Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Communication Stereotypes Must Be Broken

Printers need to think about breaking down their stereotype thinking about the best way to communicate. As a "communications expert," you are going to have to help customers decide what is the best way to broadcast their message. Printers must be able to integrate print, Internet and social media message if they want to help their customer get the greatest message reach.

No one generation limits their communication opportunities. Young or old, people are adapting to the media that best serves their needs. This means a 20-something may prefer print and a 60-something may want emails. It just depends on the individual.

Statistics are backing up that age is the primary factor. If you think it is all about the Internet with young people, you are wrong. North American consumers aged 18-34 year-old prefer to learn about marketing offers via postal mail and newspapers rather than online sources such as social media platforms, according to survey from ICOM, a division of Epsilon Targeting.

Young adults say they prefer direct mail and newspaper advertising over online marketing in every instance except travel. Postal mail has a higher degree of trust for respondents in all age brackets: 36% of respondents in 2010 said information is more private if sent through the mail vs. email or online, up from 29% in 2008.

If you think social media is for the young, then you will be surprised to learn that one of the fastest growing segments of Facebook is women over the age of 55.

What this points out is that when you have a message to communicate you will want to use several different methods to get it out. Today's printing companies will have to focus on the message. Social media and the Internet become just another output device similiar to a press or digital printer. It allows you to duplicate the message and transmit to many.

Printers will need to embrace the new media or find themselves fighting for a smaller portion of the communication market.

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