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The Facebook Apocalypse. That’s what everyone is calling it.
We call it the print revolution.
In mid January 2018, Mark Zuckerberg sent a massive alert to content marketers warning that the Facebook News Feed would shift its focus to connecting people. That means that posts created from business, brand, and media Facebook pages would likely see a dip in their overall News Feed visibility, reach and engagement.
The announcement felt like a terrible break up for many.
For those who manage the marketing mix well, on the other hand, the alert was merely a stark reminder to never put all of your eggs in one basket.
We’ve written about this over and over again. Digital is not everything, and commercial printing is definitely not dead. These Facebook changes remind us that traditional marketing is a more stable investment as Facebook proves to be another tactic that demands a bigger budget to drive results.
As marketers go crazy booking their flights to Social Media Marketing World in search of direction, tested and true methods such as direct mail seem more comforting all of a sudden.
Direct mail has been proven to work, over and over again,
when things in business go wrong.
When Chipotle needed to lure back customers after its salmonella outbreak, direct mail offers for free burritos made the crisis dwindle. Whenever Bed Bath & Beyond needed a spike in sales, the company threw coupons at its customers to encourage repeat purchases. And for Hand and Stone, a pamper-yourself-cause-you-deserve-it day spa, advertising through direct mail postcards creates an immediate surge in walk-in traffic whenever new locations struggle to make it.
The bottom line is printing should become a regular part of your customer acquisition programs. If you haven't found your sweet spot now is the time to do so.
Facebook's shocking announcement about its News Feed is just a reminder that print could be the way your brand stays top-of-mind in a world driven by digital clutter. Plus, we can't forget that you must sell to real people living ordinary lives in the offline world. Fortunately, print humanizes things.
Check out this video from Rex 3’s top leadership team and get a better understanding of how you can integrate print into your customer journey.
As Rex 3 Chief Operating Officer, Howard Shusterman, says in this video about integrating print into the customer journey: "It's not about price. It's not about the quality of the printing. It's about the engagement of trying to connect with that buyer to establish a long-term relationship."
Your customer journey should never be 100% centered online. It should include many offline tactics, too. Taking into consideration the daily lives of your customer. That's where Rex 3 excels, integrating digital printing and traditional offset printing solutions to your marketing mix. Whether it's via point of sale, packaging, or through direct mail postcard campaigns, our printing consultants can help give you an edge offline.