Combining Digital and Print Media for Data Collection and User Engagement

In an age of digital media dominating the market, it can almost always be assumed that there is some form of data collection taking place— this may be when you are visiting a website, downloading an app, clicking on links, or even when you are spending time looking at a friend’s new Instagram story. There are a plethora of ways in which collected data can be interpreted into useful information to further expand a business, improve upon a company’s advertising strategy, user experience, the product itself, and many more. That being said, this same convenient process does not always apply to print media, and there often needs to be a few workarounds to get the essential data required. Here are some examples that can boost interactivity with print media.

Vanity URLs

Vanity URLs are not what they sound like nor are they to be confused with vanity domains. In fact, they could be one of the most useful things a company could take advantage of when carrying out a marketing campaign— especially a physical one. Essentially, these are links that are easy for people to remember, and a vanity URL’s primary purpose is to lead consumers to a specific page of a website. There are also a few other reasons why one should consider taking advantage of these custom URLs:

• Creating an advertisement and placing short and concise vanity URLs will make your design look more professional, clean, and it offers a better user experience for the reader.

• It is very easy to share, via social media and even through word of mouth. Long URLs often discourage users from visiting a website.

• If the link leads to a page where they can directly buy something, it makes the process even easier, thus resulting in a more likely purchase.

QR Codes

With our current technological advancements, most smartphones are capable of reading a QR code simply through their dedicated camera application. This means that most consumers have no need to download an app specifically catered to reading these, therefore, making it more convenient to utilize. Companies can use this so that their consumers and onlookers can easily access their website.

Surveys

Surveys are a great way to receive feedback that is personal to the consumers and their feelings, and they can give companies insights into their audience’s minds. It may be more difficult to get people to interact this way, but it should also be accompanied by some form of incentive.

A couple of benefits from giving out consumer surveys are:

• You get to hear feedback from the consumers directly

• Can be anonymous, and may encourage people to be honest with their opinions

There is a flip side, however— consumer surveys can potentially be extremely unreliable, especially if the questionnaire is too long, wordy, or difficult to understand. This alone may convince consumers to either not do the survey at all, not understand what is being asked of them, or they may just resort to writing plain nonsense. This is why it is important to ensure that your survey is easily understandable.

Coupon Codes & Unique Form of Contact

It may be more challenging to collect conclusive data on this, but utilizing coupon codes will allow companies to track how many people saw an advertisement with said coupon code. On top of getting more sales that are encouraged by a discount or promotion, you can keep track of the traffic as well.

This also ties into a unique form of contact, which is something that is geared towards specific products/campaigns that marketing teams have access to. This may be an email that is exclusive to the campaign, or a chatbox on the website. These are all ways that you can keep track of interactivity that is specific to a single campaign or promotion.

Conclusion

Even though physical mediums offer a tactile element to the content that consumers are engaging with, it is exceedingly difficult to keep track of what users are paying attention to in particular. Attempting to conceptualize ideas that may bring about an easier way to track user interactions can be difficult, although it is important—if not crucial—to understand your target audience’s behaviour. Sales numbers are an essential piece of the puzzle, but trying to figure out how to dive even deeper to obtain more specific analytics poses a great challenge. Even so, there are methods and different possibilities in how to achieve this. Although it will not be as precise, it combines elements of both the digital and printed world which can help with both tracking and creating more user engagement overall. It is, however, important to note that there are extra components to take into consideration so that users feel compelled to take extra steps to access online content.

References

B&B Press. (n.d.). How to Measure the Effectiveness of a Print Advertising Campaign. B&B Press. https://www.bbpress.co.uk/news/how-to-measure-the-effectiveness-of-a-print-advertising-campaign

Choudhary, P. (n.d.). Vanity/Custom URLs – How to Get One & Why It’s Important. Terminus Blog. https://www.terminusapp.com/blog/vanity-custom-urls-how-get-one-why-its-important/

Industry Dive. (2021, July 12). 3 ways combining print and digital could improve your marketing campaigns. Marketing Dive. https://www.marketingdive.com/spons/3-ways-combining-print-and-digital-could-improve-your-marketing-campaigns/601193/

Knapp, S. (2018, January 25). 6 Ways to Measure the Success of Your Print Campaigns. Hearst Communications, Inc. https://marketing.sfgate.com/blog/6-ways-to-measure-the-success-of-your-print-campaigns

Pan, V. (2021, May 1). Vanity URL: What It Is & How To Get One. WordStream. https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2012/10/10/vanity-url

PEL HUGHES. (2020, June 16). 3 WAYS TO EFFECTIVELY TRACK YOUR PRINT MARKETING CAMPAIGN. PELHUGHES. https://www.pelhughes.com/how-are-you-tracking-your-printed-materials/

WAYS TO DIGITALLY MEASURE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PRINT ADVERTISING. (n.d.). ADVANCEOHIO. https://www.advance-ohio.com/digitally-measure-print-advertising/