The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted every industry, and the world of print is no different. Despite this, print has made a strong recovery from national lockdowns and the latest trends give reason to be excited about what print can offer your customers.
Throughout this blog post, we’ll look ahead to what the future holds for the world of print.
- Marketing Is a Growing Industry
- The Influence of the Pandemic
- What the Experts Say
- Sustainability
- Make Your Print Sustainable Today
Marketing Is a Growing Industry
The IPA Bellwether Reports from Q2 and Q3 show marketing as an industry continues to grow in 2022. These reports reveal the marketing spending intentions across the UK’s top sectors and offer an excellent indicator of the direction that marketing is heading in.
Total marketing budgets grew steadily in 2022, with around a quarter of surveyed companies raising their marketing expenditure during the second quarter.
Interestingly for print marketing, events were a key driver of growth in Q2 — the strongest performing category by some margin in the report.
Since the national lockdowns, the value of face-to-face interactions has increased immeasurably, which explains the desire to return to events.
Events can be a powerful tool to market your products, network with like-minded peers and forge relationships. Brilliant print can help your brand stand out at events, leaving a lasting impression on the people you meet.
The main takeaway from the IPA Bellwether Reports is that marketing continues to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic, so now isn't the time to reduce your marketing spending. But how much of an effect did the pandemic have?
The Influence of the Pandemic
Business closures slowed down paper production, meaning stocks ran low and prices soared throughout the pandemic.
However, there was an outstanding psychological positive for print marketing caused by the pandemic. While we were locked inside, reliance on digital channels accelerated digital fatigue and exposed the level of mistrust people have in social media and other digital outlets.
This widened the gap between how much consumers trust print media compared to digital channels; 82% of respondents trust print the most when making a purchase decision in 2022.
What the Experts Say
Many recent statistics are favourable for the world of print. They emphasise what we’ve known for some time — adopting an omnichannel approach with your digital platforms can lead to great success.
According to Ulbe Jelluma, Managing Director at Print Power Europe, “People have rediscovered the value of reading from paper. They have rediscovered the value of having something physical in their hands that will not fade or disappear in seconds.
“More time and attention also implies increased response rates for direct mail and door drops.”
Omnichannel marketing can provide multiple touchpoints for your customers and leave an impression on those who aren’t moved by digital advertising.
Businesses can now take an omnichannel approach to one of the most popular and effective forms of print marketing — direct mail. Direct mail is often the first experience consumers have with your brand and is a great way to promote a product or service.
With the power of QR codes, you can still adopt an omnichannel approach to direct mail. QR codes can direct people from your mail to a specific URL, whether a product page, instruction video or social media channels.
As well as this, the Print Power report details that although circulation has been down since the pandemic, effectiveness figures still show that print packs a punch.
Print remains powerful for advertising, with 30.3% of total revenue from print advertising and 25.9% from print circulation.
Sustainability
One of the main concerns consumers have regarding print marketing is sustainability. Many ask how print marketing can be as sustainable as digital methods, but there are routes to sustainability when using print.
By partnering with a sustainable print partner, you can ensure your print marketing isn’t coming at the planet's expense.
Print marketing is greener than you think. The paper and printing sector is one of the lowest industrial emitters of greenhouse gases (less than 1% of all EU greenhouse gas emissions) and, at 72.3%, the European paper recycling rate is approaching the theoretical maximum of 78%.
Also, European forests have been growing at the equivalent of 1,500 football pitches daily.
Print can be a sustainable practice, so you can still harness the power of print marketing by ensuring you opt for the right partner.
That means you can reap the benefits of an omnichannel approach to marketing while maintaining a high level of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Make Your Print Sustainable Today
By choosing a sustainable print partner like B&B Press, you can enjoy high-quality, timely print without impacting the environment.
We Carbon Balance every print job we perform, which means you can be confident you’ve chosen one of the most sustainable print solutions available.
Looking to add sustainable print to your marketing campaign? Get in touch with a member of our brilliant team today.
