ColorFX Inc.
Digital or Offset Printing
For years, it was assumed that digital printing was simply a lower quality process than offset printing. Customers were often disappointed when they learned their small color print jobs called for digital printing because they wanted the better quality of offset. However, in today’s digital printing world, this method is becoming more widely used around the country.
Offset printing involves burning plates and a much more involved set up process, which pushes the upfront set up expense, which is often the best choice for high volume printing runs. Offset printing has a better quality finished work, which is a definite advantage. Digital printing is a less expensive alternative because it does not require the elaborate initial steps to set up, making it a great choice for low volume printing.
Although offset lithography still has a slightly better quality, digital printing technology has improved a great deal in recent years and the novice will at times find it difficult to distinguish between a digital and offset printed product. For short run color brochures or trial run postcard marketing test runs digital printing is defiantly the way to go.
Why Print – Part 2 of 5
Continued from previous post: Part 1 of 5 on Why Print
Print is interactive.
Personalized magazine bingo cards let readers send for more information with quick check offs. Or, use postcards and use a direct mail campaign to drive prospects to a personalized website where they can tell you their aspirations and expectations.
Print drives a higher ROI.
Printing is particularly persuasive as direct mail. According to research by the Direct Marketing Association and the Wharton Economic Forecasting Associates, print’s performance through the mail can be measured in dollars and cents.
The DMA researchers found that U.S. advertisers spend $167 per person in direct mail marketing to earn $2,095 worth of goods per person, scoring a return on investment of 13 to 1.
Why? Because people gravitate toward print. A total of 38% of households surveyed by the U.S. Postal Service in 2006 found direct mail pieces interesting. That study also found that 85% of mail is either read or visually scanned by recipients.
And direct mail is also a great way to expand business relationships and keep customers loyal. A study by the Rochester Institute of Technology Printing Industry Center found that 67% of respondents like getting flyers and postcards about new products from companies they do business with.
Print is beautiful.
Why do they call it the graphic arts? Because print is beautiful and printers continue to consider every job they do a personal masterpiece. And now, advanced printing techniques, like high-fi color and advanced screening, make their work more appealing and more compelling.
Why Print – Part 1 of 5
Why print?
We all take printing for granted. Perhaps it’s because print has been the world’s number one communications medium for so long we tend to overlook its impact and power.
That oversight could be fatal to a marketing campaign, a product launch, or a branding initiative that is trying to connect with people. People trust print. They feel comfortable using it. And they can’t fast forward past it.
This guide to the persuasive power of print provides the top ten reasons why you should consider using print in your next campaign. It doesn’t have to be the only medium you use. But, you most definitely should consider print whenever you want to persuade, inform or entertain. Here are your reasons why…
Print is for keeps.
Who’s minding your messages when the screens fade to black? Electronic content comes and goes and when it’s gone, your marketing initiative disappears with it. Print, on the other hand, is there for the long run. Think about magazine pass-along rates. They range as high as two to three persons per issue, giving advertisers double and triple bonuses on their marketing investments.
Postcards Yield Plenty for You and Your Clients’ Business
Marked by their simple effectiveness and affordability, postcards have carved their own niche in the world of marketing with a number of valuable applications. First, they allow you to hone your target demographics to a specific, usable cross-section of what is first a looming amount of data. Next, Postcard Printing establishes an instant connection with prospective clients and customers because postcards aren’t hidden or encumbered by envelopes like their direct mail counterparts. These benefits, however, will only befall the marketing entity that knows how to effectively market their products and services on a postcard. Without a definitive direction, specificity, and a powerful image, it is very difficult even for postcards to avoid the waste bin.
Establishing Your Direction
Before diving into the tonal elements of the picture itself, you must first establish a definitive direction. This is based on the reaction that you want your postcard to have on the consumer and as such should act as a guide for the rest of the decisions involved in production of every aspect of your marketing message. Whatever your exact approach is, the general goal is that the consumer is intimately acquainted with your brand or brands, and will contact you or physically come to your store.
Offering an Incentive
Once a distinct direction is established, you must positively condition potential customers to complete the above mentioned steps by offering incentives to do so. The exact nature of how this is done can vary depending on your customer base but adheres to a general structure.