Print Drives Both On-and Off-Line Sales
Print is a powerful media…and its power is multiplied when used as part of a multi-channel campaign. Print enhances the impact of television, telemarketing and the internet by providing an extra dimension that’s warm, inviting and highly personalizable. Use it to reinforce your brand’s message, introduce new products or services and drive traffic to your website.From printed ads in magazines and newspapers to postcards, direct mail packages, catalogs, door hangers, newsletters, billboards and more, companies everywhere are using print to effectively increase their sales. They understand that:
Print Gets Read – 80% of households either read or scan advertising mail sent to their household.1
Print Gets Response – 2.24% direct order response rate for printed catalogs, compared with just 0.48% from emails. In fact, catalogs have the second highest response as a marketing option, after telemarketing.2
Print Influences Decisions – 76% of customers have been directly influenced to purchase by direct mail.3
Print Drives New Business – 70% of customers renewed a business relationship because of a direct mail promotion.4
Print Leads to Repeat Business – 70% of customers renewed a business relationship because of a direct mail promotion.5
Print Increases Online Search – 67% of online search is driven by offline messages; 39% ultimately make a purchase.6
Print Increases Online Sales – 76% of internet users surveyed have been directly influenced to purchase an item or service thanks to a direct mail piece.7
With results like these, it’s no wonder so many successful organizations choose print.
The Environmental Impact of Print: Myths vs. Reality
There are many popular misconceptions about the impact that printed materials have on the environment. However, the idea that print is detrimental to the environment is factually wrong.
Myth: Paper is Made from Fresh-Cut Trees
Reality: Paper is Made Primarily from “Waste” Products
In the United States, the vast majority – a full two-thirds – of the fiber used to make paper comes from sources other than fresh-cut trees. One-third comes from wood chips and sawmill scraps, one-third comes from recycled paper and just one-third comes from “new growth” trees.8
Of course, these statistics are based on industry averages. There are 200 mills in the United States that use recovered fiber exclusively.9
Myth: Print Leads to Deforestation
Reality: Print Promotes Trees
Contrary to commonly-held belief, paper mills are not cutting down old-growth forests in order to make paper. Nearly all the wood used in paper production comes from “tree farms” – acres of trees grown as a renewable crop, like broccoli or wheat. Print actually gives private landowners a financial incentive to grow trees rather than selling off their land for other uses, such as development.10 As Dr. Patrick Moore, Co-Founder of Greenpeace, has stated, “Using wood sends signals to the marketplace to grow more trees.”
Myth: The Tree Population is Shrinking
Reality: More Trees and Forests Exist Today Than 20 Years Ago
With the increased demand for printed goods that we’ve seen over time, many people believe that the forests must be shrinking. This is simply not true. There are 12 million more acres of forest in the U.S. today than there were 20 years ago; between 1953 and 2006 we saw a 49% increase in the number of trees still standing after mortality and harvesting.11
For more information please visit www.chooseprint.org
1 United States Postal Service (2007). Household Diary Study.
2 DMA Response Rate Report (2008).
3 2009 Channel Preference Study.
4 2008 DMA /Pitney Bowes Direct Mail Survey.
5 Ibid.
6 iProspect Offline Channel Influence on Online Search Behavior Study (2007).
7 Exact Target, 2009 Channel Preference Study.
8 U.S. EPA, Office of Solid Waste.
9 American Forest and Paper Association.
10 Edward L. Glaeser, Professor of Economics, Harvard University, “A Road Map for Environmentalism,” Boston Globe, May 21, 2007.
11 Down to Earth.