As you sit with your team creating your budget for the upcoming fiscal year you’ll try to determine what kind of funds you will allocate to marketing your commercial real estate company. Breaking it down further, you’ll need to decide how much will go to the digital world, and how much will be given to traditional channels like print media.

The up and comers in your office will suggest more dollars to the digital side. Everyone uses smart phones, tablets or minimally the office computer they’ll say. They’ll try to sell you on accessibility, and communicating on the go to get your team’s message out. You may even hear scoffs at the relevance of using print for anything in the 21^stcentury.

In 2018 MAGNA, IPG predicts that in the United State $195 billion will be spent on advertising, $54 billion of that will be budgeted specifically to print. This statistic provides a clear answer to the question of whether or not print is dead. Overall, advertising dollars will increase 5.2%, with digital leading that figure. Something to consider with those figures, however, is the cannibalization of print advertising by digital, and the discount given to print media by media houses that bulk together the print and digital marketing opportunities.

Print is Worth the Investment.

Print advertising is still a worthwhile pursuit. The versatility of print will always be necessary. A good way to think of print is as the seasoned salesman in the office that everyone looks up to. That salesman visits every client, and remembers the details of each client and their families. He brought a genuine quality with his every interaction. The smile on his face and the warmth of his handshake give you a sense of trust in deciding to work with him—afterall, isn’t that how commercial real estate business is done?. The tactile nature and richness of the medium makes print like that old timer.

The growth of digital almost sank the print side of marketing, with its abundance of information and the ability to change your message with the stroke of a key. But, there are reasons why print accentuates your message. It communicates the brand. Unlike digital advertising it lends a tangible element to your  marketing. It is real in the hands of reader and it can’t be turned off or deleted. It is designed and tailored to fit the needs of your target audience. Whether it is inserted into their mailboxes, or handed to them at a trade show or community event, it engages the audience in the present. Print newsletters and brochures can be carried around, and physically shared by the reader.

Print Media Has Many Forms

Print offers an array of media types. Flyers allows you to be brief, and concise with your message, but still relevant to your audience Print proves it worth by allowing you to be more creative than you might be with digital and offers increased design value. If you need proof, think of the value that postcards still deliver to commercial real estate marketing efforts.While digital marketing can simply be deleted with touch of a keystroke, a postcard might sit on someone’s desk, just a little bit longer.

The Business Card

An under-appreciated form of print media is the business card. Giving a business card to a prospective customer is an intimate, personal experience. It’s the equivalent of a handshake. In international business, the business card is viewed as an opportunity to build prestige, and reinforces an initial good first impression. Furthermore, the business card shows your preparedness, and can allow you to be creative. Don’t miss the opportunity to make an impressive first impression and work with professional real estate marketing firm to create your business cards.

Print advertising isn’t likely to be the bulk of your marketing budget. But, to ensure you are maximizing your efforts, you are best served to include it in your marketing toolbox for its tangible, bold and focused qualities.