How Print Plays a Role in The Consumer's Journey
Instead of calling the number listed in a magazine ad, people often:
• Google the business name or service category
• Visit the company’s website directly
• Search social media profiles
• Fill out a form or chat online
• Use a general number found online (not the ad)
In fact, studies and marketing data suggest that 50–80% of responses to print ads happen through channels other than the phone number printed in the ad. That means your ad may be working — just not in ways you’re directly tracking through calls.
And Here’s the Amazing Part
The magazines you get in the mail spark the idea - they’re the trigger. They plant the seed of interest so that you then act online, whether by Googling, browsing, or even making a purchase later.
So the combo of print and digital is absolutely essential - it’s not just helpful, it’s super powerful. One inspires, the other converts. When working together, the result is perfectly orchestrated consumer action.
Supporting Stats & Insights
- Google Consumer Insights reports that 82% of smartphone users consult their phones when deciding to buy something they saw offline — like in a print ad.
- Nielsen studies on cross-media behavior found that a significant percentage of consumers don’t take direct action (like calling) but still convert later through other digital channels.
- Print industry data often estimates that less than 30% of conversions from print ads are directly traceable to the phone number in the ad.
Why This Matters
If you’re evaluating ROI on a print campaign:
• Relying only on phone call tracking will massively underreport the true impact.
• You’ll miss leads who convert later via website, SEO, or form submissions.
• It’s crucial to combine print with digital tracking, including:
• Branded search trends
• Website traffic from geo-targeted areas
• Lead attribution software
• Custom URLs or QR codes in ads
To better understand how today’s buyers behave, take a look at Your Consumer’s Journey and The Marketing Triangle, two powerful frameworks we use at Local Fare to align messaging, medium, and moment.
The Powerful Combo of Direct Mail + Digital Marketing
At Local Fare Marketing Group, we believe now is a prime time for businesses to scale and dominate their markets. Uncertainty in the economy? That’s not a signal to pull back - it’s a signal to be strategic and seize new opportunities.
With over 20 years in the marketing industry, we’ve seen a consistent pattern: the businesses that grow, even in tough times, are the ones that diversify their marketing strategies. And today, the most powerful approach is combining direct mail with digital marketing into a cohesive, strategic campaign.
Why Direct Mail + Digital?
Trust + Reach = Impact.
Direct mail continues to be the most trusted form of marketing among consumers. People like having something tangible in their hands - it stands out in an increasingly crowded digital world. When a customer receives a well-designed piece of mail and then sees your brand online, you build familiarity and trust, creating a much stronger connection than either channel could achieve alone.
This two-pronged approach ensures you're:
- Generating leads with strong calls to action (print + digital).
- Building brand awareness that sticks.
- Driving conversion-ready traffic to your website, landing pages, or store.
- Staying top-of-mind across multiple touch points.
The bottom line:
The power of your campaign is the power of your leads and sales. And power comes from consistency and diversity in how you show up to your audience.
Strategy Leads to Market Share
Now is the time to gain ground while competitors hesitate.
With a smart combination of direct mail and digital, you’re not just spending money - you’re investing in market share. Whether you're launching a new product, entering a new market, or simply looking to grow, a well-executed campaign will position you for long-term success.
Key elements your campaign needs:
- Direct Mail: Eye-catching design, irresistible offer, clear call to action.
- Digital Ads: Retargeting audiences, expanding brand awareness, driving clicks and conversions.
- Brand Consistency: Unified messaging across print and digital.
- Call-to-Action Tactics: Easy next steps for the customer to act immediately.
Without both traditional and digital elements, you risk losing potential customers who need multiple touches to make a buying decision.
Sample Budgets for Print + Digital Campaigns
Assuming you are already using a conversion tactic like SEO or Google Ads.
Note: If you aren’t actively investing in conversion tactics like SEO or Google Ads, let's schedule a conversation. Your campaign will only be as strong as your ability to capture and convert the leads you generate.
The Local Fare Advantage
We’ve helped hundreds of businesses just like yours not just survive, but thrive in all kinds of economic climates.
Our experience proves: A balanced marketing strategy works - and it works better when it’s aligned, strategic, and executed across multiple channels.
Ready to maximize your marketing power?
Let’s build your next winning campaign - together.
How to Choose the Right Direct Mail for your Business
Direct mail remains one of the most effective marketing tools for local businesses, offering a tangible, targeted way to reach high-quality customers. But not all direct mail is created equal. If you’re considering direct mail for your business, here’s how to choose the right option-and why Local Fare Marketing Group stands out as the best choice in Chattanooga.
Why Local Fare Marketing Group for Your Direct Mail?
With 23 years of experience and a loyal readership, Local Fare Marketing Group provides businesses with a proven. Results-driven approach to direct mail marketing. Here’s what sets us apart:
1. A Long-Standing Business with a Rich History
For over 22 years, Local Fare Magazine has been a trusted source of advertising in Chattanooga. We’ve seen trends come and go, and we know what works. Our long-standing readership ensures your message reaches an engaged, high-value audience.
2. Premium Creative Services Included
Every Local Fare Magazine package includes custom graphic design and professional photography at no additional cost. Our local creative team ensures your ads are visually compelling and optimized for engagement. 
3. Highly Targeting Mailing Lists
We hand-select carrier routes with the highest-income households in Chattanooga, reaching 65,000 homes citywide every month. Your message is placed directly in front of potential customers who are most likely to engage with your business.
4. Three Powerful Ways to Mail
Not all direct mail is the same. We offer multiple options to match your marketing needs:
- Local Fare Magazine: Your ad is placed inside our established, high-visibility magazine.
- Postcard Insert in Local Fare Magazine: A cost-effective way to stand out while leveraging the power of our distribution.
- Solo Postcard Mailings: Target a specific audience of your choosing for a highly personalized campaign.
5. Determine Your Market Share
Your marketing strategy should match your growth goals. The more presence you have, the more response you’ll get. We offer three levels of direct mail campaigns to help you capture market share:
🔷Presencee Campaign - Stay Visible
Keeps your business top of mind with consistent exposure. Ideal for brand awareness and staying relevant.
📌Best for: New businesses, seasonal promotions
📌 Strategy: Quarter or half-page ad in Local Fare Magazine
🔷Competitive Campaign - Stand Out
Puts you ahead of competitors with a stronger presence and higher visibility.
📌Best for: Growing business, lead generation
📌 Strategy: Full-page ad + postcard insert in Local Fare Magazine
🔷Dominant Campaign - Own the Market
Maximizes exposure to make your business the go-to choice in your industry.
📌Best for: Businesses aiming for market dominance
📌 Strategy: Full-page ad + solo postcard mailing + premium placement
More Presence = More Response
Consistent exposure builds trust and drives results. Let’s create a strategy to grow your market share!
Content is King- How Quality Content Raises your Status
In a recent survey of Millennials, 62% of respondents said they had visited a store in the past month based on information received in the mail and 75% of respondents said receiving personal mail made them feel special. Local Fare Magazine is your direct line to 70,000 households in the Chattanooga area, providing specialized content, designed to elevate your brand and capture the interest of potential customers.
Advertorials
An advertorial is content specially designed to look and read like an article but is actually a paid advertisement. Advertorials may include content connected to your brand, a breakdown of special services, or tips and tricks from your specialized field. When advertorials are well done, they show off a company’s expertise, providing content customers find compelling.
Business Spotlights
Business spotlights are designed to introduce who you are and what you do, without any direct sales pitch. Spotlights allow potential customers to get to know your small business, by building rapport, brand awareness, and trust. Ideally business spotlights will create an emotional connection by sharing personal stories customers will find moving and memorable.
Testimonials
A recent study found that nearly 79% of consumers trust the reviews they read as much as personal recommendations. Local Fare Magazine testimonials allow potential customers to hear from your satisfied customers about their experience. Providing their recommendations is a powerful tool to build trust with potential customers.
Local Interest
Local Interest content allows Local Fare Magazine to stay relevant in our community. Our In The Loop monthly calendar and Best of the Best lists give our customers a reason to save and refer back to the magazine and its advertisements more frequently.
Interested in learning more about how print advertising can work for you? Local Fare has been delivered into the mailboxes of 70,000+ homes per month for over a decade. Let us create compelling content, with custom photography, and graphic design unique to your business needs.
Direct Mail that Delivers
A staple in the advertising industry for nearly 20 years, Local Fare has earned the trust of its community, evolved to stay relevant in an ever-changing market, and elevated the brands of over 1,000 local small businesses. Here’s how we can put our experience in direct mail to work for you.
Experience and Dedication
Founded in 2003 as Coupon Carrier, a direct mail envelope of coupons, Joann and Juan Bustamante built their small business one client at a time. Their dedication to growth produced a roster of loyal clients, while their local expertise curated a quality mailing list of 70,000 homes designed to match those clients desired demographics.
Flexibility to an Ever Changing Market
During the 2008 recession, the Bustamantes reevaluated their business strategy as a direct mail advertising company. They dreamed of creating a local magazine that doesn’t feel like junk mail. They rebranded and relaunched as Local Fare Magazine, a community magazine promoting local happenings with professional photography, interesting content, seasonal recipes, and advertising from local small businesses. Local Fare’s willingness to change course to meet their customer’s needs has led to the innovation of the wrap and stand-alone postcards in 2021. Local Fare continues to grow by considering the client's needs, paying attention to the customer's interests, and creating the highest quality product to satisfy both.
Trust / Elevate Brands
Local Fare Magazine receives is that our publication doesn’t feel like other “junk mail” style mailers. With quality content, professional photography, and cutting-edge graphic design, Local Fare Magazine elevates your brand messaging.
Interested in learning more about how print advertising can work for you? Local Fare has been delivered into the mailboxes of 70,000+ homes per month for over a decade. Let us create compelling content, with custom photography, and graphic design unique to your business needs.
Put Print Media to Work for You
Local Fare believes the key to a successful marketing strategy is a mix of digital, social, and print media. While you may be tempted to forgo print media, believing the “print is a dying medium” hype, research shows consumers still find print media to be more memorable, trustworthy, and engaging than digital media. Here are 3 reasons print media is still making a big impact.
Print Ads Stick
Studies have shown that potential customers can recall up to 65% of the visual content they encounter three days later. So what makes print ads more memorable than digital? According to Scientific American “Compared with paper, screens may also drain more of our mental resources while we are reading and make it a little harder to remember what we read when we are done.” Digital ads fight for attention and require dozens of views to retain the advertiser's message. While digital ads can feel like a distraction, with print media consumers are choosing to engage.
Print Ads will reach the customer you didn’t consider
In a world of highly curated content pinpointing the exact right consumer, print advertising is reaching the potential customer you haven’t considered. With more households becoming multi-generational, sending a single publication to a home may be reaching across several age ranges. And though print media is most often associated with the Boomer generation, there is a resurgence of consuming print media among millennials who make up nearly 50% of the workforce and hold a lot of spending power.
Consumers trust Print Media
Consumers trust print ads when purchasing more than any other form of advertising.
While online, potential customers have learned to ignore, avoid, and outright block digital advertising. With print media, the consumer feels more in control of their experience, safe from potential scams and data phishing. Ultimately, customers are more familiar with print media and tend to see print ads as more trustworthy.
Interested in learning more about how print advertising can work for you? Local Fare has been delivered into the mailboxes of 70,000+ homes per month for over a decade. Let us create compelling content, with custom photography, and graphic design unique to your business needs.
The Marketing Triangle: Small Business Advertising That WORKS
When we talk to local businesses about their advertising strategies, more often than not we hear the same answer — Facebook boosted posts.
What many people don’t know is that with the new restrictions on Facebook and collecting user data, it is almost impossible for a small business owner to target their ideal customer through boosted posts. In addition, almost every business now is on Facebook, so that marketing strategy alone isn’t enough to make your business stand out from the crowd!
In order to be a real competitor in today’s market, your business needs to reach your ideal audience through more than one medium. And if you want to not only be competitive but to dominate the competition, we recommend utilizing our three-pronged approach through The Marketing Triangle.
1. Social Media
Using carefully curated demographic data and working through the backend of Facebook/Instagram to serve social media ads (not ineffective boosted posts!) that pinpointed your target customer
2. Traditional Media
Creating and presenting your print ads in Local Fare Magazine to our deeply loyal direct mail audience of 70,000+ homes to create an awareness for your brand that can only come from this traditional source.
Did you know one of the best drivers for social media search is traditional media? Traditional media is the dominating force in the marketing world — sending more potential clients to your website and digital/social presence than any other method!
3. Digital Media
Leaving your digital footprint through targeted programmatic ads that are sent to a specific type of customer in a specific context or location. This type of marketing leverages the power of the right message, to the right person, at the right time.
Is your marketing plan ready for 2022? We can help!
Where…Your Business Gets Noticed.
In August and September, we listened to Chattanoogans who wanted resources for their children after the COVID-slide in Where…Education Matters. Now with the holidays fast approaching, we’re ready to offer the community what they’re looking for this upcoming season!
We’re excited to announce that our theme for the November and December wrap is Where…Locals Shop and Play, and we’ll be highlighting businesses like yours in this valuable resource guide for our community.
The themes for the wrap will continue to change based on the needs in our community, but some of the themes we’re looking at for the future are: Where…Health Matters, Where…Home Matters and more!
Where…Your Success Matters.
Our new wrap product is the only one of its kind in Chattanooga — and that’s not the only way it’s unique. This is Where…:
- You can get your business out there to 70,000 homes via direct mail in a new, exciting way!
- You can be seen at the right place at the right time with no long-term agreements
- You can advertise with like-minded businesses at a fraction of the cost!
- You can work with a group of creatives who truly care about your success