With all the talk about on-line digital marketing…email, social media, search-engine marketing, blogs, etc…you’d think that print collateral has gone the way of the buggy whip. And while all of the aforementioned marketing channels are certainly relevant—so is print!

A Parks Associates study recently found that 21% of Americans had never visited a web site, sent an e-mail or used a search engine. In European countries like France, Belgium and Austria, that percentage climbs to to more than 40%. Even more surprising, despite the high rates of connectivity in countries like Japan, the percentage of people who don’t use the Internet is close to 85% in Asia as a whole.

Some segments of the population can still be better reached by print than on-line marketing. For example, a survey showed that 85% of women aged 25-44 read direct mail pieces while only 53% read email marketing messages.

What this all means is, don’t neglect traditional marketing in the rush to embrace the new. Especially if you research your target audience carefully, print collateral still has an important place in your marketing communications mix.