With so many new trends leaning towards online advertising, and the explosion of social networking sites onto our computer screens, we must be cautious not to forget our good old friend, the print ad (or postcard or brochure, for that matter).
Of course, it’s 2009. Mad 4 Marketing’s own interactive department is growing like mad, and if your company doesn’t have an online presence, it might as well not exist, but rather than throwing every last cent of your marketing budget into a one dimensional campaign, try employing a 360 degree marketing approach. Set some money aside for tangible materials that enhance your marketing efforts and drive traffic to a website or landing page to work in conjunction with an online campaign.
Success in blending traditional with non-traditional media very much depends on the strategy, creative and its placement or production. But if done correctly, this multi-layered approach allows you to target potential customers from every which way. Talk about a full-on, full-frontal advertising assault. Your potential customers won’t know what’s hit them.
At Mad 4 Marketing, we believe that traditional media in today’s increasingly untraditional world needs to stand out from the crowd and requires some out-of-the-box thinking. We recently worked on a campaign for Baptist Health and its first location in Broward County in which a series of teaser ads were created and placed in corners of newspapers in sequence, heightening the reader’s curiosity with every turn of the page. This was not only a ‘page-turner’ but also cost-effective in comparison to a full page ad on the back cover.
Price breaks are a blessing in today’s economy, which allows advertisers to take advantage of lowered rates as well as occasional added value in the form of editorial. Another cost effective way to target specific neighborhoods in a fast and efficient manner is the direct mailing of brochures, postcards or flyers – things consumers can touch, feel and hold. After all, humans are tactile creatures, and computers are great and all, but sometimes don’t you just want to reach out and touch print? Plus, with so many companies focusing all of their marketing efforts online, your company has an opportunity to stand out from the crowd.
This method also acts as a shortcut for driving traffic to your site. Consumers glance at the URL on your postcard or print ad and are able to go straight there.
Some say print is dead but we at Mad 4 Marketing say it lives, and we must never underestimate its power when used in a 360 degree campaign.