Over the past few decades, digital innovations have transformed how many industries approach marketing. Today, online advertising, social media, and email are some of the dominating channels. This can make it easy to forget the enduring value of print media. Personalized print marketing strategies, if executed well, are valuable tools that continue to thrive. The average response rate of print advertisements is 9%. Compare this to the 1% response rates of digital mediums such as paid search, email, and social media.
The unique reach of print supports and enhances your digital efforts to engage and make fruitful connections with your audience. This is especially important if you’re in a high-impact industry such as healthcare, nonprofit, and higher education. After all, it’s the primary purpose of your integrated marketing solutions, aside from driving strong ROI.
Personalized Print Marketing in a Multichannel Landscape
A multichannel approach is essential if you want to reach your audience, drive engagement, and achieve your promotional goals. Print is a great asset if you want to take your efforts to the next level. One of the best value propositions of print media is tangibility.
You can create a physical connection with your audience, allowing them to interact with your messaging on a deeper level. This results in a lasting impact that can be difficult to achieve with digital content alone.
Imagine nonprofit solutionsfor a fundraising campaign, for instance. PDC Graphics can produce well-crafted fundraising letters or direct mail appeals with an individualized touch. Or response forms and impact reports with the target audience in mind.
The above examples represent unique and memorable experiences. Such print solutions are powerful response drivers since they demonstrate that you value your supporters. People are more likely to recall and connect with a brand message in printed materials compared to digital ads.
Further, personalization allows you to align your messaging with the needs and preferences of your audience. This is a great way to use the feedback from integrated market research. After exploring your market’s critical influencers and emotional drivers, you can use these insights and tailor your print strategy accordingly.
Personalized print advertising also allows you to expand your multichannel marketing reach. Digital overload is a concern today, especially with reduced attention spans. This means you have to maintain multiple touchpoints to drive meaningful engagement.
Through bespoke print media, your campaigns can cast wider nets. Your audience can interact with your brand on multiple channels without encountering the same messaging repeatedly. This not only affords you positive responses but also makes you stand out in a sea of competitors.
The Value of Variable Data Printing
When running direct-mail campaigns, variable data printing (VDP) should be part of your personalized mailings. By combining master and variable elements in your marketing copies, you can create relevant communications with specialized appeal.
For instance, you can create brochures that greet clients by name and include personal information from your databases. The brochures may have reusable (master) elements to maintain a uniform brand image.
Through VDP, you can assemble images, charts, text and other elements dynamically to create appealing, highly customized material at scale. VDP also makes your efforts more efficient. You can achieve this by linking databases with personal content to a print device.
You then specify the rules for selecting information and placing it on your copies. This is just one of the ways that you can implement integrated marketing solutions to improve your direct mail ROI.
Direct Mail and Social Media Integration
You should also not overlook the value of social media integration for direct mail. One way to do this is to make use of QR codes. This powerful tool can help you link your print and digital marketing efforts.
Including QR codes in business cards, posters, or brochures allows potential clients to connect with your brand online. With a quick scan, your audience can access your social media channels.
This integration enhances engagement by making it convenient to discover your message in platforms they frequent. You can also use QR codes to increase traffic to your website, which increases your direct mail ROI even further.
You can utilize market based tracking solutions to evaluate key metrics and track the effectiveness of your direct mailings. This allows you to optimize your messaging for better targeting. Such integrated approaches improve your campaign’s ROI and increase your brand’s exposure beyond social media.
You can also drive engagement through social media contests. Print is the perfect promotional tool to help you garner more followers online. The increased interaction will boost your brand’s visibility and encourage audience participation in your activities.
Hashtags are another element that you can include in print media to extend your reach. With relevant hashtags, you can encourage sharing and build an active community around shared interests.
Use Cases of Print in High Impact Industries
The personalized fundraising materials mentioned earlier are a great example of how non profits can leverage custom print advertisement to achieve campaign goals. You can also say the same for the employee benefits sector.
Strategic marketing techniques that incorporate print can help increase engagement and communicate the value of benefit offerings. HR departments and consultants rely on tailored communications when it comes to employee benefits.
To reach a diverse workforce, you need channels that support different employee needs and preferences. Examples of employee benefits print solutions you can tailor include such as guides, plan descriptions, and enrollment kits. You can offer ongoing education and support through these mediums, enabling employees to benefit fully from benefit programs.
Personalized print advertising is a vital tool for the healthcare industry. In modern medical practice, proper communication with patients is critical. Health care print solutions help with this task. For example, flyers are great for spreading developments concerning a hospital. A doctor can use individualized presentation folders to share information with patients.
You can also use lobby posters to provide directions or helpful community health information. Caregivers can use personalized direct mail to pass medical advice and instructions to patients in the comfort of their homes. Brochures and booklets are useful for sharing information about diseases and treatments.
Print and high education marketing share a long history. This relationship continues today and for good reasons. The most obvious is targeted outreach. Through a direct mail campaign, you can tailor print materials to reach a desired student demographic.
You can put personalized messages that target individuals. Such campaigns increase the likelihood of a response and ultimate enrollment. You can also use higher education print solutions to engage alumni, donors, and other stakeholders for fundraising purposes.
Conclusion
Personalized print marketing continues to prove its worth in an age dominated by digital advertisement. It is highly targeted, enhances engagement, and fosters brand loyalty. These are important benefits for high impact industries.
An effective marketing approach is one that integrates print and digital solutions creatively. Collaborating with a reputable print marketing partner is a good place to start.
For more than 25 years, PDC Graphics has offered commercial printing services and integrated marketing solutions. We create high quality print materials and support print driven communication needs across many industries. Reach out to us today to learn more about our premier services and capabilities.
