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Print Marketing – It Still Has a Place in Your Marketing Strategy . . . If Done Correctly

Digital marketing has undoubtedly been the go-to way of marketing in the 21st century. With everyone turning to Google for an answer (more than likely on their phone) and shopping online, you would think that print marketing is a thing of the past. However, print marketing hasn’t been disregarded just yet.

It still holds a lot of value for both businesses and consumers and many consumers will opt for this before heading online. Now there is no way we could sit here and tell you print media is the most important element of the marketing mix and it should be prioritised in your marketing budget. That would be simply untrue. However, we would recommend incorporating it in your marketing strategy where suitable because there is definitely still a place for it.

If you are interested in learning more and print advertising then please read on.

What is Print Advertising?

Firstly let’s understand what constitutes print advertising or print marketing. It is a great way to reach a whole range of different audiences, by targeting locally, nationally and regionally as well as the age and class of an individual. Print media is probably a lot more vast than you might think it is. It isn’t just newspapers, magazines and flyers. Some other print advertisement examples are:

  • Point of sale
  • Labels
  • Direct mail
  • Phone directories
  • Business cards
  • Billboards

The variety print media gives you can create thousands of opportunities as marketers to play around with. Think about print advertising as this; it’s anything that has been printed physically that promotes your brand, business, product etc

Print advertisement examples

FCK (KFC)

Ok, so we did say that print marketing is more than just newspapers, however, our first example was featured in magazines. But we couldn’t resist shouting about this one from KFC.

Back in February of 2018, the well known, UK branches of the chicken restaurant found themselves in the centre of utmost controversy after, wait for it, running out of chicken.

As a response to the outrage KFC received, they released a very fcking clever campaign where they rearranged their famous name KFC to FCK to abbreviate one very naughty swear word. This word was featured on one of the finger-lickin’ good brands’ famous buckets but with no chicken leg in sight.

Thanks to this campaign and fabulously humorous display of print marketing, the brand soon found itself back on its fried feet with little leftover damage.

Dracula TV Show (BBC)

Billboard ads are big, really big and therefore must be marketed in a way that makes them stand out enough that it will make people stop and look rather than just being passed unnoticed.

The British Broadcasting Corporation went above and beyond for their billboard marketing campaign to advertise their limited edition tv series, Dracula, a take on the original classic. An extra layer of thought was put behind the billboard as by day it displayed an unsuspecting graphic of the series title and some knives but by night, the shadows from these kitchen utensils transformed to show shadows of the face of Dracula. Imagine seeing that as you’re driving down the road at night.

☝️ Hover to unveil the effect☝️

☝️ Slide to unveil the effect☝️

More than meets the eye

Business cards feel almost a thing of the past thanks to the presence of social media and digitalisation but with the right creative flair, they can firmly hold their place within this digital marketing-orientated world.

We struggled to pick our favourites out of the ones we researched but the common factor they all included? Engagement. Which is something we just absolutely love so couldn’t resist to include a few examples.

Does Print still have its place today?

Print media unquestionably still has its place today. If there is a demand to read print such as newspapers, then there will always be a place for it. Who this demand comes from is something to consider when deciding upon if you want to use print or not. For example, 95% of people under 25 read magazines, meaning it’s only logical for more vibrant, younger brands to advertise through print.

In order for print media to be used effectively it HAS to be quality, and what you need to think about is that it truly is an art form. There are countless opportunities with print as you can be really creative with it, through bright colours, appealing text, humour etc. Colours are so important in marketing as they trigger cognitive processes during the consumer decision-making process. They can provide the audience with emotions, create a relationship with the brand and manufacture important first impressions with a new customer.

Digital marketing will always be the best method because of its versatility, easy to track results and flexibility when it comes to budgeting. But it might be worth trying both. Did you know that a combination of print and digital has been known to make campaigns 400% more effective?

If you don’t create an effective print campaign then it really will become a waste of time and money, and no small business needs that. This is where we want to help to ensure you can present high-quality print or digital campaigns that effectively impact your audience. Our expert design team are the best (well we think so anyway) when it comes to creating unbeatable visual design, whether that’s through print or digital marketing.

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