Tactile marketing methods allow you to forge deep emotional connections with your consumers and hold their attention for longer. They’re effective, too — 53% of consumers purchase items from a catalogue every year.
These techniques have a range of benefits that can positively impact your business and build customer loyalty. Throughout this blog post, we'll look at what tactile marketing is and why it's so effective.
- Tactile Marketing: Explained
- The Benefits of Tactile Marketing
- Examples of Tactile Marketing
- Reaching the Senses
Tactile Marketing, Explained
To understand tactile marketing, it's best to first understand the word tactile. Tactile refers to anything connected to the sense of touch. So, tactile marketing involves connecting with your consumers through being hands-on with your material.
A good example would be handing out printed information as a flyer or brochure at an event. Your consumers will have a tangible product to flick through and take home, forming a deeper connection with your marketing.
According to research, readers are 152% more likely to pay attention to print advertising versus digital advertising.
The Benefits of Tactile Marketing
Your audience will consume information in the form of print marketing differently than they would from a digital source. Brands are challenged with standing out from a constant stream of information being fed to their consumers.
People are suffering from digital fatigue, a form of mental exhaustion stemming from the consistent use of digital devices and platforms.
Research shows that 36% of respondents experienced digital fatigue in the previous 30 days. You can bypass this fatigue by utilising tactile marketing methods and reach your audience differently.
Aside from breaking through the digital noise, tactile marketing can provide additional benefits.
Emotional Connection
Texture, colour, shape. These all contribute to stimulating the senses of your audience and building a deeper connection with your consumers.
Simply touching something means we form a closer connection to the information we have at our fingertips. Customers who have an emotional relationship with a brand are also 71% more likely to recommend the business.
The sensory aspect of print marketing can be a powerful tool. The role it can play in producing an emotional response can lead to great success when driving a purchase. Print ads generate a 20% higher motivation response, even more so if it appeals to senses beyond touch.
Capturing Attention
Got a project you want your audience to pay attention to? Do you want your consumers to take longer with your marketing messages and digest what you have to say? Tactile marketing can leave a long-lasting impression on your customers, with attention to print ads rising from 23% in 2010 to 49% in 2020.
Consumers aren't only spending more time with tangible advertisements — they're able to recall what they see more easily. The same survey showed that print news brands' ad recall has risen by 67% between 2009/10 and 2019/20.
Tactile marketing can offer a much-needed pause from the overload of daily digital messaging. By using an omnichannel approach and taking advantage of tactile marketing, you'll break through the digital noise and hold your audience's attention.
Brand Awareness and Reputation
Tactile marketing can help your company build a positive brand association with your audience, making them more likely to purchase a product or service.
Offline marketing that includes a tactile item such as a gift is 'more likely to be remembered, have a positive brand association and ultimately aid motivation.'
Examples of Tactile Marketing
So, what types of tactile marketing techniques are currently used by brands to build trust, loyalty and break through the digital noise?
Direct Mail
One of the most popular forms of print marketing, direct mail is a great way to reach your consumers and is often considered one of the most successful forms of outreach.
It's a tactic your consumers are more likely to enjoy, too. They open their mail at a time which suits them, as opposed to digital advertisements, which could pop up at any moment.
One survey found that 54% of respondents said they want to receive mail from brands they're interested in, so it's a tactile method that's here to stay.
Gifts
Gifts are a fantastic way to build a positive brand reputation and customer loyalty. This can be an expensive form of marketing if not done correctly, so put measures in place to ensure gifts only reach a specific section of your audience.
For example, a customer could receive a gift when they've reached a certain threshold of purchases or if they've signed up for a service.
Think carefully about the type of gift you'd like to give, as you don't want the offering to seem impersonal. Ideally, your gift should emphasise a personal connection between you and your customers.
Newsletters
Newsletters are a great way to showcase what your brand currently offers. For a newsletter to be effective, it should be relevant to the consumer.
Targeted, relevant newsletters can be a successful way to market discounts or special products you currently have on sale.
Reaching the Senses
When you think of print marketing, you might think of text and images on a flyer or brochure, but what print can offer is advancing.
The future of print is heading in a way where brands can offer much more than just a tactile approach.
With the interactivity that platforms such as social media can offer users, print marketers are implementing ways to compete with this level of direct engagement.
Taste won't be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of print marketing, but adding taste to tangible adverts has been around for a while. In 2013, Fanta released a campaign called 'The World's First Tastable Print Ad.' Readers were able to tear off any section of the advert, and it would taste of Fanta's new recipe.
Print can also have a defined scent, such as when a perfume company wants its audience to experience the smell of its latest product.
With these sensory elements, the scope for creativity in print marketing is as broad as ever.
Add Print to Your Marketing Tactics
Looking to harness the power of print to break through the digital noise and leave a long-lasting impression on your audience?
B&B Press offer a range of services to meet any print job you have in mind, no matter how big or small.
By partnering with B&B Press, you'll ensure your print doesn't cost the planet. We Carbon Balance every job we produce so you and our planet can enjoy the benefits of brilliant print.
Think we can help your business? Get in touch with a member of our expert team today.
