Avid readers of the Printing Outlook 2020 likely noticed that whatever plans were in place at the start of the year need to be revisited. In fact, they may need to be revisited monthly as we move through the second half of the year and into 2021. The way the organizations we serve do business is changing. Their print needs are changing and their online/app-based communications are changing. For many, sales are down, sometimes by as much as 90%, while for others part or all of the business is growing with existing and new products for their clients. Even if you have business today, the imperative is to keep an eye on your sales workflow to spot trends, good or bad, so that you can make fine course corrections incrementally. This is also the time to look at your marketing and its workflow. It may also need adjustment.

When times get tough marketing often disappears from the radar. For companies that haven’t integrated a marketing workflow into their sales and marketing schema, it can be especially difficult to maintain a marketing presence. For companies that have not been marketing their services, the challenge of remaining visible in a chaotic market is even harder.

Like most business processes, marketing benefits from a workflow. It allows you to identify the touchpoints within the organization as well as external touchpoints. It creates a platform to define marketing needs, identify programs to meet those needs, and to make adjustments when needed. The great thing about a marketing workflow is that you don’t need to buy special tools because this set of processes should be coupled to the sales and business processes you are already managing.