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Print marketing is a powerful way to augment your digital marketing efforts; in fact, many companies rely heavily on print to promote their products and services. Here’s 7 print marketing benefits to help you leverage the power of print and market your business in a new normal.

7 print marketing benefits

1. Print is tangible. Unlike digital ads, customers can hold print marketing in their hands. Tactile qualities such as paper weight and texture play psychological roles in consumer decision making.

2. Print is mobile. Customers can take business cards, brochures and catalogs on-the-go, so prospects can carry your messaging and contact information anywhere.

3. Print offers exceptional targeting. With direct mail marketing, you can target local geographies or those who match your audience demographics.

4. Print can be saved. If your printed materials offer value, consumers are likely to save them and reach out at a later date.

5. Print builds trust. One survey discovered that 82% of Internet users trust print marketing ads when making a purchasing decision. In fact, print is still the most trusted type of ad, and it lends credibility to your business.

6.  Print has a high response rate. According to PrintIsBig.com, advertisers spent $167 per person on direct mail in 2015 and earned $2,095 – a 1,255% return.

7. Print puts the spotlight on your business. Consumers are inundated with ads on websites, social platforms and in email inboxes – so much so that many use ad blockers to avoid seeing any ads. With print, the focus is on your business: when consumers hold your printed materials in hand, they’re not distracted by competing ads.

Boost awareness (and sales) with print to digital marketing

Both print and digital are powerful marketing strategies, but when they’re combined, results improve significantly. Here are some print to digital marketing ideas you can use for your business. 

• A postcard that features a coupon code to buy online

• A brochure that features a scannable link that enables customers to view product demos on their mobile phones

• A sales letter that features a link to your online chat

• Retail packaging that encourages customers to subscribe to your email list or follow you on social media, alongside the promise of future deals

The reverse works as well. For example, visitors to your website can fill out a form to receive your print catalog or brochure via direct mail. In this manner, you’re able to collect both their email and physical addresses for follow-up marketing, and you get to put your promotional materials directly in the hands of potential customers who have requested them – otherwise known as highly qualified leads.

Print marketing next steps

There’s no doubt print marketing can lend credibility and help promote your new business, especially when it’s used alongside digital marketing. Here’s what to do next.

1. Choose your print strategy

Decide which print marketing tools are best for your business. Consider:

• Which print products will resonate with your audience?
• Which will help you promote your business? For example, catalogs are best for retailers, while service businesses often choose brochures
• How will you distribute your print marketing tools?
• Which print products are best suited for your budget?

2. Design and print

Turn your vision into tangible tools by:

• Writing compelling copy that includes benefits and a call to action (not sure what to write? See if your printing company offers copywriting services)
• Developing an attention-getting design that showcases your benefits (if you’re not a designer, your printing company can craft your design for you)
• Choosing a paper stock that matches your branding (again, your printer can help)
• TIP: Always get a proof before you approve your artwork for print. A proof shows you exactly what the finished piece will look like so you can catch potential errors before they become costly

3. Distribute your print marketing

Choose one or more of the following distribution options:

• Direct mail (postcards, sales letters) or shipping (such as with apparel and promotional products)
• Public postings, such as with flyers and banners
• Door-to-door, such as with door hangers
• In-person leave-behinds
• TIP: Don’t forget to measure marketing results

Get advice from the business marketing experts at Deluxe. Learn more about printing marketing and how it can help your business today!

What are your favorite holiday colors? When most people think of colors for the holidays, red and green instantly come to mind. After all, they are traditional holiday hues, but you can craft more attractive holiday cards, posters, websites, ads, postcards, calendars, catalogs and more when you employ different colors in your designs. By simply changing your reds and greens to softer hues like warm whites or soft yellows, you can give your designs a unique appeal.  This can help differentiate you from competitors and earn more attention from holiday shoppers who have grown tired of the traditional holiday colors. For more inspiration, consider trying the following 30 holiday color palettes for your next design.

30 holiday color palettes

1.  Merry Christmas by angelafaye

2.  Candy Cane Tones by Design Seeds

3.  Cool Blue Christmas by angelikeme

4.  Santa’s Tea Party by Tzadkiel

5.  Poinsettia Brights by Design Seeds

6.  Christmas Ad 2 by AimItMedia

7.  Wintry Magic by Xxtayce

8.  A Kiss For Snowman by Wordofmouse

9.  Color Cookies by Design Seeds

10.  Holiday Hues 4 by Design Seeds

11.  Christmas Vacation by Wordofmouse

12.  Dear Santa by Bianka

13.  Blue Snowman by syork

14.  Winter Tones 2 by Design Seeds

15.  Vintage Christmas by angelafaye

16.  Sugar Shopping Mall by hiver

17.  ‘Tis The Season by MrsP

18.  Sugarcookies and Snow by Webseitler

19.  Caribou Color by Design Seeds

20.  Vintage Christmas Card by Tzadkiel

21.  Color Comfort by Design Seeds

22.  Fiber Optic Angel by electroluv

23.  Holiday Hues 3 by Design Seeds

24.  X-Mas Cards by candycrack

25.  Winter Hues by Design Seeds

26.  Pink Candy Cane by pinksparkles

27.  Christmas Angel by AnpasDreams

28.  Winter Night by Design Seeds

29.  Christmas Cookies by leezadee

30.  Sunny Christmas by haft2

Looking for a few holiday printing ideas? Watch our holiday printing and seasonal products video to learn more about our holiday print offerings.

This year, of all years, is the perfect time toprint custom holiday cards for your customers, family and friends. With so much not feeling normal, help people end this year with some holiday cheer! Free holiday card templates make it easy to create a beautiful design that distinguishes your greeting cards from generic store-bought cards. Use your business's brand colors or keep it personalized for the season, no matter what you choose your business's holiday cards will stand out from the rest. 

Make your own holiday cards online with this free design tool. Follow these three easy steps to start your holiday card design process:

1. Simply pick your template and color scheme
2. Upload your photos and logo, customize your message
3. Send your holiday cards to print

The entire process takes just a few minutes.

Whether you want to send branded holiday cards to customers or impress friends and family with your own custom creation, holiday card templates make it fast, easy, and affordable. Get started with the following 14 beautiful holiday card templates to make your own greeting cards online.

Find your holiday card design

1. Best Wishes

2. Snow Flake

3. Hoppy Holidays

4. Merry Everything

5. Striped Wreath

6. Snow Fun

 7. Snowy Funtime

8. Cheerful Squares

9. Joyful Photo

10. Cheerful Stripes

11. Holiday Snowflake

12. WTelF

13. Happy Elfin’ Holidays

14. Holiday Mistletoe

Print your holiday cards

Ready to print your own custom holiday cards? Check out all our free holiday card templates, then use our free online design tool to make your own holiday cards online today. When you’re done, bring your artwork to life with premium, discount holiday card printing services!

Halloween may look a little different this year. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, some trick-or-treaters may have to sit this year out and find new ways to celebrate according to NPR.  So what can your business do to keep the creative spirit of Halloween alive, but from a distance? Start to think about the color palettes for your business's social media campaigns, mailers or emails. These key marketing intiaitves may be a good way to incoporate All Hallow's Eve into your branded deliverables. 

Halloween color palettes for your marketing designs

Get creative and celebrate Halloween with these 21 unique Halloween color palettes from ColourLovers. Each serves as the perfect color scheme for your Halloween designs and use for posters, catalogs, postcards, banners and more. Since Halloween isn’t just fun, it’s incredibly profitable for many businesses and just like so many costume contests, the key to winning Halloween marketing is standing out.

1.  Vintage Halloween by smartalec

2.  Trick or Treat by Northern Dancer

  3.  Black Cat by klomystr

4.  Pumpkin Attack by lauren-laughs

5.  1940’s Halloween by muddyfoot

6.  Vampire Love by Wonderland

7.  Reluctant Vampire by Miaka

8.  Dracula by caff

9.  Scary Costume by lizcrimson

10.  Don’t Be Afraid by Phalaenopsis

11.  Scary Monsters by napkin guy

12.  Frankenstein’s Bride by OrigamiMei

13.  Rocky Horror by chay33

14.  Berserker Zombie by winged_courage

15.  Zombies and Kittens by Tropicalia

16.  All Hallow’s Eve by circuscarnival

17.  Derfell’s Pumpkin by Derfell

 18.  Full Moon by napkin guy

19.  The Witching Hour by elysy

20.  Nuclear Halloween by Knight_in_Training

21.  Ghost In Graveyard by novrain62

These 21 color palettes for Halloween may be your best bet to engage maybe even the most disspirited customers. Keep Halloween happy and spooky with your on-theme marketing materials and design creations from PsPrint. 

COVID-19 has not only changed the business lanscape, but also the future of in-person events. The new normal has forced people to shift to new ways of thinking and that includes planning virtual events. From solo marathons to virtual walks, traditional running events have definitely taken a different approach this year.  Other than being surrounded by sometimes hundreds of people, not much has really changed in the ways you need to plan and market your events--just the way you think about it. If you are still planning a virtual 5K, you still need to effectively market your event to attract the most participants and revenue. This post outlines detailed advice to help you develop a powerful marketing strategy for your upcoming 5K.

What makes your 5K special?

Before you consider what marketing tools you’ll need and marketing channels to explore, start by listing anything that makes your 5K special. If you can’t think of anything, consider adding a unique twist that will help your 5K stand out from competing events. You want your 5K to be more than a virtual, solo run – it should be an experience that gets people out of their homes and gives the something to look forward to, share and recruit friends and family to join--from a safe, socially distance approach. 

Here are some ways to make your 5k unique:

• Partner with a charity or nonprofit organization. Find a reason to give back. If you’re raising funds for a popular cause, you should promote this on all your marketing materials.
• State how to participate virtually. This is important to note on all promotional materials. Make sure to include something along the lines of  "online" or "held virtually" to encourage people to participate from anywhere. 
• Choose a theme. Typical 5Ks are fun family affairs and continue to increase in popularity as organizers come up with new creative ways to infuse fun into runs.
• Prioritize personal goals. Runs that are part of larger programs, such as hospital-sponsored wellness events and runs that serve as qualifiers for competitive events are popular for those seeking to achieve personal goals.

List everything that makes your 5K unique and be sure to include it – along with date and registration details – on your event marketing materials.

Create an early-bird incentive

One of the most difficult parts of organizing a run is not knowing how many people are going to participate--especially spreada across the nation during a global pandemic. This can be a challenge  if you’re buying shirts, sunglasses, bandanas, color packs, wristbands, numbers, and other items. The last thing you want to do is order 100 shirts you don’t need and can’t sell!

This is where early-bird incentives can help. Give something to those who sign up by a set deadline to encourage early registrations, which will inform you how many additional items you need to buy. Doing so will also help you determine whether you need to boost your marketing investment or whether you’re in good shape to reach your goal number of runners.

Incentives include:

• Deadlines before price increases
• Deadlines for shirt sales
• Deadlines to receive other promotional gear and items
• Deadlines to receive free entry to another event

Create powerful marketing materials

Now that you have a unique way to market your 5K along with at least one early bird incentive, you’re ready to create your marketing materials. They should include:

• The name of your 5K (come up with something memorable)
• The theme of your 5K
• What cause, if any, your 5K supports
• The date ( time and location in a pre-pandemic world)
• Costs
• Early sign-up incentives
• Registration options
• Website URL
• Social media pages

Consider the following marketing channels for your 5K

Print marketing

Print marketing helps you get the word out to both mass audiences and targeted individuals who are likely to want to participate. Here are some ideas:

• Postcards sent to past 5K runners and those who subscribe to running and fitness magazines
• Banners placed in high-traffic areas, intersections, and along roadways
• Refrigerator magnets to help remind runners of the event
• Brochures, especially if your 5K is part of a series of events 

Online marketing

• A website with registration is a good start. Services like Red Podium and Race Entry make this easy
• Social media – Facebook, in particular – is a great way to boost your 5K to local runners, earn shares, and use targeted ads to reach a well-defined audience (services such as Ad Espresso can help you optimize your ads)
• Email, if you have a list of past attendees or can acquire a list of likely runners
• Event websites – in particular, local event listings and websites that list 5K’s, such as Active, Runner’s World, and Road Race Runner

PR and advertising

• Submit press releases to local media
• Consider advertising in target publications as well as local newspapers, entertainment magazines, radio, TV stations, and local event blogs
• See if you can get interviews with local media to discuss your event

 Even in the new normal, you can still plan a successful virtual 5K run. If you're ready to get started marketing your upcoming 5K, do it for less with premium discount printing!