No, they don’t. Yes, they do.
This isn’t me being indecisive. It’s just the truth.
Some print customers will respond to direct mail pieces that introduce your company to them. And some print customers will not. That’s how it is.
In the December webinar I moderated here on Printing Impressions, I asked the three print buyer panelists what sorts of communications from printers get their attention.
Naturally, I asked about direct mail from printers. Love it? Read it? Dismiss it? One panelist says she really does not pay attention to stuff she gets in the mail, mostly because she doesn’t have the space to store it. She felt pretty strongly about this. But she’s a huge fan of email “touches.” (Hmm, very interesting.)
Another buyer made a Big Point, which is why I’m writing about this today: 95% of what she gets from printers is completely irrelevant. It’s like the senders have no clue what her company’s all about. Naturally, she tosses such collateral.
Printers, bid your dusty, old spray-and-pray marketing methods a fond farewell. You must step up your game with all your marketing methods — whether you use print, email, social, whatever. Make. Them. Relevant.
Your prospects are not cut from the same print buying cloth. While there are buyer behaviors and trends that I can identify with 100% confidence, print buyers are individuals with strong preferences about how they want to be approached, sold to, and serviced as print customers.
Put the effort into making sure your direct mail campaigns to prospective customers are relevant. Isn’t that why digital printing was invented?
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Long regarded as a print buyer expert and trade writer, Margie Dana launched a new business as a marketing communications strategist with a specialty in printing and print buying. She is as comfortable working in social media as she is in traditional media, and now she’s on a mission to help clients build customer communities through carefully crafted content. Dana was the producer of the annual Print & Media Conference.
Although she has exited the event business, Dana is still publishing her Print Tips newsletter each week. For more details and to sign up for her newsletter and marketing blog, visit www.margiedana.com