You Can’t Wipe Your @$$! With a Laptop: A New e-Commerce Strategy

or…The value of print in your integrated marketing strategy.

When you consider the number of printing companies and newspapers going out of business, it’s hard to dismiss the popular argument that paper-based media is dying.

Or is it?

True. Digital is typically cheaper. It’s on-demand. It’s interactive and can be shared with more people, faster. But that doesn’t mean print doesn’t have a place in marketing.

Can’t Live on e-Commerce Alone

In the mid-1990s, a number of catalog companies abandoned their paper for standalone e-commerce sites, and they all saw their sales decline.

Why? Because, while websites are good ordering mechanisms, catalogs are better sales and browsing mechanisms. Studies show most people have their catalogs nearby when ordering online.

Let’s Get Physical

Print still has a tangible advantage over digital. It has staying power—like the direct mail piece that remains out on a desk or kitchen counter and says, “Read me.”

Unless your website is the default home page when your prospect launches the Internet, you’re relying on this super-busy individual to always be thinking of you and bringing up your website consciously. That’s a tall order.

Tapping Into the Deeper Senses

There is a timeless reason why the Sears catalog always found its way into the bathroom years ago. And it’s not just because it was great to have on hand if you ran out of t.p.

It’s because print has an undeniable affinity over digital when it comes to the one-to-one moments you might have with your prospects. In other words, at certain points in the engagement with your customers and prospects, a rich, stylized printed piece just works better than a smart phone, laptop or Kindle.

A printed piece done right, particularly in this era when you’re not building a customer base, you’re building a fan base, can provide a depth and a literal feel that, together, fulfill an image your enthusiasts really appreciate and crave. That’s one of the reasons why ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports, with ump-teen television networks and a website as dynamic as anything on the net, began publishing a “dying breed” medium known as a magazine.

Ironic Conclusion

So, as you sit here reading this blog on a computer, no doubt, if you’re wondering whether or not your digital investments are doing everything you need to advance your business and your brand, maybe it’s time to go old school.

Give IDC a call at 765.423.5469