Marketing For Dummies, 5th Edition

Chapter 9

Using Print in a Digital World

IN THIS CHAPTER

Discovering the power of print for ads, mail, and more

Designing for increasing comprehension and action

Using print to drive engagement and sales online and offline

Print is not dead. And it never will be because consumers still react more emotionally to tactile communications. It’s just human nature. As the world increasingly turns digital, you may think it’s okay to bypass printed direct mail, newspaper ads, and collateral. It isn’t.

The 2015 Response Rate put out by the Data & Marketing Association shows

• Printed direct‐mail response rates outperform digital channels by nearly three times with an average of 3.7 percent response rate versus a 0.62 percent rate for digital channels targeting current customers.
• For ROI, printed mail generates the same return as social media, which is between 15 and 17 percent.

And other studies confirm that print still matters:

• Brand recall for print ads is 75 percent compared to 44 percent for digital. (Canada Post)
• Baby boomers, which make up a large population of the buying public, still read newspapers — 38 percent daily and 44 percent on Sundays. (Nielsen Scarborough data, State of ...