Those who believe print marketing is obsolete should reconsider: management consulting firm Kurt Salmon has discovered that good old fashioned print catalogs can boost internet sales. According to Cynthia Boris of Marketing Pilgrim, companies can actually lose money if they pull out the catalogs that they send out to their customers. The Kurt Salmon report gave specific details:
Some 58% of online shoppers say they browse catalogs for ideas, and 31% have a retailer’s catalog with them when they make a purchase online.
Women ages 18 to 30 are especially motivated by catalogs, claiming that they enhance their impression of a retailer. More importantly, 45% say catalogs stimulate their interest in a retailer’s products, and a whopping 86% have bought an item after first seeing it in a catalog.
Indeed, the classic marketing method of using posters, magazine ads, and the like still has a strong influence on today’s customers. It is thus wrong to say that printing companies in NH and other states are no longer needed in a world chiefly dominated by the Internet and social networking sites. Fortunately, marketing firms like RC Brayshaw & Company are adept at both print and digital media, and are thus able to serve their clients in either manner.
Special focus, however, should be given to print materials due to advantages that online ads and websites simply don’t have. For one, internet marketing can only be effective if the audience knows how to operate a computer or smartphone, let alone have the power (i.e. electricity) to run them; print materials don’t have these problems because they can literally be accessed anytime. They also possess a certain air of credibility; the proliferation of fake ads and spam on the Internet has led some people to doubt the legitimacy of the things they see or read online.
Both print and internet marketing can be used in tandem to boost sales; for example, scanning QR (quick response) codes printed on flyers and brochures can give consumers a chance to participate in special promos. As a reputable printing company in New Hampshire, RC Brayshaw & Company uses similar techniques and refers to them as ‘integrated marketing’. They believe that the best way to do marketing is to use of all forms of media available, which is an assessment that your business would certainly agree with.
(Article Excerpt and Image from Study Shows the Old Fashioned Print Catalog is Good for Internet Sales, Marketing Pilgrim, November 8, 2013)