Location, location, location

I know it seems strange coming from a print-centric blog site like ours, but today’s post is about real estate.

The real estate I’m referring to is not land based; well not exactly anyway. I’m referring to the desktop in an office or the countertop in someone’s home. Every day smart marketers are claiming a portion of that real estate for their products and services. They do that by producing attractive printed products that captivate their target audience enough so that the piece is read, then set aside on the desk or countertop for future reference. It might have been a coupon, or a grand opening announcement, or a catalog. No matter what it was the consumer felt compelled to keep it and now it’s sitting there continuing to communicate.

The problem with the internet is that it lacks the same permanence. With a click your message is gone. It’s lost in the browser history or it’s fallen below new inbox messages. Each form of advertising has its own place in a good communications strategy but each has its own risk and rewards too.

CCS chooses to use both in our marketing strategies. We use social media, web sites like this blog, email and printed communication to reach our target market. We’ve learned that the best way to communicate who we are is to find ways to claim some of that valuable desktop real estate. If we can create printed pieces that are either too compelling, or too valuable to throw away, we win important ground that our competition does not. If we can have our calendar, or notecards, or notepad, or coupon sitting right there prompting them to give us a chance, we will more likely be engaged when the potential customer needs printing services.

In today’s stingy economy we all need to find ways to woo the consumer to choose our products and services. Battling for real estate is a valid tactic and has proven to work. Print will always have a place in marketing and advertising and those who learn to balance the newer forms of communication with compelling traditional media will have the advantage.