Why Print Marketing is Making a Comeback in 2018

Leveraging marketing trends for growth is arguably more complicated today than ever before, thanks to the explosion of technologies and tools for publishing, measuring, and pushing brand messaging online. Over the past decade, we saw a broad swing of the marketing pendulum as we transitioned from outbound tactics such as direct mail, telemarketing, TV and radio to inbound strategies via social media, SEO, and other digital channels.

It’s widely accepted that content is the king of online marketing because of its ability to drive SEO and educate unknown buyers in a self-serve fashion. One look at the Worldmeter live blog tracker proves this point through its real-time count of blog posts published on any given day. Last year it was over two million daily blogs and now it’s three-plus million with no indication of slowing down.

Now, let’s explore how Xerox channel partners can leverage today’s dynamic marketing landscape to drive growth.

The Content Glut

The inundation of content causes significant background noise for everyone online, including buyers, sellers, and marketers, no matter which stage of the funnel they’re in. The result is a noticeable movement of the marketing pendulum in the other direction as the search for a perfect hybrid marketing mix ensues.

Print Has a Place in the Return of Traditional Marketing

For several years now, we’ve heard the mantra… print is dead. But in reality, it’s neither dead nor has it been dying – for a few reasons. One, there are still too many industries such as legal and real estate that are heavily reliant on paper. And secondly, there is a palpable resurgence of print-centric, traditional marketing that has been slowly gaining popularity and proving what we already know – print is alive and well.

Retail and Wholesale Print Catalogues

In 2007, snail mail catalogue delivery, a driving force for retail and wholesale marketing, peaked at 19.6 billion. A decade later, the volume of sent catalogues dwindled to roughly half with a mere 9.6 billion delivered in 2016.^[1] Some see this downward trend as the death of print but savvy marketers see it as a revived and less cluttered marketing channel that suddenly stands out.

Direct Mail Pieces

In a similar fashion, direct mail took a nosedive in 2009 and then resurfaced as a competitive marketing channel with a significant, 3.1% rise in adoption between 2013 and 2016.^[2] The comeback of direct mail is heavily attributed to the tangibility aspect of holding an item versus simply seeing it on screen, coupled with its superior conversion rates and easy to track ROI.

Print Advertising

The power of print advertising remains extremely strong as a trust-building traditional marketing tactic because print is the most trusted ad source when making a purchasing decision. This was revealed through a survey^[3] released several months ago that shocked many by its findings. However, when you think about advertising, it makes sense. A digital ad is here for a moment and gone with a click. Print ads by virtue of what they want to accomplish have always been one of the best uses of art and design. So much so that many print ads are elevated to collector status as they age.

Creativity as a Differentiator

A joint research project between Forrester and Adobe revealed that 82% of companies believe there is a strong correlation between creativity and achieving desired business results.^[3] This thinking isn’t new; it’s simply gaining more attention lately as companies strive to differentiate in the complex online world.

Traditional + Digital Marketing Mix – it’s a Win-Win

Xerox channel partners are in an advantageous position to leverage this information for growth. Start by showing. Deliver creative print marketing campaigns that open conversations with new and existing customers. Then leverage the concept of developing a hybrid marketing mix to show prospects the value of combining the power of print with time-saving devices and ConnectKey apps.

[1] The Old Fashioned Mail Order Catalogue is Making a Comeback, LA Times, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-catalogs-return-20171123-story.html

[2] The Comeback of Direct Mail, Document Strategy, http://documentmedia.com/article-2555-The-Comeback-of-Direct-Mail.html

[3] The Creative Dividend, How Creativity Impacts Business, Forrester,  https://landing.adobe.com/dam/downloads/whitepapers/55563.en.creative-dividends.pdf

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