Memo From Your Fulfillment Services Provider: Print Still Performs! by Jeremy Suratt

Email, Twitter, blogs, podcasts, video, social media, SMS, QRCs and PURLs Every day brings a new way to connect with customers. In an increasingly digital world, does print still matter? Before you tell your fulfillment services company you're moving away from print, consider these statistics:

Print grabs attention. 75% of direct mail gets opened, and 63% of recipients read the contents. Open rates for email are typically less than 25%, with click-through rates around 5%.

Print gets response. Direct mail response averages 3.4% to 4.4% for both business-to-business and business-to-consumer mailings, versus 0.12% for email.

Print pulls in sales. Direct mail produces an average of $12.57 in sales for each dollar spent.

Looking for the most effective way to reach your customers? You might want to consider adding print. Mail has a successful delivery rate of about 90%, whereas email can be snagged by spam filters. Moreover, people tend to keep print pieces - especially if they're eye-catching and relevant - while email is easy to delete. Many prefer print's portability, convenience and greater readability. And print can be distributed in ways other than mail and is easy to share.

Print's role in a multimedia environment Print works best when used with other channels to create coordinated, multi-touch campaigns. You want to use a broad set of technologies and mediums to reach your customers through their preferred mode.The synergies created by complementary messaging across multiple channels can really boost results, as one InfoTrends study demonstrates:

Personalized print alone produced a 6% response rate.

Adding either personalized email or PURLs increased response to 7.6%

Adding personalized email and PURLs increased response to 8.2%.

Adding personalized email, PURLs and mobile increased response to 8.7%.

Research suggests that direct mail is the best way to introduce a brand to prospects. It's viewed as the most trustworthy source for marketing information, as well as the most private and least intrusive medium. Print also works better for lengthy or complex messages. Reserve email for people who know your company and for shorter, simpler messages.

An estimated 67% of online searches are driven by print messages, and one study found that shoppers who received mail directing them to a website spent 13% more than those who didn't receive a printed piece. So be sure to include links to digital channels - such as web addresses and QRCs - in all of your print materials.

Likewise, digital channels should include links back to additional print materials for example, a downloadable brochure or white paper that provides a deeper understanding of your products. This moves prospects closer to the point of sale.

Far from being dead, print is enjoying a resurgence as digital channels get increasingly crowded. With so much online noise, some take pleasure in getting away from a computer to enjoy a well-designed print package. Of course, it has to be targeted, relevant and timely - something your fulfillment services partner can help you achieve. Done right, print can make your company stand out and let you reach customers on a truly personal level.

LINK:	http://blogs.ironmountain.com/2014/service-lines/marketing-production-...
	See more stories from ironmountain

Most recent headlines