The utility of print goes beyond just conveying a message to potential customers.

Printed items can have a long, productive life and serve as a constant reminder of your brand to your customers. People tend to keep items that they can use over and over again, even if they are throw-away items.

People Keep Useful Items

One great way to ensure that your brand stays top of mind is by using items specific to your business that customers can use daily, such as calendars and notepads.

These items are not thrown away but used regularly, reminding customers of your business on a daily basis. In fact, informative print marketing can distribute valuable reference material to customers, establish you as an industry expert, and ultimately convert prospects to customers.

Printed Items Have Long Productive Lives

A notable example of the long-lasting effect of printed items is IKEA's decision to print their logo on paper measuring tapes.

Even though these were not meant for long-term use, they often "live on in handbags and glove boxes for years, keeping the IKEA brand as a talking point, visible and remembered."

Furthermore, a 2015 ethnographic study by Canada Post found that useful printed items were:

• saved in a dedicated area of the house by 39% of people,
• kept for at least 4 months by 20% of people, and
• shared with other household members by 35% of people.

Catalogs, especially business-to-business ones, were found to have a longer shelf-life and were often kept for up to four months.

Print at Home Heat Map

Finally, a 2014 study provides a home heat map, which is helpful for understanding how effective your marketing can be.

This study focused specifically on mail as it enters and leaves the home, and identified three critical places in our homes and offices where mail is kept - the holding area, the pile, and the display area. These are important places that can convert readers into customers.

Useful print marketing will linger in high-traffic areas of a household or office for months and be shared with others, increasing your chances of converting readers into customers.

Print: Alive and Well

The printed word is alive and well and continues to be a powerful tool for building a client base. If you have a project in mind, let us help you get it started today!