Perhaps one of the greatest gifts of living in the modern era is the sheer amount of options we have to choose from, no matter what we want to do. Cross-referencing is simple with the Internet and print books, journals, newspapers, or other sources at our disposal. Writing can be done using a computer, tablet, pen and paper, or dictation. If we need something distributed, there are many ways to do so. Although it can mean stiffer competition for businesses, that also produces new innovations and ways to make processes or services easier and better. One such example of this is the increased use of both traditional and digital printing. Digital printing companies and traditional printing companies both have their advantages and disadvantages, but used in combination, they can make a killer resource for sales and marketing departments to effectively advertise services or products.
What Are the Benefits of Digital Printing?
Digital printing companies are on the rise and have been since 1991, when it first was introduced. Digital printing eliminates the need to replace printing plates, giving the company a faster turnaround time when printing materials and a lower cost, despite the slightly higher initial cost of using digital printing instead of traditional printing. Digital printing can print on far more than just paper and can extend its reach to canvas, glass, and even harder substances like metal or marble.
Digital printing companies have made creating books or photo albums something that ordinary people can do at home. The cost of printing at home or in the office has gone down significantly with digital printing now available. Families can print photo albums and even their own advertising flyers or banners!
What are The Benefits of Using Print Marketing Instead of Purely Digital?
There is certainly something to be said for the old fashioned ways of doing things! Even though email and other digital communications through social media are becoming widely used, there’s still a certain appeal to sending out flyers, promotional ads, and other marketing tools via the mail. There’s also a certain creativity with signs — for example, if you walk by a restaurant or bar with a creative hand drawn sign, the chances are pretty good you’ll stop to read and laugh. It’ll certainly get your attention and feel a little more personal than getting a more informal mass email about that restaurant.
Promotional gifts received through the mail can also have a lasting power that an email quickly deleted does not. For example, consumers are more likely to keep a promotional calendar sent as a gift for the whole year. Each time they look at it, they’re reminded of the company or organization it came from. And around 85% of Americans tend to remember a company’s name if they receive a gift with the company’s logo on it.
Print marketing also has a longer “shelf life” so to speak. Emails are easy to delete, pop up banners online are easy to close out of, and blaring ads are easy to mute. However, things sent through the mail tend to at least be looked at casually. With over 60% of Americans enjoying checking their mailbox and over 70% of consumers actually preferring getting direct mail for communications, that’s an easy win! (Consumers prefer direct mail because they can go back over the material when they have time and don’t feel put on the spot or like they need to respond immediately.) The chances are greater that more people in a household will see the direct mail as well — an email may go to thousands or even millions of people, but per household, direct mail may end up reaching more people.
Digital printing companies and more traditional companies are finding an uneasy middle ground as they compete for sales and marketing business.It’s important for businesses to remember that both are viable sources to draw upon and can be very useful when used together. It’s important to be receptive to new innovations, but there is certainly a value to sticking with tried and true methods as well!
