Despite the rise of the Internet and e-mail, printed media is still relevant today, and in some ways, printed media is a relief against the nonstop barrage of digital communication. Today, businesses big and small are hiring printing services across the United States from Pennsylvania to California to make use of their printing processes and quality paper and printers. These businesses are not selling copiers or toner wholesale, however; rather, they are a form of outsourced labor for printing needs of all sorts. These companies have the printers, ink, and paper needed for business card printing, creating memos or banners, flyers, posters, and more on all sorts of cardboard or paper stock. For most businesses, in-house printing may prove limited, and business card printing may be a challenge. But business card printing and more is made easy when a printer firm is hired for the job. And besides business card printing and printing flyers for a sale, some companies may need digital printing done or even oversized printing.
The Power of Paper
The Internet, e-mail, and social media have proven juggernauts in communication for both business and pleasure alike, so does print media even still have a place? Put simply, yes it does. In fact, some may argue that the proliferation of digital media is wearing out some users, and print media appeals to a person’s senses such as touch and smell. In fact, studies have been done on this topic, and paper media such as sales flyers, bills, and more are easier to remember and track than e-mails and social media updates. Holding a paper in one’s hands, and inhaling its scent, appeal to the mind and make the paper’s presence and contents easier to remember later on. Many e-mail inboxes are hopelessly cluttered and messy, and this means that many e-mails are forgotten, lost, or never read in the first place. Digital burnout is a reality, and paper media offers relief.
On top of that, print media is often seen as trustworthy, and not just among older Americans who are far more used to it than digital media. Anyone, young or old, is aware that digital media sometimes has an insidious hidden side, such as spybots, cookies, or even spam or computer viruses. It is well known that clicking links or opening attachments on strange e-mails can lead to a computer virus infection, and some shady websites are teeming with similar malware. By contrast, a paper flier or bill will never have a computer virus in it, nor can it spy on the person’s activities or personal information. This makes paper intuitively more trustworthy.
There is also the simple fact that signs, posters, and flyers are still easy to see and read out in the open. Even with computers and smart phones around, people still go outside, and they will see all sorts of signs and posters out there. A lot of marketing studies and research have been dedicated to determining how and why signs and posters appeal to consumers, and the numbers are clear. Speaking generally, nearly half of all customers who walk into a business do so due to signage, and those signs may quickly inform a consumer of a business’s nature and quality. Attractive signs made with good quality materials and graphics may impress consumers and give them faith in the business, and by contrast, ugly or shoddy signs may drive them away. Signs may be placed over a business’s door or on its roof, or may even take the form of billboards by the road.
Indoors, print media has more power to offer. Signs get customers into a store, but posters, flyers, shelf tags, and even product packaging can help influence consumer decisions. A consumer will typically walk into a store undecided about how to spend their money, and all of this in-person advertising influences their decision. Printed shelf tags, for example, may advertise new low prices in bold black letters, sometimes crossing out older, higher prices to emphasize the new one. Posters and handouts can promote new brands or sales, and alert consumers to upcoming events or special deals. Such posters are easy to put up and take down from the walls, and printing agencies can print them off without any trouble.