5 Reasons Print Advertising Still Works

Search engine marketing and social media are hyped as not just the future of marketing but the end of traditional advertising like print advertising. However, traditional marketing methods like print marketing have only changed to adapt to new technologies and customer preferences. They aren’t going away. Here are five reasons print advertising still works.

You Reach Those You Cannot Reach Digitally

Imagine the restaurant putting print leaflets in the mailbox of every small business within walking distance. They may not be able to get a valid email address for each of those businesses, and it is even less likely that the restaurant could connect with local businesses on social media to promote their offerings. But they know they can reach everyone in their local area with print flyers mailed, taped, and dropped off at every address in the area. And if you mail printed materials to everyone in an area, you’ll reach people new to the area.

Cheap leaflet printing is also a way to get around the technological filters people set up themselves. Pop-up ads don’t work when nearly everyone has popup blockers. Interstitials asking people to sign up or follow you shouldn’t be used when search engines downgrade sites that use them. But a colourful flyer or handout will be seen by those who would block your email marketing messages and online ads.

It Connects with Them Viscerally

Printed materials reach people at a visceral level because they are literally handling it. Information retention is higher if they skim a piece of paper in their hands than a digital ad, even if they glance at it for the same amount of time. The side benefit of printed materials is that it dominates their attention; when someone is looking at your handout, there aren’t other blinking ads next to it or temptations to scroll down to the latest posting. When someone does read an informational flyer or product description on paper, they tend to absorb more information and retain it longer than if they were skimming a website.

You Gain Long-Term Exposure

With flyer printing, those who carry off the flyer may still read it later. If you integrate your marketing copy into something the person will hold onto, such as coupons, menus, calendars and public notices, you’ll continue to impress them with your message every time they look at it.

Another way to utilise leaflet printing is to create instant de facto signage. You may not be allowed to put large signs outside your store, but you’re always free to paper the inside of your windows with flyers that the public will see. Of course, you don’t want to do too many because conflicting messages result in confusion and a lower chance the person comes in.

The only exception is if you’re promoting sales and discounts on multiple items. This is why grocery stores and convenience stores rely on flyer printing to put up notices about the dozen items on sale this week. You can put the flyers up in the window and leave them up for weeks, never having to worry about signage regulations or the ads fading as they would if you left them outside.

You See Improved Conversion Rates

People respond to deals and incentives, especially when they’re seemingly personalised. If you hand out printed flyers with coupons and notices of freebies, you’ll generate immediate interest and increase the odds someone will come in to buy. This is especially useful if you’re mailing out the coupons and discounts to everyone in the local area or handing them out to passersby. It is also easy to personalise printed content. Forget A/B testing of your website and email marketing.

Personalised postcards with discounts based on the items they buy the most or promotions based on demographic information you already have are easy to arrange when you have either mail marketing lists or the customers’ information in a customer relationship management system. You could even combine the mailing addresses already in your loyalty program database to send out flyers with personalised ads and discounts. And you do it for a fraction of the price of putting print flyers in the local newspaper that’s distributed to everyone who is still a subscriber.

The Cost-Benefit Ratio Is Unbeatable

Across all industries, print advertising has a roughly 12 to 1 return on investment. Very few marketing methods have that same level of ROI. And unlike digital marketing, you know that it will reach at least some clients, whereas a website with bad search engine optimisation will miss everyone you want to see it. Even local search engine optimization may not reach some of your best potential clients while hitting someone far off the mark.

Conclusion

Print advertising still works for a number of reasons. This is why you should consider cheap leaflet and printer flying in addition to online ads and social media outreach. It improves your conversion rate, lets you reach those who cannot be reached through digital marketing and leaves a long-term impression on those who don’t buy from you today. And you get all of this in a low-cost package that is easy to implement on a hyper-local basis.