As a business owner, it’s natural to look for cost savings within your business. One expensive feature of the office that may cause you to wonder whether you have a need for anymore is the humble printer. It feels as though printers should have died along with fax machines, but they haven’t - and there’s a good reason why.

Whilst digital marketing is on the rise, the printer is still an incredibly important aspect of the marketing mix. As we are all bombarded with digital messages day in, day out, savvy marketers are exploiting the decline in print marketing and getting themselves noticed with effective mail-out campaigns and flyers.

It might feel old fashioned but your business should have a printer, and here’s why…

Editing documents is easier

Editing an important document on the screen can often cause a headache and not to mention numerous mistakes as your eyes glaze over and slowly turn square. Printing out a document and editing/proof-reading with a physical copy is a much more effective process of noticing any errors and making notes for improvements.

It saves time and money

Relying solely on third-party printing companies can become challenging when you require documents and reports at short notice. While outsourcing high volumes of print-work in advance can be economical, for the day-to-day stuff it’s much easier to have a reliable printer in the office.

There’s plenty of fantastic deals for printer toner online, so it won’t break the bank either. Buying your toner in bulk is another way to save some money.

Sometimes we need a hard copy

It’s as simple as that. Electronic copies of documents are ideal for storing in the cloud and emailing to one another, but there comes a time when you simply require hard copies.

This is especially true for meetings, where it’s much more convenient to pass around a physical document than it is for everyone to bring up the file on an electronic device. Studies based on Kindles have also shown that we absorb information better when reading a physical book, and the same goes for your business documents.

It’s necessary for shipping documents

A printer is essential for in-house label printing, especially important if you regularly send out mail and packages. If you get rid of your office printer, you’ll then have to outsource this to a printing company which will create extra hassle and cost. A printer allows your employees flexibility and convenience, and the only thing you'll need to buy going forward will be printer cartridges.

Going paperless is sometimes unrealistic

While going paperless may seem like a good way to go, it is often much harder than it first appears. Environmental awareness is important for all businesses, and it’s about doing the best you can.

If your company requires physical documents and printing for marketing purposes, consider the ways you could reduce the volume of printing on a weekly basis. Going paperless is a steep mountain to climb, so instead of completely cutting your office printing, communicate to employees the importance of minimising waste. Every little helps.