Should I do Marketing?

Credit: Bill Gillespie

I'm asked, often, about printers marketing themselves. Should we do it? How do we do it? What works? Is it worth the money?

YES! YES AND YES!

It's easy. You can spend whatever you want. Marketing doesn't have to break the bank. If you move forward, you'll separate yourself from most of your competitors. You’ll become interesting.

I was lucky. I happened to work with several companies that believed in marketing. They liked showing samples and were excited to tell their story.

Consequently, they grew. They attracted the market's best reps. They got noticed by brands we all admire. They turned on their machines and reduced pressure on price. Their marketing worked.

Marketing isn't complicated. Spend a minute with these questions and get started.

"What Makes You Special?" It isn't your equipment. It's the problems you solve. Get in touch with that answer and share value from the client's perspective.

"Who do you want as clients?" Who do you want to do more work with? Who do you want to work with that isn't a client already? What kind of company and work is the best fit for you? Who are they and where are they?

"How do you want to show your stuff?" Don't overthink this one. You solve problems for clients daily. Tell those stories in sample packs, social media blogs, direct mail, company events or a cool sales kit.

You work with creative people daily. Ask one for help. You'll be surprised how easy it is.

"What can I afford?" A better question is actually "can I afford to skip marketing." But the answer is, it doesn't have to be expensive.

The most effective piece in the photo below was the printed power point presentation. One of our reps asked, "should we print a copy of our presentation to leave behind." We were headed to Chicago to pitch a very cool and very diverse prospect.

We did and it took over our meeting. Folks at the table would read ahead, stop our presentation and ask questions about one page (client examples) or another. This digitally printed copy of our company presentation became a staple for every rep.

Reps, if your company doesn't want to market, do it yourself. One guy I know has what he calls the "Sample of the Month Club." He picks one piece his company did and sends a sample to a dozen or so prospects.

Their hand packed sleeve includes a sample and narrative sharing what makes the piece a success. He earns calls, monthly, from others that want to join the club. This guy sells a lot of printing…lots and lots of printing.

You also have social media. LinkedIn provides personal brochure space that you can use daily. Shoot a photo or video of a cool piece and tell the story. Show something being printed or embellished. You can even do abbreviated plant tours. This is a chance for you to invent and share your personal brand.

I won my first meeting with one of the world's largest entertainment brands thanks to a social media post. It was a photo of a comp. The piece I shared was still in production.

Marketing is easier than you think. "What is my story? Why do I matter? Who needs to know? Where are they? How do I want to show my stuff?"

You need to answer those questions anyway.

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with Printing Impressions. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Printing Impressions. Artificial Intelligence may have been used in part to create or edit this content.