You may not believe it, but print media and social media go hand in hand. While traditional advertising has had to make room for the digital boom, it’s far from a niche form of advertising. By understanding how digital printing can work in unison with your social media marketing, you’ll see a significant improvement in the overall effectiveness of your overarching marketing strategy.

Mix It Up With Variable Printing

Variable printing allows you to personalize elements of a print piece without any slowdowns or stoppages. The personalization offered through variable data printing has become essential to print marketing, and can help your social media channels too.

If you have social data on your intended recipients (check your analytics!), you can create specific print advertisements that speak directly to this audience. In conjunction with your social media campaign, you could, for example, encourage subscribers to sign up for freebies, newsletters, and other marketing materials. This will fuel engagement on your social media channels, generate conversation, and build hype.

You can go even further and target your print marketing around interest groups on Facebook and Twitter by referencing your accrued data on each channel. This goes well beyond targeting simple demographics like age or gender, allowing you to find the leads that are very likely to convert into customers.

Personalized URL (PURL) Content

Personalized URLs, or PURL, is a trackable way of engaging prospects through your print collateral.

Bridging the gap between your print marketing and social media channels, a PURL on your digital printing materials can drive traffic to specific social campaigns. You know the people landing on these social media campaigns are already interested, or they wouldn’t visit the PURL on your printed material.

This ‘cross pollination’ is also an invaluable way of tracking and acquiring data about both your print media and social media management. You can see when and where your consumers are interacting with your printed materials, and adjust accordingly.

Offline Call-To-Action –> Online Promotion

If a direct mail campaign is incorporated in your print media marketing, consider combining it with social promotions.

The idea here is create deeper engagement from offline calls-to-action that derive from print, but are designed to build online social relationships. You can offer discounts codes or limited-time offers for people coming from your printed collateral to build loyalty and your social media following.

Be sure that your CTA’s aren’t vague, but suggest exclusivity and push value. You’ll get far more engagement from ‘Get Exclusive Deals’ rather than ‘Learn More’.

Take advantage of both print and social media to capture offline and online leads. No matter where your target demographic is, you can reach them with a cohesive print marketing and social media strategy.

If your business needs help aligning print and social, Soloh Worlwide employs print experts and social media gurus that can help you achieve your business goals. Find the location nearest you.