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4 Easy (and Genius) Ways to Integrate Your Print and Digital Campaigns

By Jenna Bruce on Tue, Apr 28, 2015 @ 07:43 AM |

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Most of us have been led to believe that print and digital advertising go together like a tin can in a microwave – sparks are going to fly and someone’s gonna get burned. But the truth is these two marketing approaches not only play well together, they enhance each other’s ability to engage the right audience in the right place at the right time.

Here are four easy and, might we say, rather brilliant ways to integrate your print and digital campaigns so you can take advantage of the latest technologies and broaden your market reach.

1. Leverage All That Data

Digital media has created huge amounts of data and you can take advantage of it by mining it for informational gold. It doesn’t matter what channels you choose, without the right data your campaigns will fall flat on their faces.

Good data will help you target your ideal prospects, learn their preferred methods of communication, and offer them relevant and engaging content that leads them through your sales funnel.

2. Slap on Those QR Codes

Although QR code technology has been around for quite some time, there are still many small businesses not integrating it into their print campaigns, which is a really tragic mistake. QR codes can encode 4 Easy (and Genius) Ways to Integrate Your Print and Digital Campaignsinformation that is accessible by various devices, including smartphones, which means they have the ability to entice a majority of your prospects and get them to engage with you online.

TIP: It’s important you don’t assume everyone knows how QR codes work. Make sure to include directions in your print material and get creative as to how you can optimize the look and placement of your codes. You may also want to consider including a personalized URL address in your print material as well for those handful of consumers who don’t yet own the appropriate devices that can access QR codes.

3. Take Advantage of Augmented Reality (AR) Software

Sure, it sounds really sci-fi, but incorporating this new technology into your print campaigns can literally add a whole new dimension to your marketing. Check out this Canon print campaign. When prospects scan an image, it absolutely comes to life. AR is currently in its infancy stage, but if wearable technology, like Google Glass, takes off, and it will, then we can expect to see accelerated growth in this technology and prospects won’t have to use their phones to interact with print ads. They will, in essence, always be online.

4. Try Near Field Communication (NFC)4 Easy (and Genius) Ways to Integrate Your Print and Digital Campaigns

Business cards are tricky – they’re really old school, but you still have to have them. Well now, thanks to Near Field Communication (NFC), your business cards (and other printed material) can have special tags embedded in them that allow smartphones to access extra information about you via digital media. As long as a prospect’s smartphone’s NFC setting is turned on, all they have to do is be within a certain distance from your printed material to gain access to your information.

Print advertising continues to beat many marketers’ expectations and remains an incredible way to target an audience and create brand awareness and loyalty. And, as digital media’s technologies and channels continue to form and evolve, it will remain an unbeatable option for research and campaign tracking, allowing advertisers to monitor campaigns in real time, analyze results and modify strategies and tactics accordingly. But where the magic really happens is when print and digital advertising are combined into one powerful integrated approach that transforms a traditionally one-sided message into a two-way dialogue, building long-term relationships that ultimately lead to repeat business.

Download the CMO's Guide to Integrating Print and Digital Media

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