High-volume commercial printing drives brand awareness, foot traffic, and measurable ROI, whether you’re running 10,000 brochures for in-store handouts or 250,000 direct mail pieces into a targeted footprint. After 30+ years of producing FSIs, coupon books and direct mail for scaling brands, we’ve seen the same five questions come up from first-time print buyers. Here are 5 things to know before you launch your first campaign, so you set expectations correctly and measure results the right way.
In an ideal world, you’d send out direct mail and start receiving new customers immediately. However, the reality is that the process is often much slower than that. Sometimes, it can take weeks or even months before new customers come in.
For example, a deal for an oil change or a coupon for an automotive service may not be used until there’s something wrong with a consumer's car or their oil light comes on. This could be weeks or months after your direct mail goes out. However, when they are making the decision on which mechanic shop to use, you’re the first company they think of.
Direct mail can often get immediate returns or be slow-going, depending on the service you provide, the timing and consumer needs in the moment. Sometimes, you may not get results for weeks or months with commercial print and direct mail—but it doesn’t mean it’s not working.
Related Content: 10 Reasons Not to Use Direct Mail (And Why They’re All Wrong)
Another important thing to know before trying commercial printing is that residual ROI continues happening after your campaign. While you might think that you only see results for the first few weeks or months while the mail campaign is actively going out, that’s not always the case. Print mail “sticks” around for longer than you think.
When a consumer receives mail or picks up a company brochure or print of any kind, they often place it in their wallet, in their car for the next time they might need it, set it on the counter or pin it to their fridge. While the present isn’t always the best time to utilize the company, it helps build credibility for when they are making a purchasing decision later on.
Even if a consumer has already utilized your product or service, print mail campaigns offer a way for them to remember your brand (and even recommend it to people they know). It can also give them further incentive to use it again. As a result, companies often continue to see residual ROI well after their campaigns come to an end.
Many companies make the assumption that they should use either commercial printing or digital marketing because they don’t have the budget for both. However, this ends up being a fatal flaw in marketing campaigns. Opting for one over the other means you’re missing a huge opportunity to be present everywhere your consumers are. Not everyone is online, and most audiences don’t react as strongly to digital marketing as they do to print. The key to getting the best results is to use commercial printing and digital marketing together.
On their own, both print and digital marketing work well, but they work best together. Each option fills in gaps that the other marketing method can’t fill on its own. Together, companies are often more successful all around.
Related Content: Print Marketing vs. Digital Marketing
Another thing to keep in mind is that commercial printing is going to be automatically more expensive than digital marketing because it uses tangible materials and paid postage. However, the open rates and lingering impressions are well worth the price.
The open rates are the most impressive consumer metric that commercial printing offers. Since direct mail heads straight to the mailbox and doesn’t have hundreds of competitors the way email marketing and social media ads do, they are more visible and have a stronger overall presence.
Many companies default to digital because the per-impression cost looks lower. But cost-per-impression isn’t the right metric—cost-per-response is. When you factor in print’s higher engagement and longer shelf life, the math often favors print, especially for offers tied to a specific geography or household profile.
Print campaigns are real. Consumers can touch the prints, see the brand before their eyes and remember it better than a fleeting digital ad that crosses their screen. There’s a lot of power in that. The best companies utilize it to their fullest advantage by using both digital and print.
Commercial printing is essentially a shortcut to building trust, brand awareness and consumer loyalty. While digital marketing is great, print marketing offers a deeper layer of persuasion to the target audience. Together, digital marketing offers a comprehensive exploration of a company, while commercial printing offers the emotional connection and lingering feelings of a brand. Basically, print offers a gut reaction and builds credibility, while digital acts as a reminder and immediate pull. Together, digital and print paint a clear picture of who a brand is and what they have to offer.
So, how does commercial printing build trust and brand awareness? It comes down to credibility, trust and memory. According to the Southern California News Group, print advertisements get 77% brand recognition with consistent ad placement. This is due in part to the increased trust that prints naturally exude, and in part to the visibility of print and how “sticky” it is. Since print sticks around for longer than a fleeting digital ad, it becomes more familiar from the get-go. With more time spent with print, it becomes more memorable and easier to place.
Print works when you go in with the right expectations. Plan for response curves that build over weeks (not days), track residual ROI past the campaign window, pair print with digital instead of choosing between them and work with a printer who can hit your in-home dates without surprises.
Signature Graphics has been producing high-volume commercial print for 30+ years—FSIs, coupon books, circulars, and direct mail for scaling brands across the country. We handle design through Kobalt Design Group, heatset and coldset printing in-house, and delivery through Archer 3P Logistics, so your campaign hits its in-home window. Explore our services or request a quote to talk through your first campaign.
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