Some marketers have been sounding the death knell of print for years. After all, why waste money printing out 1000s of catalogues and leaflets when people can get all the info they need from your website?

The idea that print is dying is particularly convenient now we’re in the midst of a recession. Many companies are desperately bailing for survival and jettisoning costs wherever they can, with glossy brochures among the first to be shown the plank.

However, what companies need to be aware of, before binning their printed brochures and catalogues altogether, is the ‘flick and click’ effect.

What’s the ‘flick and click’ effect?

The rapid growth of e-commerce, with sales increasing year on year, would suggest that printed catalogues are an archaic waste of trees. But what this view fails to recognise is that print often plays a key role in the process that ends in a customer buying online.

Never shy of praising the value of the printed word, the Royal Mail recently released the findings of their survey of 30 online retailers on the effectiveness of printed catalogues.

From 1800 responses it found a number of interesting conclusions on the influence of printed catalogues on buying behaviour:

• Buy more often – shoppers who received a printed catalogue spent 76% more than those who didn’t
• Spend more – on average they spent £110 more than catalogue-less shoppers
• Driven to websites – over 70% of respondents said it was more likely that they’d visit a website after receiving a catalogue
• On average retailers who included a flyer with their catalogue increased their online sales 30%

These figures conveniently show print’s effectiveness, whether it’s a catalogue, brochure or sales letter, at building loyalty and driving customers to websites.

When you add to the equation the results of a Pitney Bowes survey, which found 73% of consumers prefer to receive offers in the mail, it’s clear that print offers unique marketing advantages.

On its own, digital relies on people finding their way to your website, whether via email or online ads, and then being happy to spend time browsing and building trust before buying.

Printed catalogues and brochures, on the other hand, can be browsed at leisure and they land directly at customers’ feet. The decision to buy is then made offline before reaching for the mouse and taking advantage of the convenience of online shopping.

Integration is no longer just a pipe dream

With print and digital offering unique strengths, an effective marketing strategy lies in being able to use both mediums together, rather than putting one on a drip feed of funding so the other can survive.

Until recently, the idea of integrating print and digital was still a pipe dream and the unattainable Holy Grail of marketing.

However, as we know only too well at bda, marketing is evolving at a rapid pace.

Modern tools, such as personalised URLs, website tracking and digital printing, enable marketers to deliver integrated one-to-one campaigns that are more targeted and personalised than ever. The trick is simply being able to capture data and then knowing how to use it.

So, although times are tough, try and keep your print budget away from the finance director’s guillotine, and don’t get caught in the rush to make all marketing digital. Because as the Royal Mail’s survey shows, there are plenty of online retailers who know how effective print can be at growing your online business.

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BDA (Buckingham Design Associates) blog – real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. BDA deliver an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region.

My excuse for not getting to work on Thursday…

Personal branding is nothing new. Politicians, celebrities and high flying executives have used personal coaches and branding consultants to spruce up their image for decades.

What’s changed is that people are now forming impressions of businesses based on what they uncover on Google. So whether you’re a solo entrepreneur, small enterprise or monolithic conglomerate, it’s worth understanding why personal branding is becoming one of the marketing buzz words for 2009.

Google is watching you

People might grumble about CCTV and ID cards, but what they should really be worried about is the amount of data being recorded about them on the web.

Whenever you post a comment on a blog, update your MySpace profile or get tagged in a photo you’re leaving a digital trace that says something about you.

‘Hilarious’ comments on Facebook and people airing their private lives on blogs has already ruined interviews and cost people their jobs because of employers conducting background checks on Google, and not liking what they find.

The same potential risk applies to your business. Before hiring your services or buying your product, there’s a high likelihood that people will type your brand name into Google to decide whether you can be trusted.

If you’re mentioned online it means you have a reputation and a brand identity to protect.

What is your personal brand?

Traditionally a personal brand is a culmination of your attributes, such as your vision, values, skills, passions and how you communicate. It should define how people perceive and respond to you, which is why personal brands are so carefully managed by people in the public eye.

Now that people are forming impressions based on what they discover on the web, personal branding applies to entrepreneurs and businesses as well.

Along with your logo, slogan and headshot, you need to consider how the content you publish on the web influences the impression people have of your brand, and whether to hire your services or buy your product.

How do I create a personal brand?

Building your personal online brand isn’t simply a case of creating profiles on every social networking site you can find. Any fool can create a Facebook page, send friend requests to as many randoms as possible and abuse their status updates plugging their services.

Creating a successful personal brand comes from providing great content to your customers because, as with social high flyers, it’s the quality of the conversation you can offer that will boost your standing in people’s eyes.

Personal branding checklist

For a master class in personal branding on the web look no further than Brand Obama. But in the meantime, here’s a checklist to get you started:

Website – Your #1 personal branding tool. If you’re not online then you’re nowhere as far as a sizeable chunk of your customers are concerned. If your website doesn’t pop up on the first page of Google then people are unlikely to reward your absence with their hard cash.

Blog – become a publisher and giveaway free valuable content offering insight, entertainment and a glimpse into your brand’s personality. Blogs are an excellent tool for relationship building and positioning yourself as a knowledge leader. Google seems to like them too.

Email – whether you repackage your blog posts or create new content from scratch, the relative low cost and effectiveness of email means it should be on your brand building to do list.

Email newsletters are regularly rated as the most effective internet marketing tool because they enable you to maintain contact with prospects, foster relationships and build trust.

Twitter – you’ll soon be hearing a lot more Twittering going on now that people are flocking to follow their fellow professionals, celebrities and favourite brands. Expect to see Twitter strategies being rolled out by PR agencies in the near future.

So what does Google say about your personal brand? Or are you too afraid to look?

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BDA (Buckingham Design Associates) blog – real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. BDA deliver an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region.