Discussion

By Patrick Whelan on Sep 23, 2009

I agree that websites are a critical marketing component with strong branding implications. Perhaps more important is an effective outbound/push marketing strategy. Having a client engagement strategy is one of the best ways to generate and protect revenues. Meaningful, repetitive communications (print and/or email newsletters, postcards, etc) have a strong impact on your branding and relationship building efforts and the resulting top of mind awareness puts printers at an advantage when it comes to capturing business from printers who are no longer in business. Think of the millions of dollars of print business now available with the bankruptcy of Tanaseybert.

Sure I'm passionate about this. My company has been providing printers with inexpensive, customizable and turn-key newsletter programs for years. Check out the testimonials page (and I've got lots more to post). Client engagement helps grow and protect revenues.

By Laine Mitchell on Sep 23, 2009

A printer without a website might as well be a printer without a phone. A web presence is no longer optional; it is required. With the web just like a front-office image is everything. A huge mistake I see all the time is a very boring, old looking website with an equipment list. Customers don't know or care whether you have a bunch of technical sounding german equipment. Image is everything and appearing to be at the bleeding edge (even if you aren't) is going to drive people to you much more so than the ho-hum web equivalent of a listing in the yellow pages.

By Eddy Hagen (VIGC) on Sep 23, 2009

At VIGC (The Flemish Innovation Center for Graphic Communication) we've done a small analysis on printers and their websites, already 3 years in a row. We took the list of the 100 largest printing companies in Belgium and checked whether they had a site and some properties of the site. At the end of 2006 more than 20 of them didn't have any presence on the internet... At the end of 2008 it was a bit better: 'only' 12 didn't have a website. 12 of the 100 biggest printing companies in my country...

How will new customers find those companies when they don't have a website? Most people (including print buyers I assume) go on the internet when they are looking for something. It is the easiest, the fastest way to find something.

Also an interesting fact that we found: some printing companies had 'web-to-print' listed in the offerings on their site, but no link to the actual web-to-print service... Which is kind of odd.

Many (printing) companies think that websites are expensive. Well, they don't have to be. I have a personal website, including my own domain name (www.delichtdichter.be), with 3 GB of space, daily backups, unlimited mailboxes, ... for about 30 EUR/year. Ok, the design of my site is limited (actually, it is using the standard blog software and templates of my provider). But with tools that are available (like Bernice showed us), it is feasible to create an online presence for a modest budget (if you can live with a modest site, which is probably a good start).

A website is the easiest way to reach out to the rest of the world. Every business needs one.

Eddy
VIGC

By MichaelJ on Sep 24, 2009

I think Patrick has it just right when he says

"Having a client engagement strategy is one of the best ways to generate and protect revenues.

A customer retention strategy makes much more sense than focusing on customer acquisiton. In that light I think there are two statements that really stand out(2me)

"your website is the most important marketing tool you have."

Nope. Your people are the most important marketing tool you have. Word of mouth is everything. The purpose of a website is to enable commerce, not as a "branding" device.

No doubt, most printers should have one. But nobody "trusts" a website. Trust, which is basis of a brand is built or destroyed by ever interaction. If I were still in the game, I would advise a printer to get any of their designer customers to do the simplest design that gets the job done, then use a website that is simple and easy to update. No flash, no music, no bs.

and
"Most people (including print buyers I assume) go on the internet when they are looking for something. It is the easiest, the fastest way to find something."

Nope. Most people ask the people they trust to point them to a printer they trust.

By Stan Dupuy on Sep 24, 2009

As every day goes by, “NOT” having a “real and effective marketing and ecommerce web site” for your printing company is only making it easier for all of your competitors to advance their competitive positions relative to living and doing business in our internet enabled world where “Internet Print Sales” is expected to grow at double digit numbers for years to come.

If your web site’s look and functionality aren’t up to par with what is possible and what’s happening today – Online Ordering, Web to Print, Instant Quotes and more – you are missing a huge opportunity.

I agree that the purpose of a website should be to “enable commerce” as MichaelJ said in his post. My customers have thousands of “real printing orders” coming through their web sites every month.

I like the way a friend of mine put it…“I don’t think this internet thing is going away!”

By Lisa Bickford on Sep 25, 2009

Short and sweet: A company without a website is is indeed like a company without a phone. A basic one is fine, one that "brands" you and matches all of your other literature (hand-outs, leave-behinds, direct mail, blogs, e-newsletter, twitter, etc.) is better. We have spent a year creating one of the stongest marketing campaigns that I have seen at any of the print shops I have ever worked at.

Is it paying off? Absolutely. It is no exaggeration to say that we are getting a new client a week, and we are not highly SEO'd. Sales are still down 20% overall YTD, but we have heard local stats that most are down 35-40%. There are shops closing, merging and restructuring all around us, and we are standing strong and are having a great Sept with no appearance of a slow-down coming soon...but who knows?

The clients we are getting through our marketing efforts are good, solid, but often small accounts. We think in order to land a few "whales", we need to use old fashioned, get-in-front-of-buyers relationship selling.

That's our story - would love to hear others.

Will check out the Hubspot link...

By Michael J on Sep 25, 2009

Stan,
I took the click on your name. Very nice. I'm trying to make the distinction between a "branding" website and a "commerce" website.

The problem I see is that "getting a great marketing website" is a needlessly daunting task. With services like yours it should be easy and i assume affordable.

I think Lisa has it just right when she says,

"A basic one is fine, one that “brands” you and matches all of your other literature (hand-outs, leave-behinds, direct mail, blogs, e-newsletter, twitter, etc.) is better."

At the end of the day,from the point of view of sales, the web is a telephone and a retail counter on steroids. You have to have it. But as long as it's good enough, better to focus more energy on more productive activities.

By M.Ibrahim on Sep 27, 2009

Website is your image and the perfict tools for positive empressions creaters, its the first seling step in the sales cycle,
(seling your selfe before seling your products)
convensing clients of your ability to serve,ability to add value and ability to provid more binifets.

By Kevin Trye on Sep 28, 2009

Most of these comments have merit, especially the comment that "most people ask the people they trust to point them to a printer they trust".

The difference today is that people are now making friends and recommendations 'online' and those printers that have a superior website and smart online tools are better placed to take orders. When done well, online printers will have lower costs too, since good online systems definately lower sales and admin overheads. e.g. Vistaprint, Moo.com, PrintingForLess, etc.

By Larry Bauer on Sep 28, 2009

While I fully support the value of a website, my 35 years of helping printers of all sizes market themselves continues to point to the importance of not falling in love with any one medium. Rather than "starting with websites," I would recommend "starting with a marketing plan." Then I would add, "Let's not start at all unles you're committed for the long term." Today more than ever success depends upon a combination of media that reach customers when, where and in the format they prefer. Marketers - printers or otherwise - don't own the relationship, customers do. You simply must learn to communicate effectively through multiple media and over an extended period of time.

By Michael J on Sep 29, 2009

Larry,

For whatever it's worth. Exactly!

By Wayne Peterson on Sep 29, 2009

I, too, would echo and agree with Larry. I'd add only one caveat: a marketing plan needs to begin with a very succinct and clear positioning statement. That's essential because it comes before a marketing message is crafted. And the message needs to determine the media. (No, Marshall McLuhan didn't have it right when he claimed "the medium is the message.")

A positioning statement is the distillation of any marketing strategy. It makes clear what value is going to be created in what way and for what categories of customers. And that kind of clarity is absolutely vital. It becomes the standard of reference against which strategic, tactical and even logistical decisions are evaluated. A strong and clear positioning statement can keep a company from wandering around looking for the next "target of opportunity", which is "ready, fire, aim."

A strategy of "be everything to everyone we can" is incredibly common among printing industry companies. And that strategy doesn't really change when printing companies try to recategorize themselves as "marketing services providers." In essence, that's simply trying to be "more of everything to everyone we can."

A strong positioning statement that describes who the customers are supposed to be, what you're going to do for them and why they are going to find it valuable over the long haul provides focus by answering the essential questions. Researching it, drafting it, and achieving agreement and buy-in for it are the tough parts. But once it is done, crafting a great marketing plan (including a branding and marketing communications plan) becomes genuinely possible. The rest is nuts and bolts, blocking and tackling.

By Michael J on Sep 29, 2009

Wayne,
Your post is spot on. But I have to disagree that McCluhan was wrong. I think he was deeply correct.

Here's what I'm trying to point to.

To your very good points about a positioning statement. My rule of thumb is that if you can't say it in 140 characters, you still don't have it right.

As to the medium is the message. I think there are only two mass mediums, TV and Print.

The nature of print is that it is a logical medium that has a very long tail, in the sense that it sits quietly on the coffee table or doctors office. There are recent stats using QR codes that provide the evidence to support that contention.

TV on the other hand is a conversational medium that has a very short tail, unless Print extends it.

The internet? For transactions, search and blablabla. Nice but it's not a push medium. It's the ultimate pull medium.