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The Power of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is no longer a matter of companies jumping head-first into a brave new world of advertising. Today, it’s all about finding ways to distinguish one company from its competitors in a crowded landscape. And it’s not because companies are busy jumping on the bandwagon. The reason the paradigm has shifted so far to the other side is that digital marketing is proven to work. If you want your efforts to come across on the page — whether in physical or virtual form — you need to focus on what your audience is expecting. You then need to give them what they want while still thinking outside the box. It sounds impossible? It can certainly feel that way for many marketers, but it doesn’t have to be. See how digital printing with Preferred Direct can augment your digital marketing campaigns and help you come out ahead.

business marketingAn Omnichannel Foundation

There has been a lot of chatter about omnichannel marketing today, mainly because the saturation for consumers has reached the level of a Soaked Sponge. Take a look at this starter guide from Forbes. Marketers have to begin addressing their stagnation or slowdowns from every angle if they want the company to thrive and survive. When you combine platforms and integrate consistent messaging from one type of media to the next, you increase the odds that your audience will remember who your company is and how it works. (Most marketers may understand this on a fundamental level, but the actual practice of it tends to be halfhearted at absolute best.) The other core tenet of omnichannel marketing is the idea of 1:1 messaging for the audience. (When a rideshare company sends you a text message to let you know that your car has arrived, this is as one-to-one as it gets.) That kind of personalization may be outside most marketer’s realms, but electronic marketing is slowly moving closer to that eventuality. Your audience doesn’t want to be informed of every last event or promotion. They want to know about the things that will benefit them.

The Power of Online Marketing

Companies are spending more time on pinpointing their audience, so they are never left in the dark about what customers crave. In addition to using this data for virtual marketing or Digital Marketing, they’re using it for physical printing, as well. Digital printing can use variable data to customize your materials, so you’re not sending osteoporosis literature to young parents with toddlers. The data you collect should be drawn from a variety of sources.  It is used to help shape everything from your automated campaign solutions to your company postcards. Data-driven customization doesn’t mean you’ll never miss, but it does mean you’ll get more hits than you would without it. If you’re skeptical about how printing can benefit your company, consider the fact that even digital-based companies have seen benefits from producing physical magazines and brochures. Today it is too easy to become distracted on the web, Digital Marketing marketers tap into their audience’s desire to slow down and absorb more information by offering more than one vehicle for their message. Even the U.S. Government uses Digital Marketing.

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Use of Variable Printing

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Data-driven Marketing or customization makes it possible to target your audience in new ways.

For example, let’s say a financial firm has two main audience segments: recent college grads who don’t know the first thing about the market and hardcore investors who attack their portfolio like it threatened their mother. You already know that the hardcore segment makes up about 70% of your revenue, and the youngsters make up for the other 30%. When you have the right data at your fingertips, you can further divide your two main segments into different categories. So you might divide the portfolio optimization people into those who take chances and those who play it safe. You might divide the grads by their professional industry, so your advertising can drive at the specifics of the opportunities and challenges they face.

One way people collect this data is through social media campaigns or QR codes. Holding a contest or offering incentives on Twitter and Facebook can encourage people to share what they think without becoming resentful of the intrusion. QR codes on digital print material also give you an idea of when a person is interacting with your company and where they are when they access the code. View Variable Data Printing Services 

Connecting It All Together

While your approach for digital printing and digital advertising may be different, the bigger picture needs to remain the same for both: Email signups: One simple way to integrate direct printing is to create a different kind of email signup. Instead of asking people for their email addresses for your mailing lists, consider asking people via digital or electronic mailing if they want to receive print publications through your email lists. At Preferred Direct, we will work with you to deliver engaging email campaigns that complement your digital marketing. Click here to learn more. 

Crossover CTAs:

Your call-to-action on a print material doesn’t have to be for the reader to call to learn more or to make an appointment. It may be even more effective if you direct them to your website or your app. Doing this gives your audience two ways to check out your brand without ever feeling pressured. Share and share alike: If your company is big enough, there’s always going to be some degree of separation. But if your departments aren’t finding ways to share the data, it will eventually come back to haunt you (and not in a friendly ghost type of way). Marketers need to find ways to harvest data wherever they can — it’s the only way to keep the message fresh without sacrificing the core characteristics of the brand. It may mean finding more efficient ways to post data that everyone can use.

Choosing the Right Digital Marketing Partner

The bottom line for marketers is that it hurts the company’s bottom line if no one is taking advantage of the many avenues available to them. If you feel as though you’re staring at a map that was created by a madman, though, you’re not alone. Trying to decide on a strategy is like trying to make everyone in the room happy when you can only choose one pizza topping.

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 If you need a little guidance, Preferred Direct is here to help. We’re experts at integrating your variable data into your printing materials. We also have serious digital printers that are capable of handling your on-demand printing. Trust us when we use the old cliche that ‘no job is too big.’ We also know how to work with companies with highly sensitive data. So if you have HIPAA or HITRUST guidelines that you need to follow, you don’t have to worry about violations (or those pesky fines) with Preferred Direct. Contact us today and let us know more about your response rates, customers, and future goals.

Request a Marketing Estimate from the experts at Preferred Direct!

About the authors

As President, Chris Nee is responsible for connecting the many aspects of PDM’s operational organization. His focus is on bringing together people, processes, and products to drive performance. Chris facilitates the key drivers for PDM’s success as a print and direct mail company, including engaging and retaining employees, and perpetually innovating to drive top-line revenue, and enhancing productivity across the company. Chris brings a wealth of experience to this role, previously driving sales, leading teams, and negotiating deals with some of the largest companies/brands in the US, including The Hershey Company, Clorox, and Dole Foods.

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