Almost exclusively, my clients are in the printing industry. When I ask a new client what makes his or her commercial print company special, I hear “Service” a lot. They say this with conviction. But there’s some bristling when I question them on what exactly they mean. I can’t help it; I hear it all the time.
The longer I’m in this business of helping printers market themselves, the more I return to the mantra “you have to see and be seen.”
The longer I’m in this business, the more I come back to one overarching principle: you have to see and be seen.
A print buyer is like any other business person. The sale isn’t direct anymore. The path to purchasing something is more complex.
With an email management provider distributing your e-newsletters, you get access to valuable reports.
Marketing for a printing company needs to go far beyond word of mouth and deeply into the world of multichannel marketing.
With the dissemination of the print sourcing function into multiple corporate departments, printers have to develop strategies.
Print customer testimonials are valuable. I sure hope most print reps actively ask for them. Maybe this post will convince the naysayers. Third-party recommendations are more persuasive than anything you could say about yourself. Think about how you feel about a press release that’s issued by the featured company or individual — of course it's a glowing review. That's the name of the PR game!
Your online image is crucial, and as time passes, it will become more important. It's easy to spot a printer's site that's been neglected. A few telltale signs pop up, like the following nine examples.
In marketing, most tend to “think big,” but it can be the small stuff that sets a printer apart.
Print customers evaluate printers by something intangible and quite impossible to quantify: the perceived value you provide them.
Some print customers will respond to direct mail pieces that introduce your company to them. And some print customers will not.
Margie Dana offers five tips for hosting a customer event.
I recently moderated a 60-minute conversation with three seasoned buying professionals during an online event.
Margie Dana explains that it could be beneficial for companies to hold workshops that offer attendees something of value.
