Sweeney argues it’s always best to start with current customers. “Understand their goals of the marketing campaigns they are conducting,” she says. “And not just the response rate goals, but what they are trying to do. For example, higher education clients want to increase enrollment in their honors programs or sports teams want to increase ticket sales. By working jointly on the end goal, a cross-media campaign can deliver amazing results.”

What’s Ahead?

What will be critical to success in the years ahead is learning how each new application that’s introduced can complement print, Cook says. “We’ve heard for years and years print is done. But we keep finding over and over that print is the foundation for many of these cross-media applications.”

Adds Cross: “I think [cross-media marketing] is going to grow, and I think print is going to continue to be a strong player in the mix.”