The Power of Combining Forces
You may already be using social media to extend your brand’s reach and allow for real-time engagement and feedback. To take it a step further, adding printed media from Watson Printing adds a layer of credibility, tangibility, and permanence to your marketing message. When print and social are combined, they create a cohesive brand story, engaging audiences both online and offline.
Strategies for Integration
1. Hashtags on Print Materials
Incorporating social media hashtags into your print materials is a simple yet effective way to connect your physical and digital marketing efforts. Whether on flyers, posters, or product packaging, hashtags can encourage customers to join online conversations, share their experiences, and become part of your community. This not only boosts online engagement but also creates a more interactive and immersive brand experience.
2. Social Media Icons on Business Cards
Adding social media icons to business cards and other print materials signals to your audience where they can find and engage with your brand online. It’s a subtle invitation to connect on platforms where they spend a significant amount of time, fostering a deeper relationship with your brand.
3. Showcasing User-Generated Content
One of the most authentic ways to build brand trust and community is through user-generated content (UGC). By featuring customer photos, reviews, or testimonials from social media in your print materials, you validate their importance to your brand and encourage more customers to share their experiences online. This not only enriches your social media content but also brings a real-world, relatable element to your print marketing.
4. QR Codes That Lead to a Story
QR codes have made a significant comeback, acting as a bridge between print and digital. By scanning a QR code printed on posters, brochures, or pocket folders, customers can be taken to your online content that enhances the print message. This could be a landing page, a video, a social media contest, or an exclusive online offer, creating a seamless journey from print to digital.
5. Creating Shareable Print Experiences
Design your print materials with shareability in mind. This means creating visually appealing, informative, or even humorous content that people want to share both in person and online. Encourage sharing by including calls-to-action like “Share your experience with us on Instagram” or “Join the conversation on LinkedIn.”
The Impact
By integrating social media and print, you not only increase your campaign’s reach but also its effectiveness. The tangible nature of print combined with the interactive capabilities of social media can lead to higher engagement rates, deeper brand connections, and ultimately, a more robust bottom line.
Ready to Discuss Your Next Project?
Get in touch! We have lots of great ideas and suggestions for printed materials that engage and inform your customers, clients, staff, patients, students and volunteers. Any business can benefit by incorporating digital printing into their existing online marketing collateral.