With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we want to declare the four reasons we love print over digital. And it seems we’re not alone. Around 19-million of us have bought a printed Valentine’s card, with a reported 2.6 million even sending one to themselves (we have never done this… honest!).
So, let’s embrace our listicle love letter to print…
1. Print gives us an emotional experience like no other
Print stimulates the senses in ways other channels can’t. It combines sight, smell, touch, sound and even taste to create a beautifully evocative experience. This helps your audience connect with your brand in an emotive way, making mail the more memorable medium.
Here are some examples of when print is best.
Imagine how it feels to receive a Valentines card. You hear the letterbox rattle. What’s this? You feel the weight and texture of the envelope with your fingertips and take time to notice your name written on the front. Who’s it from? You run your finger underneath the seal, listening to it crack open, and slowly slide out the card. The passionate colour red jumps out at you. You unpeel the fold to read ‘Will you be my valentine?’. You flush and your heart rate speeds up. There’s no name…
Ok so we’ve gone a bit Mills and Boon, but you get the idea. The emotion and the mystery make for an experience you won’t forget. Whereas the ping of an email containing an e-card from JoeBlogs@gmail.com, hardly carries the same sentiment or air of mystery. You might even press delete if you think its spam!
Wedding invitations make a similar first impression. The invite gives your guests an idea of what they should expect at the wedding, such as colour scheme and style. Will it be sleek and sophisticated? Handmade and no frills? Also consider that older relatives may not have email and e-invites may get lost in junk folders. No one wants Great Granny missing out.
Lastly, consider a beautifully presented gift card which carries the same monetary value as an email code. The printed gift card will feel more valuable than something that just popped into your inbox. It’s just one part of the customer experience, as the next step is to venture to the store to spend.
2. Print nods to nostalgia
Printed gig tickets are a great example of where print evokes nostalgia, and we miss them terribly. There we said it. Digital QR codes are replacing the original souvenirs we hung onto after seeing the bands we loved. We pinned them on our walls, hid them in our shoe boxes, turned them into art in frames stuffed with stubs and photos (yes, from when we used to print those out too).
Those vibrantly coloured yet slightly beer-soaked torn pieces of card unlock some wonderful memories with our friends and family. The dancing, the singing, the crowd surf… ok, let’s not mention the crowd surfing.
3. Print cuts through the noise
So back to business. In our previous blog, we touched on the fact that 293 billion emails are sent every day. It’s no surprise that many marketing messages get lost or drowned out in all that noise. By contrast, mail quite literally puts your brand in your potential customers’ hands and cuts through all that. It has greater longevity and builds trust.
4. Print is more sustainable than you think
All media has a carbon footprint, and the print industry does face challenges. However, there are some common misconceptions, such as paper is less sustainable than digital communications.
We’ve all heard statements like ‘Go paperless’ to encourage us to choose digital media over paper to help the environment. The fact is, that digital media has its own carbon footprint to consider, with the IT industry accounting for more than 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. More shockingly, its predicted to rise to 14% by 2040.
On the other hand, data shows that the paper, pulp and print sector is one of the lowest industrial emitters of greenhouse gases, accounting for 0.8% of European emissions.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading our reasons to love print over digital blog. Being ‘peopley people’ we put our heart and soul into working closely with our clients to create design and print solutions they will love.
When you’re ready to discuss your next print project, feel free to get in touch.
