Dove Direct Print and Marketing Blog, “Why Digital Marketing Needs Print”

Welcome to the Dove Direct Print and Marketing Blog. Today's post, "Why Digital Marketing Needs Print" confirms an emerging reality made clear in recent years with a bevy of reports that state online purchasing numbers increase with the use of direct mail. In the event you may be under the assumption that 'print is a dead horse,' you may want to rethink that position. We contend that most brands and marketing agencies are investing sizable budgets into online marketing targeting digital disciplines such as search engine marketing, social media, online video campaigns, direct purchases, and others.

Have you ever given any thought about the ongoing direct mail collateral your household receives from iconic digital brands? AT&T, Comcast, Dish TV, Netflix, Xfinity and Google represent just a few of the digital-based companies that are increasing their direct mail marketing budgets.

Why? To begin with, in the era of digital accountability most brands believe that digital advertising and marketing are in the best position to reconcile ROI due to real-time digital tracking mechanisms. Moreover, to that end, the ability to reconcile your digital spend is a strong factor for most. Ad reconciliation in the print universe has always been challenging, however, with variable digital printing technology, and in no small degree, not so much today.

Digital Is On Overload

To suggest the digital space is becoming untenable with ads is an understatement. In the early 2000s, consumers were experiencing approximately 3000 ad impressions per day on average. Jump to hyperspace, and in the digital age, we are now under bombardment with more than 10,000 ad impressions per day, with the majority being from the digital universe.

Imagine receiving 10,000 direct mail advertising pieces in your physical mailbox every day! In reality, no one would likely ever receive that many direct mail pieces in a day. Besides, personal household mailboxes are yet to be designed to hold vast amounts of mail.

Consider the facts that support the idea that all digital advertising is the primary focus of most marketing concerns. This becomes crystal clear when you perform a Google search. For example, when one searches for "types of paid advertising," the results are all digital destinations.

The entire first page of Google search dedicates all the search result findings to online advertising and marketing initiatives. So why would anyone who is looking to increase their ROI even consider print? Just stating that several iconic digital-based brands use print collateral in conjunction with digital marketing may not be enough to justify why the other 95% of businesses should follow suit.

Word of Mouth - The Strongest Marketing Technique

Most experienced marketers agree that word-of-mouth advertising is the best form of marketing. Digital marketing efforts claim that real-time conversations, engagements, and consumer reviews are the closest thing to word-of-mouth encounters. What we must all remember, however, is that we are not computers nor is our DNA built from robotics.

Conversely, we are sentient, sensual beings equipped with the ability to discern more than what's limited to a smartphone or desktop screen.

The digital environment is unable to compete with real face-to-face people encounters that can generate a word-of-mouth exchange. Human beings are sensitive creatures, in that touch, feel, smell and seeing is what matters to all of us, and thus differentiates us from the digital-only realm.

The Sensuality of Print

Printed collateral performs in a manner that evokes real emotive responses void of staring at a computer monitor or for that matter any digital device that has a screen. Printed collateral has always been able to trigger these sensory aspects that digital fails to accomplish.

Martin Lindstrom, writer of "Brand Sense," is of the mind that brands whose marketing strategies can appeal to more than three senses will rise above the advertising endeavors of brands that are unable to accomplish speaking to more than three senses.

Marketing with Print is Trusted

With all the deepening hoopla surrounding fake posts and disinformation campaigns plaguing social media channels, it is no wonder folks are opting out of various platforms. The rise of fake and disinformation posts is not to suggest that brands and marketers should also depart from using social media channels to advertise and market their products and services.

When using direct mail to direct consumers and prospects to online destinations, the notion that consumers would ignore a digital ad become less of a reality. As a result, print media now commands the position as being the much more trustworthy entity over and above online destinations. Further, recent reports have found that recipients of direct mail are more inclined to make an online purchase after having received a direct mail offering. Again, another reason why print marketing matters in 2019.

Print's Transactional Document Strength

Online vendors throughout the world continue to push for online bill payments, while consumers are simultaneously becoming more wary of their sensitive data showing up in corners that can prove to be dangerous. Over the past couple of years, we have experience with iconic brand data breaches that are now second nature. In a great many cases, violations are inevitable, and it's now a matter of when the next data breach happens according to most security experts.

However, transactional print documents that encompass billing and sensitive financial transactions alleviate that online security concern in no small degree. Since it is apparent that a majority of people find print to be a more trustworthy medium, it would also stand to reason that by incorporating transactional print documents for the dissemination of sensitive information and offers, brands that are seeking to impart a sense of security for their customers should gladly embrace print.

Print Impacts More

The ubiquitous universe of digital media has now become a war of noise acceleration. However, in spite of the rising noise, digital media is set to remain a constant in our lives. As digital ad blockers increase in usage, the digital landscape is becoming much more challenging for brands to make inroads to garner consumers and prospects attention.

B2B and B2C brands targeting C-Level prospects can better improve their opportunities by reducing the email marketing investment and instead move some budgeting to start creating and sending quality brochures, postcards, books, kits, and other notable print media.

Entities that are investing in email marketing, may find it a pleasant surprise to discover that direct mail gets opened at a much higher rate than emails, as the majority of emails find themselves on the deletion conveyor belt, often unread.

In summation, the impact of printed collateral proves to be yet another reason why print marketing is a must-have to improve almost any marketing initiative in 2019, particularly digital marketing.

The Net-Net

Gaining a competitive marketing advantage in the age of all things digital requires an all hands on deck approach. Do stay abreast of new digital technologies and social media platforms. Do invest and create great online campaigns, capable of increasing consumer participation and engagements. Do not forgo adding direct mail to your marketing toolbox, as direct mail enhances any digital marketing campaign across most touch-points. Do not dismiss the probability that direct mail can be the difference maker in increasing your ROI. Thanks for reading "Why Digital Marketing Needs Print."

Let's have a conversation about direct mail marketing strategies, printing, transactional documents, variable digital printing, brand equity and unified marketing collateral during our next Open House. We invite you to join us on Thursday, March 28, 2019, for an hour or two, anytime between 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. Let us show you how to improve your document processes to optimize your workflow, reduce your costs, and maximize your organization's printing, letter shop, and mailing capabilities. Dove Direct has an official USPS certified bureau located within our offices that will save you time and money. Moreover, if you bring us your files, we will create a demo file for you. For more information, call Carla Eubanks at 404-629-0122 or email Carla at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Dove Direct, your Atlanta based print and mail solutions provider offers organizations end-to-end data, printing, and mailing solutions: Data Management, Variable Digital Printing, LetterShop and Fulfillment, Fully Automated MLOCR Presort Bureau, Marketing and Production Management Support and Secure Data Life Cycle Management.

If you don't want to wait for the Open House, you can reach Dove Direct today by calling 404-629-0122 or use the contact form for Dove Direct.