Is There Still A Place For Print?

Information is increasingly being consumed online. Is there still a place for print?

Before you start to think that this is an article jumping on the bandwagon that says the days of traditional print is something we last got excited about in 1998, this is all about whether print still has its place or something that our screens now cater for.

Create & Curate To Our Audiences

What matters isn’t the role that print plays, but how it can now form part of a platform strategy where different types of media are used to send relevant content to targeted audiences.

As businesses, we now have the opportunity to communicate in so many ways. The question is not whether print is on it’s way out, but we can gain more business by connecting with consistent content in different shapes and sizes (from a targeted email campaigns, to blogs, to guides, to video etc).

The key is that all these platforms to use (social media, content, blog, email, web, print) have a role to play within the sales process. Rather than thinking that print only has its place as the trump card when looking to make the sale and the prospect is about to buy, by being creative with a print format can work.

An Example From My NeighbourhoodA great example, in my local area, in recent weeks has been the publication of The Green, a tabloid newspaper targeting the local neighbourhood from Poole letting agent Leader & Co. This is where being creative and the power of an idea can help you own your space.

Rather than printing the easy way out as an A4 magazine, showcasing the array of talents from a lettings company, the recognition to the company is minimal (a small advert towards the back), but the content throughout is focused on the people, businesses and community within the local area. The newspaper (12,000 copies were printed) is not an example of paid for advertorials (who ever ripped one of those out and said, ‘this is brilliant’), but stories from the neighbourhood and the people that are part of it.

One of the main lessons here is that the days when we used to rely on paid media (advertising and direct marketing), as a way to sell to an audience, isn’t as ‘sure fire’ as it once was. We can now create our own new spaces to grow and build recognition, without relying on the areas that have already been cultivated. We can now own the media as opposed to renting it.

If It’s Interesting & On Our Level We Pay Attention

The Green is a fine example for why print still has its place, when created and curated with an audience in mind. Whilst it’s far cheaper to consume online, if print is targeted and is relevant to its audience, it is even more interesting because we can associate with the stories and is on ‘our terms’ ie. the photos of the contributors throughout The Green are people many others are already familiar with.

Print will always have its place when it is used effectively as a tool where a message is clear across all platforms.

The world of ‘digital’ and ‘offline’ has a clear role to play together. It becomes most effective when interesting content is produced and an audience pays attention.