Ironmark Blog

A Guide to Combining Traditional Print and Digital Marketing

Written by Don Clark | May 17, 2024

Two plus two equals ten when you combine traditional print and digital marketing. When considering how to integrate the two, it’s important to focus on a strategy that capitalizes on the unique advantages of each medium, while creating synergy across all channels.

Here, you’ll learn about the benefits of combining traditional and digital marketing into phygital, and get practical tips for creating a seamless, multi-channel marketing campaign.

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THE POWER OF INTEGRATION

How to Combine Digital Marketing and Print Marketing. The benefits are clear. Here are the ways to achieve them:

1. ENHANCE BRAND RECOGNITION

  • Consistency is key. Ensure that your brand's visual identity and message are consistent across both digital and print marketing materials. This will help reinforce your brand's image and make it more memorable to consumers.

2. USE A TARGETED AND PERSONALIZED APPROACH

  • Combining digital and print marketing allows you to create a personalized experience for your audience. Use data from your digital channels to tailor print materials to individual preferences, and vice versa. With AI’s help you can find additional lookalike audiences or effectively target your current ones.

3. INCREASE REACH AND ENGAGEMENT

  • By using both digital and print channels, you can reach a wider audience and cater to different preferences. Some consumers respond better to print materials, while others prefer digital content, so a multi-channel approach can maximize engagement.
RELATED: 8 WAYS TO MEASURE PRINT ADVERTISING ROI

STRATEGIES FOR COMBINING DIGITAL AND PRINT MARKETING

Here are some of the best ways to integrate phygital marketing to help you get the best of both worlds. 

1. QR CODES AND AUGMENTED REALITY (AR)

Incorporate QR codes or AR elements in your print materials to bridge the gap between digital and print. This encourages users to engage with your digital content and enhances the overall experience.

2. SOCIAL MEDIA AND PRINT COLLATERAL

Utilize your social media presence to promote print materials, such as special offers or event invitations. Alternatively, include social media icons and handles on your print collateral to drive traffic to your social media platforms and website.

3. EMAIL MARKETING AND DIRECT MAIL

Integrate email marketing with traditional direct mail campaigns. For example, use email to share digital versions of print materials, or create email drip campaigns to send follow-ups to customers who received a direct mail piece.

4. CONTENT MARKETING AND PRINT PUBLICATIONS

Repurpose content from your blog or website for print publications, such as industry magazines or local newspapers. This can help establish your brand as an authority in your field and drive traffic to your digital channels.

Related: WHY YOUR DIGITAL MARKETING STILL NEEDS PRINT

CREATING A SEAMLESS MULTI-CHANNEL CAMPAIGN

Now that you have the pieces in place, you can integrate them completely. 

Plan and align your goals by identifying your overall campaign objectives and determining how both digital marketing and print solutions can contribute to achieving those goals. Ensure that your messaging is consistent and complementary across all channels.

Track the success of your campaign across both digital and print channels using analytic tools. This will help you make data-driven decisions for future campaigns by identifying what's working and what’s not. Here’s where AI can help. With AI powered analytics, you can track large amounts of data to mine patterns. You can even model future success based on past and current performance.

Allocate your marketing budget and resources effectively by considering the unique advantages and costs associated with each channel. For example, digital marketing may be more cost-effective for reaching a large audience, while print marketing can be more impactful for a local or targeted campaign. Further, you’ll reach specific audiences via print versus digital advertising, so you can target ad spend in this way as well.

And don’t forget to continuously test and refine your multi-channel marketing campaign based on performance data and user feedback. Even with the perfect plans, it’s critical to take the pulse of the campaign as it actually unfolds so you can make the adjustments necessary to increase conversions. AI can help automate and optimize online campaigns. By tracking to see what’s working, you’ll maximize your strategy and ensure that you're making the most of your marketing efforts.

MAXIMIZING YOUR MARKETING’S IMPACT

By combining digital and print marketing strategies, businesses can create powerful, multi-channel marketing campaigns that build audience reach and engagement. These campaigns not only leverage the strengths of each medium and maintain a consistent brand identity, but they amplify it to create a memorable and impactful marketing experience for your target audience.

If you’d like help maximizing your marketing impact, talk with the team at Ironmark. We are experts at phygital and are here to help identify the specific digital and print marketing strategies that can help grow your business—and and keep it on that expansion path.