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To print or not to print? Surely that is the question?

I started my marketing career working for an SME, where we had little in the way of budget so it was all about strong and innovative tactical marketing activity. Due to the lack of budget, it had to be cheap (ideally free!) and it had to get the company as much attention, build the brand and sell as much as we possibly could.

Looking back to these halcyon days, how I wish for some of the technology which all of the cool kids have these days. Ahh...

But just because it is there, does it mean companies (irrespective of budget largesse) have to create printed items? Or does it even mean the company has to unleash the full online beast?

It depends on the demographic, and yes I realise that is an easy response. But think of the meeting where social media has been seen as the silver bullet with which to meet all targets. You ask the simple question of what it brings and the stuttering response fails to convince you.

It really is a matter of putting the customer at the heart of the campaign; believe it or not, there is still a group of people out there (no matter how small they will become in the future) who like to have the tangible item in their hands. After all, you just never know when the site may fail to load up, or your computer may crash with the loss of information being the main consequences of this mishap.

Another consideration is the industry you are in may dictate whether printing can be completely left out of the marketing mix. A good example of this is if you work in the financial services industry; you need to send the policy document and other details to the customer. A QR code is not sufficient.

Ultimately, you need to forget about your personal preferences and ensure the customer is at the heart of whichever path you take. So to help you get started, here are some tips which may help you to answer the question:

-          What is the overall marketing objective of the campaign? And what marketing media best lend themselves to the objectives.

-          Who is the intended demographic? There is no point spending vast sums of time, effort and money in going after a demographic which does not actively engage with Twitter, Facebook, et.al. It is good to remember your customers; just because you are au fait with the latest technological revolution, does not mean your customers are. Those who like to read the printed word still do exist. And would that demographic really want reams and reams of paper? The internet and various social media makes a two way relationship a much better and more feasible approach.

-          Where is the demographic that you are trying to reach? Is it somewhere where online media will be more beneficial? Or is it somewhere that the Internet has not fully penetrated?

-          How will this media penetration be measured? For example, if you are giving away printed copies as part of the marketing plan, how do you plan to measure if they have been effective?

-          Is there a legal requirement to get something printed? My background is the financial services industry and some of the projects which I have worked on require certain documents to be printed. For example the policy certificate. This is generally the case unless the organisation has signed up with the FSA clearly stating they can send encrypted information to the customer. 

-          The cost is the elephant in the room which is usually mentioned after the World’s Most Amazing Idea has been presented, but do you need to forgo the original idea to meet the needs and requirements of the campaign? Or is it just feasible to do everything at once? What about having a staggered launch?

This is not an exhaustive list but rather some things to consider when putting together the campaign plan.

So, we have the question but what is the answer?

Non legal blurbs:

·         You can follow me on Twitter, I am the entity known as @vonslaich

·         If you want to discuss anything which you have read, or profoundly disagree with something I have said, then contact me on Twitter or at aslaich@yahoo.co.uk

·         Telepathy does not work with me. Sorry.

·         Recommended music whilst reading this blog: Like a dust of the balance by Ochre.