Archive for Month: October 2011

Five Reasons to Use Print Catalogs

Are product catalogs out of date? Some marketers would argue that they are. They would suggest that the only catalog you should be using is an online catalog. US Postal Services prices for mailing catalogs are higher than ever, they say, while an online catalog remains low-cost and infinitely scalable. However, there are still good reasons to use a printed catalog. Here are five of them.

1. Your target audience is more likely to purchase from a printed catalog.

While it’s true that nearly everyone is online these days, even your granny, not everyone is comfortable yet with making many of their purchases online. Different businesses target different demographics; you should consider your “perfect customer” and research their shopping habits. You might find that some audiences – particularly senior citizens and the elderly – are still more likely to make purchases through mail-order print catalogs than through online catalogs.

2. You print a small quantity of catalogs just for visitors to your store.

 While color catalog printing on a mass scale for mail-out purposes can be extraordinarily expensive, this is certainly not the only use for a printed catalog. Another way to use a product catalog is to print a small run and keep them on-hand for customers who come in for more information to your retail store. This will minimize your expenses while still providing professional, high-quality catalogs for customers who would like them.

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The 5 Essentials of Postcard Marketing

Postcard marketing is just about the most cost effective form of direct advertising, for both on line and bricks and mortar businesses. However, it can easily turn into a failed project if the following essentials are ignored.

1- Understand your target market’s profile.

 Without understanding your target market you may end up wasting a lot of money, purchasing a mailing list that will simply not deliver any results. Depending on your target market, you should also consider the possibility of not buying a list but instead have the post office deliver to every address in particular zip codes, saving a lot of money in purchasing a list, addressing and sorting fees.

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Why Print – Part 4 of 5

Continued from previous post: Part 3 of 5 on Why Print

Print puts them in control.

Telemarketing is the crudest form of cold calling and, with the growth in do-not-call lists, its effectiveness has sunk to an all-time low. In fact, a Time magazine poll ranked telemarketing number four on the list of the worst ideas of the 20th century. Today, it has gotten to the point that many companies stay away from the phone because they don’t want their reputations damaged by overeager telemarketers.

But what happens when we add print to the equation? Send prospects a personalized mailing that introduces the caller and lets them tell you the best time to call. Now you’re putting the potential customer in control of the situation. There are no more interruptions at dinner. There is only a positive flow of information between the marketer and the consumer. The bond starts to get stronger, the relationship grows, and the sale becomes a natural progression of the power of print rather than a rude intrusion.  Continue Reading…

Market Your Printing Services or Die

You are the master of your own destiny.

Cliché, while (by definition) often overused, are educational. A favorite of mine is that old adage: “There’s never money to advertise until it’s time to advertise Going out of Business.” Printers, no matter how much we want to believe it to be otherwise, are not immune to this business reality. Often we figure the costs associated with producing our products – even the overhead expenses (what a concept!) – but we fail to consider that funds are necessary to promote our printing business so that there will be business tomorrow.

It’s a fact of business life that there are more printing companies than just about any other kind of business; promotional budgets are not only nice to have but essential.

In the marketplace, consumers pigeonhole their vendors. That is to say, customers have a preconceived notion about what the printing company is capable of doing and more importantly how much their products and services are worth. Like it or not, a company’s success depends on which “hole” they are placed in. Customers make their judgment regarding a particular vendor largely based on the information the vendor provides. So, while the customer does the categorization, the supplier (in our case the printer) provides the input by which the customer makes his or her decision.

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