Print still a vital marketing asset in a digital world

The evolution of hybrid working and many conducting business remotely through digital platforms, has led to many businesses turning their attention and budgets to digital marketing. With so many people interacting within a digital environment on a daily basis, it is easy to see why emphasis would be put on optimising digital marketing, social media, websites, and other online media platforms, but does that mean that there is no place for more traditional types of marketing?

CEO of The Guild of Property Professionals, Iain McKenzie, says in this technology-driven age, there is no doubt that digital assets are key to an agent’s marketing strategy. However, traditional marketing mediums such as print and direct mail marketing are still an essential part of a business’s overall marketing strategy. “Most people use digital platforms throughout the day and are constantly bombarded with electronic communication, which can lead to a form of digital fatigue. While there is no doubt that the right digital campaigns and messaging are worth their weight in gold, breaking through the noise and getting noticed within the highly competitive digital environment is not easy. More traditional marketing elements such as a high-quality printed magazine could be the differentiator that gets your business noticed. The physical mailbox is a less saturated marketing space, and many people actually look forward to receiving mail through their door. According to the Joint Industry of Committee for Mail, mail has one of the highest attention rates of any media and because it requires a motor action to collect it, view it and then decide what to do with it, it provides ‘tactile credibility’, engaging more of a person’s senses and building trust in the brand,” he adds.

Using both digital elements and more traditional marketing channels as part of a holistic marketing strategy will help agents reach a larger audience and wider demographic. “While the younger generations have grown up in the digital era, there are generations who still prefer reading a physical newspaper over the digital version. Considering the large percentage of homeowners who would fall into this category, it makes sense to include elements like print into your marketing strategy as an agent prospecting for listings,” says McKenzie. 

He notes that The Guild produces an agent-branded print publication called Life Magazine for Members. “Each Guild Member receives their own personally branded version of the magazine, which would include all their office’s properties. Many of our Members distribute these magazines to their local coffee shops and doctors’ rooms, increasing the number of eyes on their brand and listings. They are also used when prospecting certain areas, with agent dropping magazines in post boxes and through doors,” says McKenzie. “A benefit to physical marketing material, such as the Life Magazine, is that it stays around longer, with the possibility of more people within the household seeing it. A magazine through the door could be picked up and read by a few people within the household, not to mention the potential friends and family who visit and may see it. Marketing material that remains within the household will remind and keep your brand top of mind when it comes time to list. The more engagements and touchpoints a brand have with a potential customer, the more likely they are to remember the brand, so a multi-media approach is a good strategy.”

He adds that when integrating print into a marketing strategy, a vital consideration is the environment impact of using paper products. Ideally all businesses should be using suppliers who carbon offset the paper products they use in their print marketing materials. “The Guild have environmental considerations as a key element of our print offering to Members. By using Carbon Balanced Paper for The Guild Life Magazine in 2022, we have balanced through World Land Trust the equivalent of 35,000kg of carbon dioxide and enabled the protection of 7,000 square metres of critically threatened tropical forest. In addition, The Guild also works with a direct mail supplier that carbon offset the paper products that the network uses.  Using carbon offset products will mean that agents can benefit from the advantages of an omni-channel marketing approach, while remaining sensitive to their carbon footprint,” McKenzie concludes.