Over the last 18 months I am hearing more and more from
clients the word “online”. Some clients are increasing their already present
online activity, some are totally new to this way of promotion and some are
even thinking of totally dismissing print promotion in favour of “Online”.
I recently received a flyer in the post, all about taking control of my advertising spend, get more people to see my company, pay as I Go advertising etc, all very interesting. The surprise behind this posted and printed flyer? Well it was from Google, yes, the largest search engine in the world use a printed A5 flyers to promote their Adwords products. So needless to say that when I hear that companies and marketing companies are considering dropping printed media, I feel a little shiver, the hairs on my neck go up, and I think to myself, what a mistake.
The phrase “online Vs print” should be “online and print”, this powerful marketing mix should be used together, like salt and pepper on a freshly cut loin of meat, they work together increasing the performance, enhancing the flavour. A well designed mixed marketing activity can be extremely effective.
I recently received a flyer in the post, all about taking control of my advertising spend, get more people to see my company, pay as I Go advertising etc, all very interesting. The surprise behind this posted and printed flyer? Well it was from Google, yes, the largest search engine in the world use a printed A5 flyers to promote their Adwords products. So needless to say that when I hear that companies and marketing companies are considering dropping printed media, I feel a little shiver, the hairs on my neck go up, and I think to myself, what a mistake.
The phrase “online Vs print” should be “online and print”, this powerful marketing mix should be used together, like salt and pepper on a freshly cut loin of meat, they work together increasing the performance, enhancing the flavour. A well designed mixed marketing activity can be extremely effective.
The reality is that those
companies looking to only do online marketing tend to then expect that the
performance will just by magic increase, when realistically online campaigns
need as much, if not more preparation than a printed campaign, obviously
campaign size depending.
There are many ways of using print to drive online registrations or downloads if some key areas are well thought out and planned well in advance, web address urls should be easy to remember, the WIIFM (What’s in it for me) factor needs to be there, why should a reader action an advert, insert etc, are there discounts? Is there a Free Trial Offer? The incentive to action needs to be present. That said, a brand awareness campaign, with a lovely colour glossy Ad taking up a billboard, or magazine front cover is hard to replicate online, the tangible feeling is only really present in printed material, and a really nice photograph of a product, in a seductive light, with little or no wording and maybe just a corporate logo, just doesn’t’ look right in a banner advert on a website.
In my opinion, and this little blog is simply that, my opinion, print is still a vital component to the marketing mix. If Google are still sending flyers, then I leave you with this question – Are they wrong?
There are many ways of using print to drive online registrations or downloads if some key areas are well thought out and planned well in advance, web address urls should be easy to remember, the WIIFM (What’s in it for me) factor needs to be there, why should a reader action an advert, insert etc, are there discounts? Is there a Free Trial Offer? The incentive to action needs to be present. That said, a brand awareness campaign, with a lovely colour glossy Ad taking up a billboard, or magazine front cover is hard to replicate online, the tangible feeling is only really present in printed material, and a really nice photograph of a product, in a seductive light, with little or no wording and maybe just a corporate logo, just doesn’t’ look right in a banner advert on a website.
In my opinion, and this little blog is simply that, my opinion, print is still a vital component to the marketing mix. If Google are still sending flyers, then I leave you with this question – Are they wrong?
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