The Power of Print Marketing for E-Commerce Entrepreneurs
Marketing your online business in print might sound counter intuitive, but it can be surprisingly effective.
Whether you decide to market your website through print magazines or catalogues, promotional t-shirts, or printed bags and mugs, print marketing can be a powerful way to attract new business.
Bring Your Brand into the Offline World
One of the biggest advantages of using print marketing is that it brings your online brand into the real world.
Physical objects engage the senses, making the experience of interacting with your printed item more memorable. Customers can feel the texture of paper, smell the scent of ink, and enjoy the tangible weight of a magazine or brochure in their hands.
Another plus is that your brand design, colours and content are presented to customers without the other distractions found online, so it is easier to focus on your content and images.
Because it is fun to interact with attractive objects, print can help to drive sales and increase brand loyalty.
Build Your Company’s Credibility
When your clients can see and touch something in the moment it also helps to build credibility for your business. Printed materials help you to make a genuine, personal connection with your target audience.
While some websites can be a front for fraudsters, physical marketing materials help to reassure your customers that your business is legitimate and helps to build trust.
Test the Effectiveness of Your Branding
At the same time, printed materials can be a great way to test the effectiveness of your brand’s design and content. How does your visual design translate to print media in real life? Do your colours and logo look as good as you imagined?
You can also see whether your content works as well when you aren’t relying on videos, infographics or other interactive media to attract attention and drive sales.
Attract a Different Demographic
Print marketing can be very effective in reaching customers in older demographics. If your online business targets Generation X or Baby Boomers, this could be just what you need to boost sales.
Many older customers still prefer to have a real-life encounter with the businesses they patronise. Many websites already benefit from sending a regular catalogue or magazine through the mail to targeted customers, highlighting their products and services.
Brighten up Online Sales
Print can also be very effective in online sales. Make the most of purchases by using beautifully designed printed bags and printed mailing bags to send them to your customers.
Rather than a dull brown envelope or box, receiving printed mailing materials pleasantly surprises your customers and makes the shopping experience more like receiving a gift.
This positive experience is likely to increase word-of-mouth recommendations and drive future sales.
Spread Brand Recognition
Because print marketing is physical, your materials interact with a number of different people on the way to your customers. This means you can find a new audience in unexpected places.
Workers at the post office may be intrigued by your brand after simply seeing the cover of a magazine, or by handling printed mail bags.
Neighbours and friends may be exposed to your logo when they see a catalogue on a friend’s coffee table, or start to recognise your brand’s signature colours on bags and delivery packages.
Find New Customers
Many online businesses rely on search engines and paid adverts to draw attention to their brand, but promotional objects can connect with other people you might not have considered as your target customers.
This is why printed promotional items can be so successful when marketing websites. Businesses that give away printed T-shirts, mugs, calendars and pens understand that these branded objects can be very effective at marketing their business to new customers.
For example, 2014 research from the Advertising Specialty Institute shows that the average person in Europe keeps a free branded calendar for 10.9 months, a branded sweatshirt for 8 months, a promotional mug for 6.3 months, and a company pen for 6 months.
As each person keeps and uses your printed products, the people around them are exposed to your brand and your brand recognition grows.
Reinforce Your Social Media Presence
Now that print marketing is less common, it can be a great way to reinforce your business’ social media presence.
Fewer printed materials mean less competition for attention and more social media conversations about your products and services.
For example, fashion magazine/catalogues (‘magalogs’) printed for websites One King’s Lane and Editorialist have given both brands a boost on social media, as well as boosting online sales for pieces highlighted in print.
The Printed Bag Shop has years of expertise in printed bags, printed mailing bags and business marketing. To speak to one of our lovely team about printed bags, printed mailing bags and which is best for you, contact us on sales@theprintedbagshop.co.uk or 0191 268 7555.