3 Proven Ways to Combine Print and Digital Marketing Campaigns
Print is far from dead
In fact, some people now say it has now become the new non-traditional marketing strategy. And, used wisely, it can be a cornerstone of your marketing strategy.
But how? With every business being unique, the options are almost limitless. However, here are three proven ways that bring print and digital marketing campaigns together to achieve powerful results.
1. Breathing fresh life into QR Codes
With consumers scanning QR codes on their mobile devices at the same time they are engaging with your print media, you can drive traffic to your online campaigns AND dig up some rather interesting insights… eg when and where they are engaging with your printed material.
A great example of this in practise is with the rise of the Chinese tourist to the UK. In China, QR codes are used as a trusted way to purchase products and services, as we would trust a £10 note or credit card. This is now available outside of China, with UK businesses printing QR codes in their marketing collateral. Chinese tourists scan the QR code with their WeChat and AliPay app, allowing them to easily pay directly for products and services via their phone.
2. Driving traffic from print to digital
Traditionally, printed marketing material tends to be designed to spread the word of a product or service, or to raise brand awareness. However, by utilising your print material call-to-action you can encourage visits your social outlets or website for further information, easily driving more traffic online.
Recently, a spa manager was interviewed by a local magazine, initially for raising brand awareness. However, he also offered a 30% discount to readers via a specific discount code, only made available in the article, via an online sign up. The result? An increase in web traffic and online bookings.
And how was this trackable? Well, you can easily measure the success of an offline marketing campaign using online analytics software and custom urls. For example, you can track how people arrive at your site from a particular page in your brochure using a custom url and even what forms they fill out or pages they subsequently visit using event tracking. Here’s ten analytics tools that you may wish to consider using.
3. Augmented reality
Augmented Reality (AR) is a new technology that can transform and update your print marketing. But what is it? Well, think of it as a way to merging print and the power of your mobile device.
A great example is Nissan who used a newspaper print ad that, when viewed with an app on a mobile phone, gave an interactive tour of their new car. This saw an increase of 65% in test drives, which were booked through the link via the app.
There are so many exciting ways of combining this winning combination of print and digital, that will be unique to your business, making you stand head and shoulders above your competitors.