The whole world’s gone digital. Or has it? As it turns out, the Great Digital Migration of 2020 has created a unique opportunity for small businesses to boost their marketing efforts with the power of print.

Here are a few successful print marketing strategies from our own small local businesses.

Reach people at home with a tactile touchpoint

With so many people staying home and waiting for mail deliveries, this is a great time to dust off the ‘mailing address’ data from your customer database. We’ll help you design and deliver a branded postcard or mailer that catches your customer’s eye, offers real value, and maybe even gets a spot under a magnet on their refrigerator for future reference.

Tangible goods and swag items go a long way in a digital world. More and more, people must rely on screens in order to experience the world around them. With so much of our daily life reduced in this way, the physical things that we can touch and hold have more impact than ever.

Imagine: your branded, custom die-cut sticker flirting its way to a coveted spot on your audience’s water bottle, travel coffee mug, or notebook.

Give a figurative hug with an empathetic print piece

We’re all going through it this year. If there’s any silver lining to the hardships 2020 has wrought, it’s the opportunity to connect through our struggles and show each other genuine human empathy—in marketing and in life. Feeling stressed? Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and feel their stress. Feeling anxious? Lean into your customer’s anxiety and share that sentiment. As Dr. Brené Brown notes, “Empathy is feeling with people.”

It was this sense of empathy that compelled us to provide free fun printables to our audience. We created a coloring book, a cookbook, and a guided bullet journal as soothing comfort items to help others (and ourselves!) cope with stay-at-home orders, restaurant closures, and general stress.

Partner with an allied business through a flyer swap

Don’t underestimate the power of print as part of a point-of-purchase display — both in your own space and in the space of a business ally.

Need a warm fuzzy story about how this has worked for us? You got it.

We met Jacob of shipist, a shipping startup here in the Denver area, on Instagram when we noticed we had some artist clients in common. These artists trust YellowDog with their canvas wrap printing and Shipist with order fulfillment and shipping. So that’s how we knew we should be friends. Jacob got in touch about placing YellowDog brochures in his space, in exchange for placing his business cards at our location’s point of purchase. We swapped print items and (virtually) high-fived. Awww.

Who are your business allies? Think of businesses that share the same clients as you, but offer different products or services. Once you identify them, slide into their DMs and start the convo about a print materials swap.

Print + Digital = A Perfect Pair

Whatever digital campaign you’re running, be sure to develop a print asset to reach the same audience and reinforce your digital message.

Here’s an example of ways print can amplify digital campaigns. When we launched our “New Neighbor” campaign after moving to a new location in Denver, we targeted surrounding businesses with a postcard mailer. Then we used the same address list to run a hyper-targeted campaign across display networks. The result? Multiple touchpoints—both physical and digital—reaching the same target audience.

Ready to revisit your print marketing?

We got you. YellowDog is a full-service print, design, and marketing studio. We can do anything from refreshing your current print assets to a full design and print campaign from scratch.