In our first blog post, we discussed how to determine what you want to say in your company’s communications efforts. Once you have decided on your message, it is time to consider the delivery channel and to decide whether electronic or print – or a blend of both – is best for you.
The benefits of an electronic approach include virtually immediate delivery, the ability to change the message as often as you like, and saving the cost of printing and mailing. Electronic delivery can range from something as simple as a mass email to using a system that creates a template, perhaps mirroring your website, and allows you to insert copy into that template and then to send it to a list of email addresses. Often you can monitor how many of your email messages have been opened, and sometimes even who has opened them.
So what about print communications? Are they still relevant? In many cases, the answer is “yes.”
Print communications have multiple advantages of their own, and perhaps the most important is staying power. Print is the medium of choice for many leave-behind communications such as brochures and other marketing pieces. This is especially true with marketing communications you want to “push” to potential clients. It is still relatively easy to get postal addresses, so if you want to let people in a particular area know about your services, mailing a brochure can be effective.
Print also can be more impressive or more formal-looking than electronic communications. There are more design and presentation options available with print, and many people assume that, if you went to the trouble and expense to print the communication, it must be important.
And print can be a more effective medium for reaching certain kinds of people. Older people sometimes prefer print to email, for example. If you want a communication to be read and shared, such as by business partners or family members, print can lend itself more easily to that. Print communications also can guide people to your website.
Increasingly, companies are using a combination of print and electronic media for their communications. For example, many companies print a limited number of annual reports for distribution, but they also post a copy of their annual report on their website and send an email to stockholders and other interested parties telling them how to access the report online. Or, some companies print a designed brochure and send or present it to clients or prospects. But they also post that brochure online, so that people visiting their website can access it easily.
The bottom line is that the medium you choose should reflect what you are trying to accomplish with your message as well as the audience you are trying to reach.
At Gaynor Communications, we can help you plan, craft, design and send any type of communication. We have a proprietary email communications system, called Osmosis Digital Marketing, that allows you to create a template that mirrors and links to your website, to send to a list you compile, and to monitor your results, including who has opened your email, what articles they have read and whether they have forwarded it to someone else. We also work with a range of designers and printers who can create a print message to meet your needs and budget. Just give us a call, and we would be happy to discuss your options.
Next time: Is it time to revisit your website?
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