Communication is what it all comes down to and part of what people are forgetting is that it goes two ways and those two ways aren't the same street for everyone.  Some people love to be communicated with through print media.  I think that this is one of the reasons that print will never die, no matter how many Kindles Amazon churns out.  It's a tangible media in an increasingly intagible world, and so it holds value with those resistant to change.

Toni is right about not cutting your print marketing. Change for the sake of change is never a good idea, and unless you have good reason to drop an avenue of information, you shouldn't.  Using social media is great.  Using online ILS services is great.  But don't forget your friends with the printing press, because they've still got a wide readership base. It's about expanding what we use to reach a wider base of clients, not this for that.  And Toni, I love your point about the $8 enzyme vs. the $2000 carpet.  Mindful spending can only get us so far, but boy baby, can it take us a ways!

Very nicely done!
-Heather Blume

It still makes sense to use PRINT as in print publications, brochures and direct mail if the goal is influence and financial return. From reading numerous posts about “Print is dead”, people are confused on the topic of print. Newspapers are time sensitive…now that is another topic entirely! Broad sweeping statements about print are just that…broad sweeping statements.
First, you can target recipients of a print publication much more effectively than you can target recipients of an e-zine, website or any form of social media. That’s important to the multifamily industry as print targets serious “looking now” people.
Second, there’s still the very widespread perception that a print publication and brochures indicates something real and tangible—a real organization. With a real address and employees and an investment—whereas anybody can (and does) go online these days. I believe print therefore adds credibility to a publishing effort. And I think it’s perceived that way by most people. Magazines like For Rent  etc., have built their online credibility on a respectable “newsstand” presence first.
Third, a successful Web-only presence requires a hefty investment in interactive bells and whistles, and especially in first-rate copy writers, analysts and full time employees, to produce marketing that can stop traffic and make the phone ring! People make me laugh when they think or suggest that the Web is more cost effective than print..it just isn’t true!
Fourth, magazines have moved into publishing features, too—and they look much better with a nifty graphic layout on the printed page than they do on a computer screen, where you have to scroll. While you can do all sorts of neat stuff with Flash and video and sound online, there are still things you can do better on a printed page. It’s a different aesthetic.
Fifth, convenience: Magazines are still more easily transportable. You can browse them in a doctor’s office, read them while hanging on a subway strap, or on a plane, or in the bathroom—places where you either can’t or don’t have to lug around a 5-pound notebook computer, pull it out of its case, power it up, find a Wi-Fi connection, go online, search, scroll and read content, then print out any particularly interesting by hooking up a printer and paying for very expensive ink cartridges. You just open a mag and read it, and then you can tear out any interesting ad. Maybe the Kindle or its kin eventually will become so lightweight and transportable that it will eliminate the advantages of a print mag, but it isn’t here yet. For those of you who know me, you know I am a true geek, I TRIED to lease online when I personally was looking for an apartment and found that I HAD to use print to help me sift though the masses and then was able to go online and sift through the final selection process. The communities that I own still generate traffic using print  of course I market online and encourage online social marketing BUT PRINT IS STILL ALIVE AND WORKING!
Finally, the economics issue: Yep I think a good Web presents is important and can help subsidize print . While no print mag can stand alone, they offer advertisers combined rates on both platforms, based on combined circulation figures, seems to me a plausible business model that produces results.
For these reasons, very few publications that have developed a Web presence have simultaneously eliminated their print edition, costly though it may be to maintain. While the economics of print vs. web definitely portend the inevitable, eventual decline of print and the corresponding rise of Web-only, I don’t think we’re there yet. You still invest in print to buy influence, and a combination of print and Web offer the best of both worlds. Social media marketing is an additional way to influence but I for one am not ready or able to give up my print! Several companies I know have tried due to economics and have found that to be a “BIG BIG MISTAKE”. Just ask a few companies/communities that can’t afford print right now how much they miss print advertising!

There is no "holy grail, one-size-fits-all" solution in the digital age, we are  finding revenue from new sources and need to include a mixture of “paid and free” “print and web” content  that is available across a range of outlets and social media websites.

I refer to social media as SWEAT EQUITY! It is cost effective but requires time management & ongoing maintenance. Social media should complement your existing traditional marketing efforts and not replace them. Social media also requires you to have a solid strategy. Strategy is essential in today’s challenging economy & is crucial to success in order to avoid wasting time & money.

I personally find that social media when combined with print, mobile and video not only strengthens the brand and extends the reach but more importantly it supports your existing products and services.

The best example is with the 2008 presidential debate. Both candidates used social media marketing via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and several other outlets to reach younger voters, but many older voters also caught on to the value of social media to stay up to date on the candidates and the campaigns they ran….Using social media for B2B and B2C marketing is valuable on its own but using it to support your other marketing efforts such as print makes it twice as effective!


Erica Campbell
Marketing Manager
For Rent Media Solutions