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| Paper Chase |
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For those addicted to instant messaging, e-mail, and 24/7 access via the Net, it's hard to imagine life without it. But as marketers it behooves us to remember that not everyone on the planet is online or likely to be anytime soon. Despite the wonders of the Web, print media has not become the dinosaur of marketing communications. Print is alive and well — and should be an integral part of your marcom program. Here's why.
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With the possible exception of the town crier, a new medium has never put an old medium out of business.
—Peter Gollman in Jakob Nielsen's The End of Legacy Media
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The advent of the much vaunted paperless office has been trumpeted for years. The growth of the Net seemed to be the death knell for traditional print media. But, wait a minute, not so fast. Despite predictions that the future is digital, print media continues to hold its own. Users continue to enjoy the ability to read printed material anywhere, anytime (in bed, on the beach, on a plane) without having to contend with electronic media that can fail to boot up, or go belly up, at the most inopportune moment.
Navigation is another key issue: compare onscreen navigation versus flipping over a printed page. And as Barry Golson, editor in chief of Yahoo! Internet Life points out, "Pictures in magazines don't have to download."
In Life After 2001: Redefining Print Media In the Cyber Age, Professor Roger Fidler notes that
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...paper has many redeeming qualities that will be difficult, if not impossible, for digital systems to entirely replace. Once created, paper documents can be easily preserved for centuries. And they can be read by anyone at any time in nearly any location without special technologies or knowledge other than the language in which the document is written.
Just as horses did not die out after the invention of horseless carriages, paper is unlikely to disappear with the invention of 'paperless' display and storage media. Like the horse, paper simply will be repurposed and valued differently in the next century.
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Despite the rapid growth of global online populations, more and more people go online every day — we're still far away from being online, all the time. "Even assuming a speedier Web," notes Golson, "the fundamental things apply: a glance is still a glance, a click is still a click. The monitor screen, which is such a clear window to a wealth of knowledge, can also be a constricting lens." So, while having a Web presence has become a business necessity — if you don't have a Web site today, you're not on the international business map — it doesn't replace the necessity for a comprehensive marketing communications program, complete with good old-fashioned print brochures, product data sheets, white papers, company backgrounders, and the like.
When planning the marketing mix, it's essential to produce materials that are going to further your marketing and sales activities, take the sales cycle one step further, and get your prospect closer to making the decision to buy. Your marketing materials should heighten awareness and understanding of what your company has to offer. It's equally important to "keep the product sold" by providing valuable support information and updates.
Your objectives, your audience, your marketing and sales strategy, and of course, your budget, are going to determine which tools you are going to employ. For example, your sales team will need a "leave-behind" for sales calls and handouts for exhibitions. Whatever medium you decide to use, make sure you've answered these basic questions:
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| |  | What is the market? (Who are my target customers?)
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| | | What marketing tool will best meet my objectives?
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| | | What call to action do I want to elicit from this marketing material?
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| | | How will I evaluate the response?
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Here are some of the common tools at your disposal:
| | Brochures |
Brochure Checklist
- Have you explained the need?
- What problem does your product solve?
- Does your brochure clearly describe your product's unique selling point
(USP)? Your USP is what makes your product or service more valuable than
your competitions.
- Does it outline its key features (facts about the product) and benefits
(the wants or needs that your product satisfies)?
- Have you explained how it works?
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After reading the brochure, will your prospect understand "what's in it for
me"?
- Have you included a call to action (buy now, call now, set an
appointment with a sales representative, fill out the enclosed form)?
- Did you list full contact information?
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The brochure's mission in life is simply this: Clearly explain your product, technology or service to your target audience and motivate them to answer the call to action (what you want the prospect to do once they have your pearls of wisdom clutched in their hands, i.e. Dial 1-800-BUYNOW to purchase this product).
Brochures come in all shapes and sizes, and yes, size does matter. Producing European size brochures for your U.S. audience is likely to confuse them-and the darn things won't fit into a file meant to house U.S. letter-size documents. A standard A3 folded to A4 piece is usually your best bet, although tri-fold brochures (three A4 pages printed on both sides) have their place, especially if you're describing a complicated piece of technology and have wads of vital information. Bear in mind though, that tri-fold brochures aren't standard, and that some print bureaus (such as Kinkos) won't be able to print this size brochure for you.
This article, "New life for old brochure layouts," takes a
closer look at different brochure formats. Your graphic artist and/or printer
can advise you on paper selection and sizes. If you are mailing the piece, you
may opt for a business letter fold-up (A4 sheet which folds up into a standard
envelope) to save on postage costs.
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| Data Sheets |
Product data sheets are usually A4 or 8.5 x 11-inch sheets printed on both sides. The objective is clear: Describe the product as clearly as possible, providing all the necessary technical specifications. If you have a number of products, it's useful to collate them in a handy folder or binder for easy reference.
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| Company Backgrounders
| While there isn't a hard and fast rule about the length of a company backgrounder (also known as a profile), we subscribe to the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid). Here's where you blow your trumpet about the company, its products/technology, the team-the nuggets (solid information: facts and figures) that reporters and researchers, prospective investors and potential employees, want to know.
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| White Papers
| From their origins as government reports, white papers have morphed into technical explanations of an architecture, framework, or product technology. They are often used to explain the philosophy and operation of a product in a marketplace or technology context, according to whatis.com. Marketers find this a useful tool when selling a complex product to technical boffins (techies). We also note that many companies are producing marketing-oriented white papers combining excellent design with well-written copy. White papers in PDF format abound on the Net.
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We've barely touched on the myriad promotional tools available. There are also direct mailers, catalogs, flyers, posters, banners, not to mention cups, pens, calendars, T-shirts, hats, and even fruit — anything you can print (or paste a sticker on) is a possible vehicle for promoting your product or service. And then, there's the power of radio and TV. It all comes down to matching the medium to the message and making sure your multimedia CD extravaganza gets to a savvy PC user, and not to a technophobe who doesn't own a computer!
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The Trendletter team welcomes your comments.
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