Meta, formerly Facebook, just gave printers a reason to talk with customers about digital marketing instead of printing, and a Print Marketing Iceberg Chart is a perfect delivery device.
In a recent announcement, they alerted customers to new Digital Services Taxes on ads based on the countries where they are served. And most importantly, advertisers won’t know the additional costs until after their campaign is over, and they get the bill.
Although the fee structure isn’t hidden, the ramifications are, and they won’t be fully known until they surface. Since I’ve been down the rabbit hole with Iceberg Charts lately, I decided this was the perfect topic for creating a Print Marketing Iceberg!
An Iceberg Chart is a visualization that uses the iceberg metaphor to explore what lies beneath the surface of a topic. The visible portion represents what is widely known, while the much larger portion below the waterline reveals deeper layers, hidden connections, and lesser-known insights.
The Meta announcement will drive conversations about digital marketing budgets and how to factor in additional costs. While that is topical, it’s the perfect moment to remind customers that print can strategically support and drive results for the digital marketing they are already investing in.
The Print Marketing Iceberg
The top of the Print Marketing Iceberg represents what many customers see when they think about print: sales and marketing materials; Insert offer here, move on to the next project. Below the surface are capabilities that often go unexplored, including targeted communications, triggered campaigns, performance measurement, and integration with digital marketing efforts.
The four capabilities below the waterline create a framework for conversations that connect print to the digital marketing strategies many of your customers are already using.
Print Marketing Iceberg: Targeted
Marketers spend significant amounts of money targeting specific audiences online. They target by geography, demographics, interests, behaviors, past purchases, website activity, and more.
Yet many still think of print as a one-size-fits-all communication channel.
The targeting conversation creates an opportunity to discuss how available data can be used to deliver relevant communications to specific audiences and support broader marketing objectives with greater precision.
Print Marketing Iceberg: Triggered
Digital marketers rarely send communications at random. Engagement and behavior determine what happens next.
Someone downloads a guide, registers for an event, abandons a cart, makes a purchase, or completes another action, and the next communication is automatically delivered.
Print can support that same strategy through drip campaigns, programmatic print campaigns, and data-driven communications tied to engagement, actions, milestones, or other signals.
Print Marketing Iceberg: Measured
If a marketer believes print can’t be measured, the question isn’t whether measurement exists. It’s whether anyone has shown them how.
Marketers are accustomed to dashboards, reports, attribution models, engagement metrics, and campaign analytics.
This is where marketing technology becomes part of the conversation. QR codes, personalized URLs, promotional codes, landing pages, CRM integration, and reporting tools can connect print to measurable activity and outcomes.
If a customer is already investing in digital marketing because measurement matters, this is an opportunity to discuss how print can support those same goals.
Print Marketing Iceberg: Integrated
Print and digital work best together. This is the conclusion we want marketers to embrace.
If a customer is investing in Facebook, Google, email marketing, events, and other digital channels, the conversation can focus on how print can support and strengthen those efforts.
Need more followers on a Facebook page? More event registrations? More traffic to a landing page? More engagement with a campaign that is already producing results?
Print can help move people into those digital experiences while creating an additional touchpoint along the way.
Send a Signal Flare
Share the Meta news with your customers, along with a Print Marketing Iceberg Chart that highlights your capabilities and the superpowers of print beneath the surface. If they haven’t seen the news, you’ve provided valuable information. If they have, you’ve demonstrated that you’re paying attention to developments that could affect their business.
Either way, you sent over a cool visual, opened the door to a topical, timely conversation, and showed that your partnership and capabilities go deeper than producing surface-level sales and marketing materials.
ICEBERG LONG AND PROSPER!
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See Deborah’s recent post: Master Customer Acquisition with the Chicken Strategy
Deborah Corn is the Intergalactic Ambassador to the Printerverse at Print Media Centr and Executive Director of Girls Who Print, the largest global professional network for women in print and graphic communications. She is a Print Buyerologist, international speaker, content creator, industry advocate, and host of Podcasts From The Printerverse.
She founded Project Peacock, International Print Day, and PrintFM Radio, the industry’s first 24/7 global radio station, creating platforms that connect brands, printers, suppliers, and students worldwide. Deborah also leads the Print Production Professionals Group, the largest print community on LinkedIn. Through her media, events, and education initiatives, Deborah helps companies of all sizes reach qualified audiences, build visibility, and create meaningful engagement with print and marketing professionals.
She is a recipient of multiple industry honors and serves on advisory boards and technical committees supporting print education and career development.
Connect with Deborah on LinkedIn
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