Ready to win at printing?

The printing industry is very competitive. We’ve had the pleasure to work with several printers for the last 20 years and have discovered some of the industry's best kept secrets that allow them to continually win at printing. We found five common traits within our most successful printing partners.

Be accountable.

Almost every quality printer I’ve worked with is accountable in the fact that when something goes wrong, they will provide compensation either financially or in the form of a make-good. But being accountable needs to be more than that. Make sure the marketing you provide has a window into the campaign showing what’s working and what is not. By making your campaigns transparent, you’ll open yourself up to seeing campaigns that don’t work, which could be an issue, unless you’re prepared to offer a solution with it. Marketing campaigns fail every day. When a campaign doesn’t work, it has to be approached as a learning experience, something to grow from. If you’re proactive about the results of the campaign, your clients will see you as an ally that has their best interest in mind.

Make it personal.

Many printers are going digital today because of all of the custom capabilities and the benefits of one-to-one marketing. The web press is becoming a dinosaur in the industry. The bottom line is that everything is trackable now, so discovering an ROI makes selling direct mail a little easier. It’s more effective and becoming less expensive to print. Creating the personal experience for the end user creates a 63% better conversion rate (evergage). In order to produce better results for your client, you need to be able to offer and understand the best ways to execute personalization.

You can’t be everything to everyone.

Find a niche, specifically in an industry that spends a lot of money on marketing. Direct mail is making a huge comeback, but postage rates are still keeping small businesses out of the fold. Your niche needs to be more than working inside a specific industry like furniture or automotive. Your best opportunity to win at printing is to print something nobody else offers.  A new format, a new technique, something that will stand out in that industry. Think outside the mailbox and find a niche that will make some noise. You know what you're good at, so be sure to exploit it and have fun with it.

Get off the bench.

Many printers today are just that...printers. They take on little involvement in the creative process or marketing strategy so they won’t be held accountable if something doesn’t work. You’ve become a simple commodity in the whole experience, and unless you print a format that nobody else offers, you leave yourself the chance of being expendable. So, quit being a spectator and get in the game. Find out the goals of the marketing campaign and see where you can provide solutions to help reach them. Become part of the solution and you become a valuable asset and trusted partner.

Expand your marketing possibilities.

According to Invesp, 95% of marketers know they should be implementing a multichannel campaign, but only 73% are doing it. If you already have a printing relationship with your client, opening the options to expand the marketing beyond print allows you to generate more revenue and build a stronger bond with your client. You have earned the relationship, why give that business away? There are tools out there that can easily integrate with direct mail and add emails, SMS, Facebook, etc to your existing campaign. Bulk up your marketing offering, and you’ve changed the scope of your business. You've also created the opportunity to grow an additional revenue stream. Give yourself a better chance to win at printing.

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