Cross-Media Marketing Tactics: Increasing the Effectiveness of a Print Campaign

The rapidly changing communications landscape has left many wondering where to spend their marketing dollar. Though spending on print has declined in recent years, it still remains a vital part of most marketing campaigns and has proven even more successful when coupled with new media. A recent InfoTrends study states that a traditional print marketing campaign has a 19% higher response rate when coupled with a web landing page. That response rate goes up to 34% over print media alone when coupled with a web landing page, email and Mobile Marketing. Here are a few tips on how to streamline your multi-media marketing effort and maximize ROI.

Data & QR Codes

Data is a crucial element of a successful marketing campaign and, traditionally, response rates for print media marketing have been difficult to quantify. However new technologies such as QR codes make it easier to receive detailed analytics reports on the effectiveness of your print or direct mail campaign. For those of you who missed Kathleen’s earlier blog post, QR codes are codes often printed on large or small format marketing materials that are scan-able by one’s cell phone and often direct a user to web based promotional content. In addition to routing users to supplementary online content, QR codes also provide marketers with detailed information on those who have responded positively to a campaign, thus adding a new level of measurability to your print or direct mail marketing effort.

Mobile Marketing

Mobile is the fastest growing platform in the marketing world and has proven to be one of the most effective ways to communicate with consumers. Open and read rates for SMS text messages dwarf that of almost all other forms of communication, even personal email. Including a call to action for the mobile-ly inclined in your print campaign allows texters to respond to you via their preferred medium of communication and also empowers you to reach those customers in a powerful new way.

Direct Mail as Follow-Up

One new way in which some marketers have been using direct mail is as a supplement to an online or Email campaign. Staggering your direct mail campaign to follow an Eblast can help you stay in the consciousness of those who opened and read your email, while also allowing you to approach those “Bounce Rate” recipients in a new way.

Timing Is Everything

The sooner you start viewing new media as a vital element in the big picture of your entire marketing plan, the better. Marketing is marketing. New media is not a supplement that exists in a separate dimension from your more traditional efforts. Rather, your traditional and new media campaigns should be highly interactive with each other and deployed strategically in a way that maximizes your exposure, interactivity with the consumer, and ultimately your ROI.