By German Sacristan, Principal Analyst at Keypoint Intelligence

The print industry has never lacked for opinions about where the market is heading. What it often lacks is direct insight from the people making print buying decisions. That gap has persisted for years, but opinions and assumptions can only take you so far. The smartest organizations right now have figured out the same thing:

Stop assuming what customers want and start listening to what they’re actually telling you.

The communications landscape’s rapid evolution is nothing new to anyone managing customer journeys. What’s harder to keep up with is how it’s changing the print buyer, and whether your strategy is keeping pace.

Print Still Has a Seat at the Table

Even as communications strategies become more digitally driven, print remains important to the marketing mix. Keypoint Intelligence’s Print Buyers Research Study found that 82% of marketing communications respondents call print important or extremely important to their promotional activities.

Figure 1: Importance of print in marketing and promotional activities

Source: Keypoint Intelligence 2026 Print Buyers Research Study

Even as communication strategies become more digitally driven, print remains an important part of the marketing mix. A marketer’s decision is rarely as simple as “print versus digital.” Consumers today encounter a brand across many integrated touch points, so marketers need evidence-based insight into where print fits best within that broader mix.

Figure 2: Print buyers continue to see print as a strategic communications tool, particularly for personalization, digital integration, and brand experience.

Source: Keypoint Intelligence 2026 Print Buyers Research Study

For the supply chain, print’s value depends on how well it supports the broader campaign, including capturing attention, building brand, and driving purchases alongside digital channels.

Know Your Customer or Risk Losing Them

For PSPs and their suppliers, the stakes are just as high. Every product or service offering, sales strategy, and go-to-market decision comes down to understanding one thing: What matters most to the customer. When decisions are based on assumptions, you risk investing in products and capabilities that fail to resonate, or positioning solutions around yesterday’s challenges instead of tomorrow's needs.

Where the Print Buyers Research Study Comes In

You need a clear, evidence-based understanding of how print buyers evaluate technologies, where they plan to invest, what the expectations from suppliers are, and how priorities are shifting. Put that insight to work and you can anticipate customer needs, strengthen strategy, and grow with more confidence.

Turn Insight into Action

At Keypoint Intelligence, we don’t just collect data. Helping you understand what that data means and how to act on it is a better picture.

Want to know what your peers are doing with this intelligence to get ahead of changing print buying habits? Learn more here, or contact us to purchase the full report.

German Sacristan, our Principal Analyst of Production Printing, is always happy to chat. Touch base with him and he’ll let you know what the findings could mean for your business.