Open Forum

  • 1.  Marketing Campaign

    Posted 01-11-2018 06:14 PM
    We are reworking our collateral and "elevator pitch". We are have a disscusion about the service "marketing campaign". Many small business owners don't understand how to understand a printer doing marketing.
    So what should we call it?
    Cross Channel Marketing
    Personalize Campaigns
    MultiTouch Direct Mail
    Cross Media Marketing
    Marketing Service Provider
    Marketing Logistics

    What are your thoughts on the best way to convey in collateral or in an elevator?

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    Auburn Printers Inc.
    Auburn CA
    (530) 885-9674
    Attn:
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  • 2.  RE: Marketing Campaign

    Posted 01-12-2018 07:11 AM
    Hi Auburn,

    Ultimately, I believe we are all in the communications industry regardless of the media in use. While print is an essential part of the communication mix (many cloud/SaaS offerings neglect this), today's printers need to consider how integrating e-media can add value to the page, brochure, mailer, catalog, etc.. Not doing so is simply leaving money, and dare I say customer service, on the table. In fact, many printers have learned that connecting physical media to online media introduces opportunities for automating repeat print orders in addition to new, profitable value-add services. The use of "communications" today should signify knowledge of HTML as much as it does the use of inks, toner, or marks on paper.

    The term marketing for me is even broader in the sense it may entail communications or it may not. Agencies see themselves very much as marketers but many don't play on the communications deployment side. Rather they stand between the service provider and the client controlling creative direction and campaign strategy. In my humble opinion, this has been an area where more knowledgeable communication companies (namely print providers) could play a more active role and move their relationships further up the client value-chain. If this is where you are already or want to play, by all means "marketing" may be a good addition to your name choice.

    I digress... To your question of whether to introduce multi-channel, multi-touch, or cross-media is more of a reflection of the technologies in place. As we know, communications is in a constant state of evolution (thank goodness). In this regard I speak to communication providers every day who use one tool for print, another for email, another for web, another for web-to-print, social media, etc.. When used in combination, this could rightly be associated with the term "multi..." But as we know digital print and e-media entail data and it is only when the use of data allows for one communication medium to inform/influence another communication medium that the term "cross" takes on significance. Needless to say, anyone who has to work with CSV files, combining campaign data from more than one channel, list data, or sort, cleanse, and order for postal, etc., know this is highly inefficient, labor intensive job, often under-valued, and prone to errors of all kinds.

    Today, I council clients on the value of automation in order submission, processing, prepress, and production and this also applies to communications. When data is unified and creative can be deployed into any channel we are now in the realm of "omnichannel." In this context, data is unified and any client engagement can immediately inform/influence the very next communication regardless of the channel invoked whether physical or digital. This is also the new frontier (in our ongoing evolution) taking us from simple personalization to "individualized communications" where the ultimate goal being "relevance" to the recipient of your communications and marketing efforts.

    Hope this helps and let us know what name you decide on...





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    Burton Empey
    XMPie Marketing Manager
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