As technology and the internet continue to gain prominence in the marketing world, it is essential for businesses to find ways to integrate their digital and print marketing campaigns to maximize results for both mediums. Historically, newspapers, magazines, brochures, and other print media have been the main marketing efforts of businesses. They are still critical marketing channels today, but most recently, internet avenues such as social media, websites, and online advertisements have dominated modern marketing. So, how do you get your digital and print marketing to work together?
Creating Print and Digital Marketing Synergies
Some of the best ways to optimize cross-channel marketing are to leverage existing marketing resources in new ways and to utilize new technologies to create smarter marketing campaigns. The 5 tips below outline several strategies to enhance print and digital marketing.
1. Keep a Consistent Brand Presence
Whether a potential customer is seeing your brand on a piece of paper or a screen, it’s important to have consistent messaging, colors, fonts, wording, and more. If your digital and print marketing styles aren’t consistent, they are working against each other and decreasing the strength of your brand. Always keep your entire multi-channel campaigns consistent.
2. Integrate Print Marketing into Online Platforms
An effective way to leverage existing print marketing materials is through social media, digital ads, and other online environments. Use the same exact flyer or postcard in digital form on a Facebook post or a banner ad. Not only does this create consistency between your channels, it can also save money by eliminating the need to design new graphics or other displays.
3. Integrate Digital Marketing on to Print Media
On the other hand, incorporating your digital resources on print marketing adds a new element to printed media. By adding your brand’s Twitter hashtag, Facebook name, or website address, you allow the customers to engage with your company on a level deeper than just viewing the print. In addition, it reinforces your brand across both channels simultaneously.
4. Use QR Codes and Unique Tracking URLs
By including digital components on print marketing through quick response (QR) codes and unique tracking URLs, you can take potential customers directly from printed media to online materials in seconds. Plus, these tools are designed to track when, how, and how many leads are created from a specific print marketing piece. This allows marketing teams to test different campaigns and track the success of different materials.
5. Use Online Data for Variable Printing
As online data and user information is extracted in more detail than ever before, marketing teams can use it to personalize print marketing for individuals. Sometimes called variable printing, knowing what somebody has browsed through online or purchased in the past provides the opportunity to customize print and mailing media for different people.
Start Print and Digital Marketing Integration Today
In the coming decades, both digital and print marketing will play a huge role in our society. It is the ability to weave these two channels together into one seamless brand that sets companies apart. It all starts with great printed materials. Get started creating or improving the synergy between your marketing channels today by working with our high-impact custom design team. Request a sample pack today to see what we can do.
