The Renaissance of Ink on Paper Marketing

In the dark ages of marketing communications, circa 1980, the goal was to get snail-mailed printed materials past office gatekeepers ("executive assistants"), and onto the desks of decision-makers.

However, the sheer volume of mail processed by those gatekeepers made it more likely that a personalized pitch letter and costly brochure would end up, unopened, in the garbage can. Dead on arrival.

But in the mid-1990s, adoption of email communication dramatically changed the dynamics of direct marketing. This is reflected in the volume of first-class mail, which dropped from a peak of 104 billion pieces in 2001, to 51 billion pieces in 2021.

In theory...this significant reduction in snail mail volume meant that the bar for getting materials past office gatekeepers was lower; making it far easier to put physical marketing collateral into the hands of intended targets.

But that's not what's happened.

Instead, in lemming-like fashion, most marketers largely abandoned snail mail as a viable channel, and adopted email as their "direct" medium of choice to sell products and services.

As a result, many marketers have failed to capture opportunities to connect with prospects through physical materials, in an environment where the arrival of personalized mail is often a unique event; prompting most gatekeepers to ensure that it's delivered to the intended targets.

Marketers are Recapturing the Lost Art of Ink on Paper

Tired of “look-alike” websites and high bounce rates, an increasing number of marketers across all industries have returned to print collateral to differentiate their brand, and to drive engagement. They’ve also addressed internal pushback on the use of printed materials; providing decision-makers with hard facts regarding the paper industry's stellar record of sustainable forest management.

In return, those marketers are gaining the advantages that Ink on Paper delivers over online assets, including:

Visceral Impact?– Pixels on a screen have no weight, no dimension, no texture, no smell. Ink on Paper places something physical into a person’s hands. They open the cover and turn its pages. It’s a sensory experience that communicates on human terms.

Personality?– The range of creative expression using pixels is limited by the fixed dimensions of a flat glass screen. Ink on Paper lives on a canvas of unlimited graphic possibilities, in terms of size, shape, color and physical features. It provides an opportunity to stand out from the crowd, to express yourself more effectively, and to make an impression that’s likely to be remembered.

Permanence?– People scroll through computer screens at hyper-speed. The volume of information is unlimited, and no intellectual commitment is required of viewers. Ink on Paper moves in slow motion, forcing readers to pay closer attention to its content.?

Whether they sit on a desk, on a coffee table, or in a vest pocket, high quality printed materials suggest that the people and company who produced them actually exist, have nothing to hide, and can be trusted.

Marketers who’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater in their wholesale adoption of digital communications, as well as more recent arrivals to the marketing profession who have always lived in a paperless world, would be well-served to consider Ink on Paper as a direct marketing medium, to supplement their virtual assets.

They’re likely to discover, for example, that a well-produced print brochure that’s sent or handed to a prospect following an initial conversation or meeting will have an impact that can never be matched by a link to a website, PowerPoint slides, or a stapled printout of a PDF brochure.