select the exact day your audience has a day off and when they are more likely to read this content.

6. Budget-Friendly

Along with choosing a particular section of the newspaper, you can also decide how much part of it you want to cover. For example, you can opt for a quarter section, half-section, full page, etc.

Besides that, you can also choose whether you want your ad printed on the first page, the last page, or any of the middle ones. It can also make a big difference in your budget.

The primary reason for your print advertising’s success is its copy, design, and quality of the material you’re using. Here’s a list of the top print advertising types that you can use to promote your business and spread your brand awareness.

Newspaper

The total newspaper circulation in the US is 28.6 million. It means that a large number of people still consume information through newspapers. Hence, they’re one of the most powerful tools for you to use for your print advertisements.

Magazine

With magazine ads, you can gain extensive exposure to your audience. People read magazines not only in their homes but in many other places, like, when waiting for an appointment, traveling, having their hair done, etc. Plus, you can use bright colors and good graphics to display your products. It’ll catch your audience’s attention instantly.

Direct Mail

You can also choose the direct mail advertising method if you want your print ads to land in the hands of your prospects or decision-makers directly. Here’s a list of the collaterals that you can send to your potential clients through direct mail.

Brochures: You can showcase your products, services, or brand through a brochure. It’s an excellent way to describe and convey your marketing message in detail. You can add an image and a description of your products and services, along with your company details and contact information.

You can use this form of marketing to increase your returns considerably.

Catalogs: These are the best way to display your multiple products with a good description and high-quality images. After all, that’s how people buy things online all the time. With the right call to action at the end, you can double the chances of your sales.

Moreover, always use the best quality paper printing supplies for such marketing methods. They reflect on the professionalism and the reputation of your brand.

Thank You Cards: You can also send thank you cards through direct mails when your prospects buy from you or attend any event you asked them to join. Such marketing techniques help you strengthen the bond between your company and your customers, which is highly essential for brand loyalty.

Apart from these things, you can also send a thank you card if your customer just renewed their subscription, bought from an abandoned cart, etc.

Postcards: These are some of the cheapest and best ways to remind your customers about your brand. You can send postcards on special occasions like festivals, birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc.

They help you stay on the top list of your customers. So that, when next time they go to purchase some of the items that your brand offers too, chances are they’ll check out your products before your competition.

Newsletters: Apart from greeting your customers and showing gratitude, we, on PostGrid, advise you to keep on delighting your customers with the educational content. Newsletters are one of the best ways to do it.

Despite how much technology is growing, the bookshelves in people’s homes never cease to grow. It reflects on the fact that people still love to read from the tangible form of materials. So don’t miss out on your chance of grabbing your prospects’ attention. Send them some informational content through direct mail.

Letters: If the marketing message you want to deliver is somewhat long, or your customers need to make an informed decision before investing in your products, you need to advertise through letters. You can describe as much information as you can through them.

Yet, never underestimate the power of white space in your content. If you keep rambling about your products with a lot of text to read, it might scare your prospects, and they wouldn’t read further. So keep it as short or scannable as you can with bullet points, subheads, etc.

Corporate identity package: A corporate identity package is a way to market your company to your prospects through different means.

These packages are one of the best ways to your brand awareness. You can use your magazine, website details, newsletters, business cards, and any such print advertising material in it.

Holiday Cards: Just like postcards, you can also try sending your customers and prospects holiday cards. It’ll make them feel special and think of you in a good way. These tactics work because people send such things to friends, family, and other essential networks all the time, and when they receive some for themselves, it makes them feel special.

So when you send your clients these cards, they’re more likely to be loyal to your brand.

Instant Branding

Business Cards: Business cards are something that you will need at every point in your business. Often opportunities appear out of nowhere. For example, you went out for a coffee and met someone who can be your potential client.

In such moments, you must have a business card to hand them over. An excuse like you ran out of your cards shouldn’t cost you a thousand-dollars client.

Letterheads And Envelopes: You can use custom letterheads and envelopes for adding a different effect to your marketing strategy. For instance, you can add your logo and company details at the top of the paper in full color.

The better the quality of the paper, the better for your company’s reputation. Plus, these kinds of tactics also help you impress your customer and prospects.

Presentation Folders: Whenever you meet some of your clients or customers for a meeting, it’s better to give them the rest of the details packed in a presentation folder.

If you happen to provide the information through a stack of papers, it’ll show your lack of professionalism. Plus, they may get lost, which will ultimately cost you business.

That’s why you hand your potential clients the presentation folders. It’ll keep your papers intact in one place. Moreover, your clients and customers can use them later for themselves too. This way, it will also serve your marketing purpose.

Flyers: It’s usually difficult for companies to explain all of their products’ features to their prospects, especially when met for a small amount of time. Hence, you can use flyers for your product description.

For better results, explain the benefits of your product in the flyers instead of describing all the facets in a hard-to-read language.

Showcase the Proof: No one can beat the value of proof and how much business they can bring to you. You might be familiar with online shopping. No matter what you have to buy, you usually prefer to read the reviews before reading the product description.

This is mainly true because you want to determine whether this product is worth your time or not ahead of time. Similarly, people check the testimonials of your company.

Hence, we advise you to showcase the proof through print advertising.

Point-of-sale displays: The point of sale displays, including brochures, small books, coupons, catalogs, brochures, etc., can be used to market your company. It works because people choose to get these marketing materials on their own.

For example, if you’re offering a small book on some of the topics essential for your prospects, they will ask you to give them one. Now, apart from educating them through it, you can also convey your marketing message.

The key is to keep the content 70% educational and 30% promotional.

Calendars: You can also print and distribute calendars of your company.

This way, you can get your company’s message in front of a large audience at once. You can also add other things that you offer to your customers, like discounts, offers on special occasions, toll-free numbers, email addresses, URLs, and additional contact information. They can use these details to get in touch with you.

Banners: To get in front of a large audience, you can sponsor events like sports events or rock shows. The best benefit of it is that they are usually advertised through giant banners attracting a large audience.

With your business details occupying some of the space on these banners, you can profit your company. It can also help you increase your brand awareness.

Promotional Merchandise: You can also print and distribute promotional merchandise to increase your brand awareness. To get this done, all you’d need to do is add your logo or company’s slogan printed on multiple items, for example, t-shirts, coffee mugs, fridge stickers, magnets, and so on.

They can help you make quick connections with your prospects. You should always keep the quality of these items high.

Here is the difference between print advertising and digital marketing.

Print Advertisement

Print advertisements are basically marketing your products and services through print media, like direct mail, newspaper, magazines, brochures, flyers, etc.

Traditional offline marketing is where it all started. And it’s still as effective as it was when the trend first arrived.

No wonder it’s different from digital marketing. When you launch a print marketing campaign, you need to consider the customers’ location along with their demographic details to target and reach them effectively.

However, the distraction in this form of marketing is relatively lesser than digital marketing. For instance, if a person reads an article in a magazine, no pop-ups or chatbots appear constantly seeking their attention.

It makes this form of marketing more effective.

Although, when it comes to the cost of print advertising, it’s relatively higher than digital marketing. And if you’re on a budget, you cannot launch a print advertising campaign frequently.

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is a way to promote your products, services, and brand in the simplest way possible through digital technology.

The different digital marketing strategies include SEO, content marketing, social media marketing and advertising, targeted search engine and other ads, email marketing, etc.

It enables you to reach a wider audience within a minimal amount of time, despite your prospects’ location. For example, they can be traveling, and you can display your ads to them via online channels.

Plus, it can be highly targeted. You can choose the specific demographic details, and your ads will only be presented to those people only, mainly depending on their search history and other similar data.

The biggest problem with this is that it’s not as personalized as print advertisements. Plus, the attention span of people online is little. And along with that, the trends and algorithms online keep changing, forcing the companies to change their marketing strategies regularly.

However, major reasons for companies to opt for digital marketing are its cost-effectiveness and broad reach. You can launch any paid ad campaign at relatively lower prices (excluding copywriting and designing charges) in front of a large audience at once.

Almost every business moves towards a digital marketing campaign because of these reasons. And this crowd makes it even more difficult for most companies to get results. Since digital ads are everywhere, almost every internet user is exposed to them.

The best solution is to use both forms of marketing together.