The print channel is dead. Long live Print.
So, a minute on the internet looks like this:
156 million emails sent, 29 million messages fired, 1.5 million Spotify songs played, 4 million Google searches made, 2 million minutes of Skype calls made, 350,000 tweets sent, 243,000 photos posted on Facebook, 87,000 hours of Netflix watched, 65,000 pictures put on Instagram, 25,000 posts made on Tumblr, 18,000 matches on Tinder, and 400 hours of video uploaded to YouTube.
I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.
In this noisy, competitive digital world there is still only one letterbox and the power of you putting a printed communication through that letterbox should not be underestimated.
Record-breaking double digit increases in the effectiveness of direct mail and door drops during the Covid crisis.
During the various lockdowns, our media habits were forced to change with much coverage given to the changes across the digital and broadcast channels, but what about the channel that is always present in the home?
The latest data from the Joint Industry Committee for Mail (JICMail), shows that with more time at home, consumers have increased exposure to their direct mail and door drops and its ability to drive engagement and sales.
Door drops also achieved record levels of consumer engagement, with the average item interacted with 3.19 times, which represents 15% growth year-on-year.
Business mail, essentially addressed mail that contains some form of bill or statement, also reported higher interaction figures, up 7% to 4.87 times.
The various channels all recorded significant increases in the amount of time they live in the home with all three effectively extending their lifespan by a day year-on-year:
- Direct Mail 8.5 days
- Door drops 6.9 days
- Business mail 9.6 days
During that time, they are shared with family members and friends.
Consumers are frustrated with ad bombardment and poorly targeted communications; insightful direct mail and door drops counter that problem.
The JICMail study, which is captured from a monthly panel of 1,000 households, also highlighted the positive impact that government and health mailings had had on the overall statistics, with, unsurprisingly, interaction with government and healthcare mailings increasing 45% and 11% respectively.
Capitalising on the effectiveness of mail and demonstrating its contribution to multi-channel campaigns is integral going forward if marketers are to make the most of this opportunity.
Looking to increase your client base?
If so, why not try the wonderful medium of door drops.
Door drops are leaflets or flyers that are not personally addressed to the householder. They are cost-effective and can be targeted locally or nationally. As mentioned above they are now more relevant than ever as this physical channel can reach potential new customers at home.
As a channel, door drops have a number of unique benefits:
- They can be precisely targeted to the type customers you want to reach
- They can give you a one-to-one moment with potential clients in their home
- Their physical presence helps to cut through the noise of the digital channels
- On average they stay in the home for nearly 7 days on and are revisited three times
It’s benefits like these that make them such an effective channel when it comes to client acquisition – whether you need to do that locally or on a national scale.
They’re also cost-effective because you can target them so precisely. For instance, you can choose to deliver to households by specific postcodes or by particular demographic selections. The majority of the country is covered, meaning there is the option to target up to 30 million homes.
How about partially addressed mail?
Partially addressed mail is a highly targeted and responsible way to reach new customers.
Using GDPR compliant household data, instead of addressing the mailing to an individual your campaign can be addressed to ‘The Occupier’, ‘The Householder’, ‘Cat Lover’, ‘Shoe Wearer’, in fact anything that is going to reflect your campaign message.
Find out more How partially addressed mail can help you target more of your ideal customers – A Direct Mail blog from synergy
Yes, that’s all very well but print is bad for the environment isn’t it?
When it comes to the sustainability of Print and Paper, it’s important to separate the Facts from the Myths.
The European paper industry is a world-leader when it comes to sustainably sourced raw materials, renewable energy and recycling rates. Yet the myths around paper are still prevalent amongst consumers.
A 2019 survey by Two Sides, www.twosides.info, revealed 59% of European consumers believe European forests are shrinking, when in fact they have been growing by an area equivalent to 1,500 football pitches every day. A third of consumers believe paper is a wasteful product and a quarter believe paper is bad for the environment.
Often the source of these misconceptions is the abundance of misleading information about paper and its impact on the environment.
Paper has been the preferred communications medium for 2,000 years. Even in today’s digital world, it continues to be highly effective and, produced, used and disposed of responsibly, is inherently sustainable.
We live in an increasingly digital world where electronic and paper-based communications coexist and are often complementary.
Print and Paper in A Digital World
An international survey of over 10,700 consumers, commissioned by Two Sides found:
- Consumers worldwide prefer to read the printed version of books (72%), magazines (72%) and newspapers/news (55%) over digital options. Many respondents also indicated that reading in print is more enjoyable than reading electronically.
- More consumers believe they gain a deeper understanding of news stories when reading from print media (65%) over online news sources (49%). In addition, consumers also trust the stories they read in printed newspapers (51%) more than stories found on social media (24%).
- Many consumers (68%) do not pay attention to online advertisements and 57% do their best to avoid them. 46% would be more likely to take an action after seeing an advertisement in a printed newspaper or magazine than they would if they saw the same ad online.
- 89% of consumers believe that they should have the right to choose how they receive communications (printed or electronically), at no extra charge, from financial organisations and service providers.
Ok, fair enough, but younger people won’t take any notice of print, will they?
It is true that younger people spend a lot of time on-line but recent studies have shown that these ‘digital natives’ respond well to print and mail with 59% responding to something they have had through their letterbox over the past 6 months.
Some easy-to-implement print ideas
- Encourage clients to ‘recommend a friend’, perhaps include an incentive like a £10 gift voucher.
- Do a door drop campaign to the postcodes you are targeting
- Send a personalised letter and leaflet pack using GDPR compliant opted-in data lists
- Include some promotion material with your invoices, either on the invoice itself or within the pack. People always read their invoices!
- Posters in the right places, such as local shops, leisure centres and libraries will help to raise awareness.
So, when you are planning your next sales and marketing campaign it is definitely worth including print in the mix and there is no better place to start than a no obligation chat with the Synergy team.