PRINT MARKETING AND ITS IMPORTANCE

Print marketing refers to any form of advertising that uses printed or published materials as a form of a marketing strategy to reach its audience in a target demography. With the right strategy and creative marketing print advertising can help a business stand out in the present Digital Age. It exudes a sense of reliability, trust and credibility that digital advertisements are failing to match. Utilizing materials like brochures, flyers, banners, magazines, newspapers and other forms of physical media, a business can reach its potential customers and build brand awareness that digital marketing cannot.

WHAT IS A MARKETING MIX

Advertising a brand or a product requires a successful marketing strategy. The marketing mix is a strategy consisting of different elements that a company uses to promote its brand or product in the market. It consists of the four p’s.

• Price

Refers to the price that the product is marketed at. There are a host of factors that come into play to decide a price like cost of production, supply-demand etc. It’s important to pick a price that is affordable to the target market and meets the business goals.

• Product

Refers to the good that is being sold. For a product to be successful it has to deliver a minimum level of performance. A successful product fills a need that is not currently being met in the market.

• Place

Place is where the product is being sold, to decide the best place to market one should know the demographics where their target audience shops the most.

• Promotion

Promotion refers to how effectively the product is marketed. It is important for any business to choose an effective marketing campaign that resonates best with the target audience.

There are different ways to promote a product like newspapers, magazines, billboards and television commercials. In the digital age, one can advertise through online marketing or social media marketing or use both print and digital advertising.

REASONS TO INCORPORATE PRINT IN YOUR MARKETING MIX

Because of their durability and longer shelf life, marketers still use Print Media’s Effectiveness in retaining customers. Take a look at its importance in today’s world:

• Print builds trust. It has been found that a majority of internet users trust print marketing ads before making any purchases. Due to increase in the number of internet scams, print marketing creates a sense of trust and credibility that digital marketing struggles to achieve.

• Print media provides a lasting impact on the minds of the reader. The tangibility of the print media leaves a lasting impression and makes it easier to remember the brand.  Because of the print nature of the advertisement, superior quality paper, beautiful illustrations and photography, they create a greater impact on the mind of a reader as they tend to physically engage with your advertisement.

• Print publications tend to have a long shelf life compared to digital ads that appear and disappear, as people tend to keep a magazine longer for weeks or months and read it over and over.

• Advertisements through print publications have a greater impact as the audience tend to focus more while reading rather than online ads where they tend to spend less time just by giving a glance.

• Businesses are often considered prestigious if they tend to appear in popular magazines and newspapers thus establishing credibility and authority in the industry.

• Print media offer advertisers many options in terms of type of advertisement, size, inserts, illustrations and many more to create a lasting impact and make the advertisement more noticeable. While reading rather than online ads where they tend to spend less time just by giving a glance.

PRINT ADVERTISING STRATEGIES

• Target Audience

The first step in making an effective print advertising strategy is to conduct thorough research to help understand the demographics of audience the advertisement is intended to reach. It is important to know your target audience to help better understand their needs and thus form a better connection with them and place a print advertisement in places where they will be seen, heard or engaged with.

• Simple And Clear Content

The most important rule when designing a print advertising is to make the layout as simple as possible and create a visual balance to draw attention. Creating an advertisement that appears to be cluttered tends to appear complicated and can overwhelm and confuse the readers.

• Call To Action

The main objective of a CALL TO ACTION is to persuade the audience to act on the advertisement or create a sense of urgency. All print advertisements should have a CALL TO ACTION which should be clearly featured and obvious, whether it is to make a purchase or to visit a website.

• Headline

A Headline is the most important part of an advertisement, it should be able to make an audience to stop and pay attention. A headline represents the preview of what the reader is going to find, it should be attention grabbing and precise and should be able to communicate to the audience the benefits the service or product is offering.

• Colors And Fonts

Colors and fonts play a significant role to create a visual impact on the audience. They help an advertisement to stand out by the strategic use of colors that are relevant to the brand thus helping the ad stand out and grab attention. To attract the attention an advertisement should use high quality pictures and bold and clear font and minimal text.

• Placement And Size

Finding the right placement is important for the success of the advertisement as it determines how the advertisement will be seen by the audience.

• Tracking The Success

There are plenty of ways to track the performance of print advertising. By using a tracking code or promo number that are scanned at checkout helps track sales that were as a result of the advertisement.

PRINT AND DIGITAL INTEGRATION

Successful integration of print and digital advertising has proven to create magic when used in synergy. Integrated marketing is about using print and digital advertising together to create a powerful campaign thus building a greater audience reach and engagement and amplify the effect of the marketing experience on the target audience. Print messages create a greater impact when they are reinforced with online digital campaigns to bring about brand awareness and interaction, for example using QR Codes printed on flyers helps direct customers to the business websites, this not only increases campaign reach but also reinforces brand message in a consistent way.

Businesses that use this strategy of combining the two powerful means of advertising can expect to see successful benefits in their marketing.

CONCLUSION

Westfield living magazine elevates your brand’s visibility to help it reach new heights. We help your brand capture and engage the attention of our readers to showcase your products and services in a whole new perspective. We help your business leave a lasting impression and unlock countless opportunities for growth. Contact us today to secure your space and connect with our readers.