Our Top 5 Print Marketing Tips for FY23-24

1. Personalised Marketing

The most important way to obtain the consumer's attention, is to use their name. Whether it be hearing it or reading it, people are always hard-wired to respond to their own name.

You could do this by sending out a Direct Mail Marketing Campaign which could be a simple Envelope Mailer - 1 piece that incorporates the envelope and the message all in one. Use bright colours and imagery as well as including their name in large font to captivate their attention, while also including your product or service and how it could make their lives better / easier.

Another effective method is to include a personalised thank you card inside the box of goodies they purchased from you. This is especially useful for online businesses who don't have the opportunity to meet & greet their customers in person. A special Thank You card with their name included in the message, makes them feel special and makes your brand stand out compared with the majority of online companies. You should also ensure that this personalised marketing is branded to remind them of who they purchased from, so that they are more likely to remember you and become a loyal customer.

2. Sustainable Print & Packaging

Consumers are becoming ever more conscious of their environmental impact and choosing products and services from companies who hold these same values. We have noticed an increasing trend over the past few years towards eco-friendly recycled paper and packaging materials.

Another eco-conscious paper option which is gaining increasing popularity through all forms of print media - from magazines to packaging is uncoated paper or card. Gone are the days when everything received a coat of shiny gloss varnish or cello. Matte is back - not only in coatings, but in the look of printed items using uncoated and FSC Recycled or FSC-Mix papers.

If you're interested in creating an eco-friendly piece, and you're unsure what paper options you have, just let us know and we can arrange to get some samples of the latest products out to you.

3. Cross Media Marketing

In addition to personalisation of your marketing piece, there is growing trend to include a QR Code.

This can be used to enable customers to go directly to a web page, to track the success of your campaign, or monitor customer referrals.

The options are endless.

Providing your message to your consumer in multiple formats and linking them, ensures that your message cuts through and reaches people through the medium that is best suited to each consumer group.

4. Humanised Approach

After the surge for everything to go online and paperless, we have found this method is not always the most effective. For example, some schools are reverting to a physical Calendar or Student Diary, as the online versions were found to ineffective and got lost amongst the onslaught of digital marketing that fill up our inboxes every day - every few minutes it seems!

Due to the sheer volume of marketing we receive via email, much of this of lost as we don't have the time to read it all, so it's most often deleted or labelled as junk.

The beauty of a real letter or magazine arriving in your physical mailbox (that thing in front of your house), is that this is something we actually pick up and flick through. It's almost comforting to revert back to the "old days" where we got to look through a catalogue and see the colours on the paper, smell the ink of a newspaper. Remember that!? Give your client's a little bit of nostalgia and you'll see it taps into a lost, yet very effective marketing method.

5. Customer Retention & Loyalty Programs

Tieing in with something we touched on earlier with personalisation, is the ever popular method of using Loyalty Programs to retain clients. Along with a Thank You Card, you could also include a Loyalty Card.

Whether this be a percentage off card for their next purchase, or points earned from every shop, this method is also personalising the experience and making your customer feel special. They can also include a QR Code like the one pictured.

Reward Cards are always in fashion, and provide a sense of belonging and being special - two things humans gravitate towards. Of course we want our 10th Coffee Free or 10% off every 5th Hairdresser appointment! Who wouldn't! It makes us feel special and looked after. This is tried and tested and should be part of every retail marketing strategy.