The cost of digital advertising continues to increase while the engagement rates decrease. Eventually, it becomes less cost-effective, and that pushes marketers to explore alternative channels where they’re not competing for screen space. Physical advertising is not a plan B, it’s a real top-of-the-funnel generator, and if paired with a digital strategy the right way, it will outperform print and digital in silos. It’s not print or digital – it’s print and digital. The easier it is to remember and take action right here and now, the fewer steps people have to think through, the faster you’re going to convert.

The attribution problem most campaigns ignore

The main reason why marketers do not invest enough in physical marketing is because they cannot measure its effectiveness. For example, you distribute 5,000 flyers and notice a small increase in website traffic, but you cannot be sure if the flyers are the reason for it.

However, this issue has already been resolved. To measure the success of your physical marketing campaign, make sure that every physical material you use has a unique vanity URL or a QR code connected to UTM parameters. The QR code is not just a trend, it is a real tracking feature that can tell you which specific areas led to conversions, which design was more appealing, and which call to action resulted in more scans. For instance, if you run two different versions in two areas, you will have a real A/B test for your physical materials.

This type of data is also very useful for your attribution model, which is important for your report on the successful campaign.

Matching physical outreach to digital retargeting

Here is a playbook that has proved successful over and over: you distribute print materials to a defined geographic area, then immediately run social ads on that same area. The print creates an early awareness and a sense of familiarity. The digital ad follows catching that awareness while it’s still warm.

The Data & Marketing Association says direct mail can get a response rate as high as 9%, compared to email and online ads at 1% – not because print has magical powers, but because the brain processes paper in a different way. It requires a level of physical interaction that gives the brain more reason to remember and have an emotional connection, something scrolling past a banner ad doesn’t do.

When somebody sees your leaflet through the mailslot and later that week stumbles upon your Instagram ad, the second impression – the ad – lands differently because the brand isn’t a stranger anymore.

Other than being able to target by post-code and housing type, professional Leaflet Distribution services can also target print campaigns with the demographic profile of the residents of the area the campaign is targeting. This often translates well to a social or programmatic campaign and it is the alignment of those two campaigns where the lift happens.

Keeping the scent trail consistent

In conversion rate optimization, there’s an idea known as “scent” – it’s about the visual and messaging connection between an ad and the landing page. If someone clicks a banner for a specific product and gets taken to your generic homepage, the scent is broken. They’ll probably leave immediately.

The same concept translates to physical-to-digital transitions. If someone scans a QR code on a postcard, they should land on a page that looks and feels familiar. The same header. The same image. The same offer. If the postcard advertises 20% off and the landing page is something else entirely, you’ve missed your chance.

This is about more than making everything look nice and consistent. Sure, that’s part of it, but the real function of ensuring the physical piece and its digital transition line up is to give a hot lead a reason to stick around. Create a unique landing page for every physical campaign – even if it’s just the header and hero shot that differ.

Physical-to-digital incentives close the loop

The best way to do this is to make the incentive extremely channel-native. E.g. a discount code printed on a leaflet. Something that only exists on that physical piece. Localized codes work well here. A code that’s linked to a particular area not only tracks performance (you know the customer is in a certain vicinity because they received this mailer) but offers a layer of personalization that generic “10% off” doesn’t have. People notice when something is for their neighborhood rather than everyone. This is also where programmatic print is interesting to know about. Some platforms now allow you to trigger a physical mailer based on online behavior. E.g. an abandoned cart. The customer browses online, doesn’t convert, and then receives a physical piece a few days later. Sequence runs in reverse but principle is identical. Each channel does what the other can’t.

Building a campaign that holds together

Being multichannel doesn’t mean that every channel needs to do everything. It means using an appropriate channel to attract the customer to the next one and the next in a way that feels natural rather than disjointed.

Print earns attention and builds trust in a way it’s hard to get at scale online. Retargeting, tracking, personalization does things print can’t.

The campaigns that work aren’t the ones with the biggest budgets. They’re the ones where every touchpoint is designed to lead somewhere specific.