Is Print Really Dead?
How many obituaries do we have to read proclaiming that print is dead? I call BS on that, and here's why.
No matter where you look, print is everywhere. You see it all day long, from the moment you wake up in the morning - it's on everything from your tube of toothpaste, to the cup of coffee you bought on your way to work. Pretty much every item you encounter in your daily life has print on the label, the box, or the instructions. You can't avoid it!
For well over three decades I’ve been hearing about the paperless office, and while it's an interesting idea, it doesn't fully reflect the reality of how businesses actually operate. Granted, you can email an invitation, a brochure, or a newsletter, but print delivers more, and I can prove it.
We had a client call us in a panic. After months and months of advertising, marketing, public relations – all digital – seats remained unsold for an event. Obviously this was a huge cause for concern. The client called us and said that they needed postcards, thousands of them, as quickly as possible. So Stafford Printing produced some snazzy postcards that could be returned without a stamp . . . and suddenly the responses flooded in. Within the first week there was a 3% response rate from prospects saying that they wanted to buy seats, at an average price of $1,000. With an anticipated conversion rate of 10% - meaning one out of every 10 respondents will purchase - a minimum of $100,000 in revenue is anticipated on a campaign that cost $19,000 to produce. It will be interesting to see the final numbers . . . but print came through in a pinch to generate revenue for the client.
The key to the program was a targeted audience. This was not a shotgun approach, but rather a purchased list identifying demographics that would be interested in the product.
Print isn’t dead; it’s just being utilized differently. The value of print is not only that it's beautiful, but that it can evolve along with the marketing landscape.
Clients have a vision for what they want to achieve; it is up to print service providers to demonstrate how print can be the best way to make that vision a reality.
Not only is print not dead but I predict higher growth and expansion. We’ll never have the amount of printing companies we once had but that’s ok. Many opportunities for smart companies.
Founder CEO (TOP VOICE) Retail?Grocery?C-Store VISUAL BRANDING Graphics?Fixture?Decor Installation Project Management
4 年Unfortunately most print vendors hold onto their time honored tradition rather than establishing value in themselves. -Be the solution provider -Competing on price turns print into the race to zero -Specialize (niches is equal riches) -print now embodies a technological free market economy... Economies of scale and scope in full effect thanks to the Internet! -Adapt & Overcome Or get run over
Vice President | Sales and Marketing
4 年This is great Howard! There is no doubt that targeting is key to direct mail success. The question around Alumni Publications going the digital route has come up a lot lately as well. I created a survey and published an article sharing the results. Please let me know what you think - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/should-alumni-publications-go-digital-shaun-m-daney/?trackingId=fEMz%2FlCHTVyicxWytVCR6A%3D%3D
Digital Imaging Specialist | Prisco Digital Advisory Board | Prisco Lithographic Technologies | President's Club
4 年Printing is NOT dead nor is it dying. Changing, YES! Evolving, YES! Commercial print is what's been hit the hardest. Packaging and Labels are showing a steady growth. What's dying are printing companies that fail to evolve. Variable Data, Digital, Augmented Reality, Wide Format are growth opportunities for commercial printing companies. Static print is the commodity of print. #keeponprinting #PriscoDigital #keyworddigital