Whilst some of us can still remember a time when the world functioned without digital media; it’s now almost impossible to imagine a world without it.

Every day, social media sites facilitate communications between literally billions of global users and almost everyone now operates at least one email account and keeps a list of favorite websites they frequently visit.

The global media arena has expanded significantly through digital technologies and will no doubt continue to do so as new technologies emerge and are embraced by the masses.

You might think that this trend towards digital media threatens the use of print in marketing campaigns and may even wonder if the production and distribution costs associated with print now outweigh its commercial value.

Thankfully professional marketers confirm that print remains as important as ever in effectively communicating crucial sales and marketing messages with both consumers and business buyers.

Contributors to The Drum assert that the important difference for modern marketing campaigns is that print now forms a part of successful multi-channel mix rather than being the only vehicle for volume communication.

By supporting print with digital media, marketers are able to maximise exposure, reinforce their messages through multiple communications and optimise overall campaign costs.

The physical nature of print adds an important dimension to communications that is simply not possible through digital media and therein lies its unique value.

Dr Kate Stone, founder and managing director of Novalia said: “We like to touch, taste, smell and feel things, print does them all. Print can be temporary like a newspaper or permanent like art, becoming valueless or priceless with time.”

Without printed materials, human engagement is often too shallow and marketing messages fail to generate the target perceptions. So whilst we can’t imagine a world without digital media, we equally can’t imagine a world without print.

Successful marketing campaigns require that we will see much more of both in the future.