The Top Ten Ways Print Helps You Prosper: #3 - Print drives a higher ROI

Printing is particularly persuasive as direct mail. According to research by the Direct Marketing Association and the Wharton Economic Forecasting Associates, print's performance through the mail can be measured in dollars and cents.

The DMA researchers found that U.S. advertisers spend $167 per person in direct mail marketing to earn $2,095 worth of goods per person, scoring a return of investment of 13 to 1.

Why? Because people gravitate toward print. A total of 38% of households surveyed by the U.S. Postal service in 2006 found direct mail pieces interesting. That study also found that 85% of mail is either read or visually scanned by recipients.

And direct mail is also a great way to expand business relationships and keep customers loyal. A study by the Rochester Institute of Technology Printing Industry Center found that 67% of respondents like getting mail about new products from companies they do business with.


  ©2006, The Print Council, Washington, DC, www.theprintcouncil.org

The Top Ten Ways Print Helps You Prosper: #2 - Print is portable

Long after their iPod battery is drained, people will still be reading what you send them in print. Print is the ultimate in portability and playability. They can pick up a magazine at a newsstand, buy a book on the fly or grab your brochure from a trade show exhibit. There are no compatibility issues, no need to keep anything charged, and never a worry about screen glare. You can fold print, stuff it, clip it, even scratch-and-sniff it.

Print can be carried and consumed anywhere, and any time: On trains, planes and automobiles. Take it to bed, to the beach or to the bath. There's no need to boot it up or power it down. Print is always there and always ready to instruct, inform and entertain.

  ©2006, The Print Council, Washington, DC, www.theprintcouncil.org

The Top Ten Ways Print Helps You Prosper: #1 - Print is for keeps

Who's minding your messages when the screens fade to black? Electronic content comes and goes and when it's gone, your marketing initiative disappears with it. Print, on the other hand, is there for the long run. Think about magazine pass-along rates. They range as high as two to three persons per issue, giving advertisers double and triple bonuses on their marketing investments.

Example: A 2004 BPA Pass Along Audit of Ziff Davis Media's eWeek magazine shows that on average subscribers pass along their printed issue to an additional 3.6 industry decision-makers. So, even the elite of the IT world recognize and benefit from print.

What's more, specific magazine content can be spotlighted and passed along on a one-to-one basis. A Magazine Publishers of America survey found that 24% of readers typically pass an article along to someone else, 23% save the article for future reference, and 13% visit a related website.

In action, print's durability has a positive impact on every message it touches. It says: Your message is significant. That you cared enough to put it on paper. That you are authentic rather than virtual, and you will be there when we need you.

©2006, The Print Council, Washington, DC, www.theprintcouncil.org

Why Print? We've Got Your Reasons.

We all take printing for granted. Perhaps it's because print has been the world's number one communication medium for so long we tend to overlook its impact and power.

That oversight could be fatal to a marketing campaign, a product launch, or a branding initiative that is trying to connect with people. People trust print. They feel comfortable using it. And they can't fast forward past it.

The next ten posts are a guide to the persuasive power that print provides and why you should consider using print in your next campaign. It doesn't have to be the only medium you use. But, you most definitely should consider print whenever you want to persuade, inform or entertain.

The Printed Newsletter: Still Important to You

Why do you still need a printed newsletter? With budget pressures, many groups look to alternative ways to get information to their audience. Some think that if they eliminate a printed newsletter, they can cut printing and mailing costs and still get the information out. But a printed newsletter is still an important communication tool. And for many, the best way to communicate via newsletter is using both a printed newsletter and an electronic newsletter. 

The following are points to consider when discussing how to proceed with your newsletter.

•  Most media experts believe that printing a newsletter can be much more effective than some of the modern trends of sending e-newsletters for both businesses and organizations. The main goal of a newsletter is to build and maintain customer loyalty. Newsletters are a tangible medium. Readers will have more opportunities to focus and understand the message when they sit back and read during their personal downtime. Printed newsletters are small and mobile, read away from the computer, shared with others, and filed away for future reference. Many audiences can still only be reliably reached with a printed newsletter. There is one major advantage of print newsletters over electronic ones is everyone has a physical address, so newsletters will definitely be received. And to date the targeting and demographic information a user can get for physical addresses is superior to that contained in most e-mail address databases.

• If you are considering eliminating a printed newsletter, you need to consider if your audience can be reached online. If the audience is an older demographic, not everyone is using the Internet or so overwhelmed by SPAM that they delete what is not important to them at the moment.

• You will also have to find a way to gather email addresses and keep them updated. This can be a time consuming and costly task. It also may be necessary to train yours audience how to keep the newsletters from being flagged as SPAM. Studies show that the average person reads emails quickly and when they do come across a newsletter in their email inbox, they tend to simply scan it and delete it. With printed newsletters, people are more apt to carry them with them, and read them on their own time, when they can actually comprehend the message that is being communicated. Printed newsletters also never require a certain type of software or connection speed on a computer. Anyone can view the printed newsletter at any given time.