Have you ever seen an ad for Facebook? Everyone knows who they are but I've never seen them advertise anywhere. I've never seen a TV ad, heard a radio ad, seen a print ad, seen a billboard or even a custom poster advertising Facebook and it's one of the biggest companies in the world. The only thing I've seen is a full color Tri Fold Brochure delivered by of all things snail mail!
At first glance it doesn't make sense, Facebook is pure Internet, they exist only in cyberspace, how could they possibly use printing and direct mail to advertise? Companies like Facebook spell doom for ancient marketing platforms like tri fold brochures and direct mail but here they are utilizing mediums they are supposed to kill.
When you think about it though, it makes perfect sense; Facebook uses Tri fold Brochures and direct mail because they work. How else are they going to get their message and special offer in front of a very specific target market; business owners willing to give their new advertising platform a try?
Targeting and measurement is the key, they don't want to offer $50 in free advertising to just anyone, they want to give it to people and companies that are likely to become long term paying customers. How do you find those people and measure the return, buy a qualified list and utilize variable printing technology to offer specific traceable codes so they can see exactly how many people act on their offer.
With variable print technology and the power of the web they can provide multiple offers in the same campaign and see exactly which offers pull better than the others; it's A / B testing taken to the extreme.
So printing ain't dead yet; instead for companies like Facebook printing and tri fold brochures are an important way to create new paying customers.