In a world where digital marketing is the dominant force, it’s easy to overlook more traditional methods like print marketing. However, ignoring this medium is a huge mistake that your brand can’t afford to make. 

Why Print is Still Powerful

When someone starts talking about print marketing in the middle of a digital marketplace, it’s tempting to assume that person is stuck in a decade gone by. However, don’t be so quick to overlook print. It’s arguably as powerful as it’s ever been.

While digital offers scale, print provides unique and creative possibilities that can’t be executed in a digital world. People have quickly become desensitized to most digital marketing (much like people reached a point where they were desensitized to certain types of print marketing at the end of the 20th century). Digital marketing saturation is real, and brands must find new ways to cut through the noise. 

The truth is that people love print. Digital might be sexy and flashy, but print is tangible. There’s something to be said for being able to hold something in your hands. Touch, feel, and even smell come into play with print. 

It obviously comes down to execution, but the point is that print still offers distinct, built-in advantages that make it a viable option for effective marketing in 2022 and well beyond. 

3 Creative Uses of Print Marketing

If you’re going to make print work for your business, you have to be creative. You can’t just print some text on paper and expect it to work. There must be creativity in the design, execution, and dissemination of your marketing materials. Here are several creative ideas:

1. Monthly Newsletter

In an age where everyone sends out email newsletters, there’s something powerful about a print newsletter that arrives in your inbox. 

They say there’s no more intimate spot for a marketer to be than in someone’s bathroom. Many digital marketers have found a way to get people to scroll through their platforms or content while using the restroom. But if we’re being honest, there’s a lot more opportunity to enter this sacred space using a print newsletter that rests on a stack of magazines in the bathroom.

Print newsletters allow you to reach people in real life away from all of the digital distractions that are found in an email inbox. When people pick up a newsletter, turn the pages, and smell the paper, it creates a unique experience that isn’t soon forgotten. 

Another option is to send out an annual magazine with glossy pages, hard-hitting content, and compelling offers. Magazines cost a bit more than newsletters, but you’d be surprised how affordable it really is to print a magazine. 

2. High-Value Brochures

Brochures are great for businesses that have physical stores and/or attend trade shows or local in-person events. With a brochure, you can instantly hand someone a compact summary of everything you offer. This allows them to get familiar with your business, even after they leave your office.

3. Direct Mail Postcards

Direct mail postcards used to be part of the standard marketing strategy for brands. Over the past 10 years, it’s declined significantly. But that’s good news for you! Fewer businesses sending direct mail postcards (which are actually very affordable), means less competition in the mailbox. The end result: You get better exposure and a higher chance of meaningful engagement. 

The key with direct mail postcards is to make them trackable. If there’s a CTA (and there should be), use a unique URL or code so that you can see what sort of traction you’re getting with your direct mail campaign. This makes it easier to measure and iterate.  

Adding it All Up

Print can deliver things that digital simply can’t. With print, there’s a level of flexibility that you don’t get when designing digital advertisements or content. You can engage different senses and put something extremely creative in front of people. 

Don’t believe us? Just consider this IKEA ad, which included a picture of a crib with the words, “Peeing on this ad may change your life.” It then featured a picture of a crib with a strip at the bottom. The strip was an actual pregnancy test.

You can’t do that with digital. Yes, you can do other things that print won’t allow for, but there’s nothing that tangible. 

It’s impossible to survive in today’s marketplace without some digital marketing, but the point we’re trying to make is that print still offers plenty of value. Ignore it at your own risk!