Social media and print media can seemingly be two completely different and unrelated forms of communication, but in the marketing world, social media and print media fit seamlessly together to streamline communication between brand and consumers.

Each communication tool on its own is only so powerful in both its ability to reach members of a target audience and engage them.  When multiple forms of communication are established between a brand and its target audience, they are more likely to respond to the message’s call-t0-action.

In an ideal marketing world, someone would see your printed message and respond to it by visiting your establishment or  making a purchase, but today’s consumer does more and more research before committing to any purchase — both large and small.  Once a consumer receives a mailing, sees a brochure or happens to pass by a sign or flyer, they’re most likely going to head to the internet to learn more about your product or service if what your printed message communicated was of interest to them.

This is where social media and print can work together to generate enough interest in your product to convince a consumer to commit and make a purchase. Through a company’s social media pages, a brand has the opportunity to build trust with their potential consumers to help make them feel comfortable enough with your product and brand to make a purchase, help existing customers troubleshoot their products once they’ve already made purchased and promote new products to facilitate future upsells to current customers.

A Printing Hub article put it best when they said, “But none of that (people visiting your websites) happens without that first print interaction. Social media is the “catcher’s mitt” where potential customers land after first contact. Once there, you can start to grow that relationship and nurture the customer’s trust in your brand.”

Timothy Freeman
President
Print & Graphic Communications Association