While digital marketing may be getting all the attention, print still plays a significant role in the success of business. When paired with innovative tools like QR codes and augmented reality, printed materials can provide an immersive experience that connects consumers with your online presence.

When designing your marketing materials, consider using a die cut that deviates from the standard rectangle. This will grab your audience’s attention and encourage them to engage with your brand.

1. Interactive Print Materials

Print may be getting short shrift from digital marketers, but it still has a big role to play in promoting a brand. In fact, it can help create a more tangible connection with the audience and offer a much longer lifespan than its digital counterparts. It also provides the opportunity to add a level of interactivity that can’t be achieved with online marketing materials.

Interactivity in print takes many forms, from QR codes that link to a web page or video to augmented reality overlays on printed material. These can be as simple or complex as you wish, but they provide a way for consumers to interact with the content on their mobile devices. This type of interactive print is a powerful tool for marketers and can help drive traffic to their online channels.

But interactivity can take many more forms than just linking to a video or website. It can also include functional technology like solar power, portable chargers and even Lladro ad that transform into the shape of a lamp. These types of creative, edgy interactive print ads can be great for creating a buzz and bringing attention to your print marketing campaigns.

2. Variable Printing

Variable data printing (VDP) is a digital print process that allows you to customize your marketing materials based on unique information about each individual customer. This includes their name, address, phone number and even purchasing history. Variable data printing allows you to personalize your marketing materials without stopping or slowing down the print job, which means that it can be produced more quickly and at a lower cost than traditional printing methods.

VDP can be used for a wide variety of marketing campaigns, from direct mail to packaging and more. Incorporating a personalized message into your marketing materials can help you stand out from the competition and increase your response rate. For example, including a person’s full name in a piece of direct mail can increase the response rate by 135%.

You can also use variable data printing to create custom product labels and packaging. Car dealerships, for example, can send personalized direct mail to customers that features images of cars similar to the vehicle they are interested in. Hotel chains can also utilize VDP to target specific audiences, such as sending promotional offers for mid-week stays for senior guests or summer vacation packages for families.

3. A/B Testing

A/B testing is a marketing strategy that pits two different versions of something (like a website, advert, email, or landing page) against each other to see which one performs best. It’s like the science experiments we did in school, but this time with a much larger audience!

You can use A/B testing to test everything from fonts and text sizes, to button colors and positioning, to the location of a call-to-action on a web page. The goal is to find what works and apply it to all aspects of your content.

For example, if you’re an online retailer and are seeing lots of people leave items in their carts, try A/B testing a few different product images against each other to see which ones catch the eye. Or, you can try A/B testing subject lines for emails. Try questions versus statements, power words versus weaker word combinations, and subject lines with and without emojis.

It takes time to set up and run A/B tests, but the knowledge gained from them is invaluable. The trick is to know what to test and how much of a change you’re looking for before you start. Learn about statistical significance and the 5% confidence level here.

4. Social Media Integration

Social media is a powerful marketing tool and if the right steps are taken it can also be used to cross promote print campaigns. It is important that printers are aware of the tools available to them that can help track their campaign effectiveness and use this information to fine tune their marketing programs.

Using QR codes or personalised URLs on printed materials can be a great way to connect the online and offline world. By simply scanning or entering the code with a smartphone, consumers can be directed to websites or online content that can further inform them about the campaign or company. This is a great way to get useful analytics on the cross pollination of your marketing programs and can be used in conjunction with any number of other creative printing ideas that we will discuss below.

Using hashtags is another creative way to integrate print with your social media programs. For example, when Indiana University launched their admission campaign they encouraged students to share their welcome letters with the hashtag #IUsaidYes. These simple hashtags created a viral social media campaign that helped drive their recruitment goals. By adding social media elements to your print marketing campaigns, you can create an omnichannel experience for your customers that is sure to increase engagement and conversion.

5. Collaborative Printing

Digital printing is a process that converts a digital-based image directly onto a variety of print materials. This is done using a variety of different tools that include copiers and printers as well as more complex printing machines at a larger scale. Digital printing is a good option for projects that are smaller in quantity and that require shorter turnarounds than other types of printing.

This type of printing can also be used for materials that can’t be run through an offset machine, like fabric (offset printing would damage the material). One of the biggest benefits of digital printing is that it eliminates a lot of manual setup time and labor. This allows for faster turn around times and more customization options.

Collaboration between designers and printers is a critical part of the creative process. This helps ensure that the printed materials will manifest as intended and saves both time and money by avoiding costly mistakes and reprints.

Printers can also provide technical guidance during the design phase to help designers avoid potential issues that may not translate well in print. This is especially important for large format work, such as billboards and signage. It’s also crucial for photo printing, which can be tricky to get right. This is because the printed image must be very accurate in order to appear realistic and appealing.

6. Printed Merchandise

The printing of branded merchandise can be a great marketing strategy for a variety of businesses. Whether it’s handing out shirts and other merchandise with your business logo at events, or selling the merch online, it can be an effective way to promote your brand and attract new customers. One example of this, is a Los Angeles company named Platon Graphics is leading the way in enhancing the current digital printing to a new level.

Printed merchandise can be made using a range of different print methods, including digital printing. This process uses computers to print digital-based images directly onto a wide variety of media substrates, such as paper, fabric, and plastic. It is often faster and easier than traditional printing methods, such as offset printing, as it doesn’t require the creation of separate plates or rubber blankets.

Digital printing is also ideal for short turnaround projects and smaller runs of print materials. If there is a mistake on a digital proof, it can be easily corrected without affecting the entire production run.

One example of a creative marketing campaign using print and digital is this Band-Aid ad that features the Incredible Hulk’s hands sporting bandages. The creative imagery helps to highlight the flexibility of their products and how they can be used for any type of wound. This type of creative marketing is both eye-catching and memorable, making it a powerful tool for any business looking to increase their visibility in the marketplace.

7. Fusing Print and Digital

Digital marketing may have stolen the spotlight in recent years, but print is still an important aspect of your brand’s marketing strategy. By combining your digital and print campaigns in creative ways, you can create more effective campaigns that are both unique and memorable.

Digital printing is a form of printing that uses computer software to map out and place small drops of ink onto a substrate. It’s typically used for high-quality prints with a lot of detail, and it’s also a great option for personalized printing. It’s a faster process than screen printing, and it produces better quality images.

Using digital printing allows you to include links to your website and social media accounts, which can help drive traffic to your digital assets. You can even include a QR code on your printed materials to let people scan and jump directly to your digital channels.

Fusing print and digital can also be a great way to promote two-part content campaigns. By including a teaser for a piece of content on your printed material, you can then direct customers to your website or email newsletter to view the full article. This is a great way to boost engagement and grow your audience.