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Are you tired of constant marketing emails from brands, and bored of receiving the same old offers with no benefit or interest to you? After all, brands should know you. You’ve purchased products or services from them in the past, and in doing so you handed over a lot of your personal information. As consumers, we expect brands to live up to their promises. We want to be convinced that we should spend our hard-earned money with them.

A ‘digital only’ approach is no longer enough. The flood of emails in our inbox and the so-called ‘personalised’ offers are either being ignored or going straight into junk. We need to go back to Marketing 101, putting customers at the heart of our campaigns. As consumers, we want choice. We want to engage with brands at a time and in a format that suits us. By doing so, we’re more likely to respond and take action.

On-demand printing

That’s why it’s time for marketers to add print back into the mix. Printing on-demand offers targeting, the timeliness of digital marketing and the tactile benefits of print, allowing brands to cut through the noise of the cluttered media landscape and make a real impact. Digital print can also add measurable value to omni-channel marketing campaigns.

Print isn’t expensive, it isn’t wasteful, and it certainly isn’t slow. With print on demand, brands can produce exactly the number of copies they want. With digital print, you also have scope to change imagery or copy as campaigns evolve.

Five ways print marketing adds value

1. Grab consumers’ attention. Consumers are now switching off from digital with ad blockers, spam filters and opt-outs. Print brings cut-through. Recent figures show that 70% of people said receiving direct mail makes them feel more valued and that mail leaves a better impression of the brand. On top of this, seven out of ten are also more likely to trust advertising mail.

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2. Create a longer-lasting impression. Print engages with more than one sense. Physically touching a printed piece, while looking at it, leaves a deeper footprint in the brain.

3. Complement digital channels.  Print can be used alongside digital throughout a customer’s journey. Direct mail can start conversations or help to re-engage customers. Direct mailers with QR codes or tracked links can direct customers to specific destinations online. Triggered mail could then also be used to influence their shopping decisions, or sent automatically post-purchase. It’s all about giving customers choice in how they interact with brands.

4. Add a personal touch. Using variable data to create more personalised communications can deliver more effective campaigns, providing return on investment.

5. Bring campaigns to life. Print offers creative scope and versatility far beyond an email in your inbox. Using unique formats and textures, campaigns can stand out from competitors and deliver tangible cut-through. You can now create standard flyers or direct mailers, brochures, catalogues, content-rich ‘magalogues’, customer magazines, brand books, customer newsletters and more.

Tailored messaging

Thanks to ‘programmatic print’, you can now tailor specific messages to target audiences at a relevant time. Using data and behavioural insight can deliver far more valuable personalisation and more effective campaigns. The agility of programmatic print also means that highly personalised materials help brands different themselves from competition.

Brands adopting this dynamic and highly personalised approach to print marketing are already seeing measurable commercial returns, thanks to engaged customers, emotional cut-through and improved responses. All result in increased sales, giving them a far more valuable outcome: long-lasting brand loyalty and advocacy.

To find out more, visit b2binfo.canon-europe.com/talktotheteam
or call Canon on (01) 205 2415
Email us at marketing.ireland@canon.ie