--- title: Survey Finds Consumers Prefer Printed Marketing Materials Over Social Media description: Printed materials are as effective as email campaigns and much preferred over social media marketing. See how and why! image: https://www.dataguide.com/hs-fs/file-219500504-jpg/images/printed-marketing-materials.jpg --- [![Print Promotional Solutions](https://www.dataguide.com/hs-fs/file-13023113-jpg/images/dataguide.jpg?width=314&height=58&name=dataguide.jpg "Print Promotional Solutions")](https://www.dataguide.com/) # Print Blog: Communicate, Motivate, Educate, Enhance, Celebrate, Animate, and Promote with Print and Promotional Products ## [Survey Finds Consumers Prefer Printed Marketing Materials Over Social Media](https://www.dataguide.com/Print-Blog/bid/99906/Survey-Finds-Consumers-Prefer-Printed-Marketing-Materials-Over-Social-Media) Posted by [Chris Higgins](https://www.dataguide.com/print-blog/author/chris-higgins) on Tue, Jul 9, 2013 @ 07:00 AM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Online marketing communications--such as email campaigns, social media programs and digital ![Printed Marketing Materials](https://www.dataguide.com/hs-fs/file-219500504-jpg/images/printed-marketing-materials.jpg)brochures--seem to garner all the media attention when it comes to helping businesses connect with customers in today's competitive environment. But that doesn't mean your business strategy should dismiss the printed word. A well-done marketing brochure, catalog or other printed marketing piece can have big impact on engaging customers and building your brand, according to a new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and Lyris. The report is based on simultaneous surveys of 257 marketing executives and 409 consumers in the U.S. and United Kingdom looking at perceptions on how best to engage with companies as well as what methods of communications most influence purchases. The survey results, which found [printed materials](https://www.dataguide.com/promotional-products/) to be about as effective as email campaigns and much preferred over social media marketing, may be surprising to a business world that has increasingly focused its marketing efforts online. The survey found that while marketing executives favored social media and blogs, consumers prefer to receive a company email or printed marketing brochure instead when it comes to learning about a company's brand and making purchase decisions. **Digital and Print Go Neck-and-Neck** Results from the survey show printed materials barely trailing emails as a consumer's preferred method of company communication. Social media communications, however, lagged behind. Thirty-seven percent of consumers responding said they prefer to learn initially about a product via email, while 35 percent said they preferred printed materials. Meanwhile, only 21 percent of consumers responding indicated they preferred to learn about new products from a company's social media sites and blogs, and just 18 percent said they preferred to learn this information from other [social media outlets](http://www.liquidplanner.com/blog/8-tips-social-media/). The results also show printed materials edging just ahead of personal referrals, long considered by marketers as the most significant factor in a consumer's decision to buy. ![Appointment book](https://www.dataguide.com/hs-fs/file-219826227-jpg/images/appointment-book.jpg) **Balancing Pros and Cons** The relatively low cost of digital marketing and social media programs when compared to print has been a driving force behind company decisions to beef up marketing efforts in these areas. Another perceived advantage of digital communications is the ease in personalizing the company message. But the research report by EIU and Lyris found consumers have become immune to this marketing tactic, finding such approaches to be superficial and even annoying. Just 14 percent of consumers surveyed indicated they were more likely to read personalized messages, although the strategy continues to be one of the most popular among marketing execs, a factor supported by the survey's findings. However, while consumers were annoyed by superficial attempts at personalization, the survey found respondents did not feel the same when they received customized product recommendations. That factor could help both in the creation of digital marketing communication as well as custom printed pieces. While it is less costly and more exact to implement these types of customized communications in a digital format, it is still possible to create customized, targeted printed marketing materials as well. What marketing professionals may be able to conclude from these findings is that gathering data from customers via social media and other digital marketing efforts can then be partnered with a custom print marketing project to bring customers the best of both worlds--and gain companies the advantages of each as well. 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