If you’re not digital, you might as well not bother. That’s what many new and small business think when it comes to marketing. While it’s true that promotions and advertising teams are becoming more tech-savvy and digitally focused, that doesn’t mean there are no rewards to reap from traditional print marketing.
If you need the inspiration to maximize your marketing budget, print marketing is a tactic you need to side-step the competition, who all have their blinkers on in the digital race. Where The Trade Buys, a printing specialist, explains how start-ups can make a success of print marketing without breaking the bank, and why they should.
Print vs. Digital
The allure of digital marketing is its influence range. Almost the whole world has some type of online account, which means that digital platforms can reach millions of customers in seconds. For this reason, companies believe they have the best chance of getting their marketing message to their audience on social and digital platforms. However, only 20% of users click on any online banner advert.Bearing in mind that most of this 20% won’t even convert into a sale, is it worth paying the competitive price for the digital space? What about print media? If you also consider that 63% of UK adults still read magazines (according to YouGov), and only 10% regularly read these online, maybe digitally isn’t so perfect after all.
What print marketing has over digital is longevity and experience. From pull up banners and leaflets to posters and flyers; it’s been tried and tested, and it works. The reason it’s still around is that it’s still successful — when done properly. 34% of all printing is for advertising and marketing products, such as event programmes and tickets, while 30% is for products such as newspapers, magazines, and brochures. Basically, print depends on marketing and advertising.
Print Marketing Budgets and Small Business
The main problem for start-ups and small businesses is getting the funds together for a decent marketing campaign and outdoing the competition. There are about 80 new businesses launching in the UK every hour, according to a report by StartUp Britain (a national, government-backed campaign), so you want something that’s going to be cost-effective but successful. Luckily, there are several techniques in addition to online graphic design tools such as MyCreativeShop, that you can utilize to not only create but launch your print marketing campaign on a budget.
Brochures
Are you thinking that you’ll have to compromise on quality when designing a company brochure to keep costs down? You don’t. Your priorities with brochure marketing is to ensure your branding is clear, your message stands out and your style is eye-catching. Not that you can deliver droves of details. Remember; you’re on a budget and don’t have many pages to play with (we suggest sticking to 8-12). So, the goal is to encourage consumers to act, not take up an hour of their time reading.
To help you plan your brochure on a budget, here are a few key points to consider:
- Eye-catching headline.
- USPs.
- Call to action.
- Clear layout.
- Concise design.
- Brief and informative content (i.e. strictly ‘need-to-know’ if you want to save you money in printing costs).
- Accurate (don’t let errors to slip through the net).
Once you’ve saved money on the number of pages you need, you now need to consider a number of copies you require. The more brochures you order, the less you pay per copy. But then again, there’s no point in ordering stacks if you know realistically that’s not what you need. Nobody wants to see their cash sat on a coffee table or gathering dust in a cupboard, so make sure you utilize your budget wisely.
Direct Mail
We’ve all received direct mail through the door at some point. Sometimes referred to as ‘junk mail’, this is an often-overlooked piece of print marketing that could actually work wonders for your business. In fact, figures suggest that the term ‘junk mail’ couldn’t be further from the truth.
In 2009, direct mail accounted for 10.7% of the UK’s entire advertising expenditure. Also, in 2015, more than 2.5 billion direct mail coupons were exchanged and 54% of consumers that were surveyed revealed that they’d be happy to get direct mail from brands that might interest them.
Let’s compare this to digital marketing: 80-90% of direct mail is opened, as opposed to just 20-30% of emails. Clearly, this is a win for start-up companies looking to get their message across to potential new consumers.
Evidently, the print is still making waves and pushing boundaries when it comes to running cost-effective marketing campaigns. If the figures aren’t enough to convince you, then the affordability of it might. While digital platforms are good for engaging with many customers quickly, print marketing has been proven to drive tangible results. For start-ups, print marketing is a profitable way to boost your brand and transform your business.
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