Prior to the internet, tracking the effectiveness of print marketing campaigns was more of an art than a science. While it was possible to target specific demographics in a broad sense, the ability to know if your material was being responded to in a direct, traceable way was not possible. Now, however, with the internet, it is possible to get a good idea of how many people have been reached and are responding to a print marketing piece.
Linking Print to Web: How To Get Started
When you’re in the planning stages for producing a printed marketing piece or advertisement, have your webmaster create a page on your company or organization’s website for that marketing piece or advertisement. This page should not be a public page meaning it should not be accessible to any and everyone visiting your website. The content of this web page should mirror the content of your marketing piece or advertisement and include a prominent call to action (e.g., “Click Here for An Additional 10% Off Your Purchase!”, “Talk to A Sales Rep Now!”, etc.) that links to another page on the website. When your marketing piece or advertisement is printed, include the URL for this web page with another call to action. The easiest way to embed the URL on your piece is via a QR Code, although printing the url to the specific web page is also an option (e.g., “https://www.mycompany.com/special-offer.”).
How to Track the Response
For the purposes of discussion here, we’ll be referencing Google Analytics, which is the most widely used web traffic analysis software. However, your webmaster may use a different program that will also provided the same relevant data. By creating a dedicated web page for your marketing piece or advertisement, Google Analytics will record every instance of someone visiting that page; how long they stay on the page (measured in minutes/seconds), and whether they continue on to other pages in your site. As it’s generally beneficial to keep visitors from leaving your website immediately, the inclusion of another call to action on the web page you’ve created for your promotional piece or ad, is highly recommended. Plus, Google Analytics can track this additional interaction with your site.
The Benefits of Having the Analytics Data
By linking your print marketing efforts to the web/internet in this manner, you can gauge how people are responding to any given piece or advertisement. This data can help you assess the effectiveness and ROI (Return on Investment) of each particular print marketing piece or advertisement. For example, MyCompany prints and mails 50,000 postcards targeting potential customers in a select demographic by zip code. Via Google Analytics, it’s determined in the first week after the postcards were mailed, the web page linked to the postcard has been visited by 525 times by 500 unique visitors meaning 500 people scanned the QR code with an additional 25 return visits to the page. At the end of week two, the data shows 2625 visits with 2550 unique visitors; week three it’s 5475 visits with 5200 unique visitors. In essence, after three weeks MYCompany’s postcard has generated a response rate of slightly more than 10% in the potential customer base. In addition, if the web page links to a shopping cart, it’s possible to measure the amount of direct sales generated by the promotion.
By utilizing this linking methodology for print marketing, promotions can be repeated and over time it can be assessed whether changes in messaging, or graphic elements engenders a greater or lesser response enabling a fine-tuning of the marketing approach.
If you have any questions about Linking Print Marketing to the Web, give us a call at 330-597-8560. We’re happy to help you get the most out of your printing project.
