Have a question?
Message sent Close

Email Marketing is one of the most significant opportunities for print companies today.

Why? There are 2 reasons.

First is that literally every research study shows that email marketing in the United States continues to be one of the most lucrative marketing activities for any business regardless of if their industry is print or not.

Second is that only 27% of printers are actively sending emails out to their contact list.

 

This means that if all you do for email marketing as a print shop is send out 1 email per month you’ll be doing more than almost ¾ of all print companies in the United States.

Sounds pretty doable to us.

 

There’s more…

Not only does marketing your print business through email get you more sales, it at the same time increases your brand awareness and recall so that even if someone isn’t ready to buy yet, once they are they will think of your company as the place to go for that printed product service.

 

In this breakdown of email marketing for print companies we’ll explore the 3 stages of marketing & sales that you can accomplish as well as best practices for making email work hard for your shop.

  • Email for Awareness
  • Email for Consideration
  • Email for Conversion / Sales

 

Email Marketing for Print Shops – Gaining Awareness

Most print companies that actually send out email usually view email marketing solely as relating to sales. However, building strong prospect and customer relationships using email is one of the best marketing strategies for both increasing sales performance and strengthening the position of a print business.

Let’s look at the primary ways to increase Brand Awareness for your print operation

 

1. Send Emails Often

This one is the most obvious, but sending out emails regularly ensures that your brand is in front of customers at a frequency that doesn’t allow them to forget you.

“How many emails should I send to my list each Month? Week? Day?”

Everyone has their own opinion on how many emails are enough or how many is too many, but a rule of thumb is to at least send 1 email out per month.

There is no universal research for this because every company is different, but in our experience the data shows that once per month works and once per week is optimal.

Sending more than 1 email per week can lead to the recipient feeling annoyed, marking the email as spam or unsubscribing.

But getting in front of your list each month, every other week or each week will guarantee that your brand and messages are seen as well as remembered.

2. Email Tone & Voice

Print Marketers love to focus on these areas of any piece of content. And while this specifically isn’t a major contributor to short or mid-term sales it does help to establish your brand through a familiar consistency. This makes it easier for prospects and customers to quickly associate that what they are reading is from you.

When it comes to all written communication for print companies this can be hard to do, so our recommendation is to simply focus on using certain terms, slogans, taglines or phrases often which make your content easily & quickly distinguishable from your competitors.

This way regardless of the overall tone or voice, people know it’s your brand.

 

3. Email Templates

This may seem like a strange point, but using a template for your emails works similarly to establish your brand like sharing a logo or tagline.

Customers are pattern seeking which makes this so powerful.

If your email template looks the same every time a recipient opens their inbox it immediately establishes a norm that they then expect to see and are more likely to act on that email because it is “safe” and familiar.

This is the same concept as you are employing when printing letterhead or stationary for your customers.

 

Ensure that the email template for your print shop includes:

  • Your Logo
  • A standard header (usually a combination of image and headline)
  • A standard layout
  • The same font / typeface
  • The same colors

 

 4. Personalization & Segmentation in Email

This one again is a no-brainer when we say that segmentation can work well across all stages of the buyer’s journey and for Brand Awareness it works just the same.

When sending email that is targeted to a specific industry for example, by ensuring that you send the email out to only the segment of your list that is present in that industry and the content of that email speaks directly to that industry then you establish a Brand norm which associates your print company as a leader of printed products and services for that specific industry.

And if you have the data, personalizing those emails go even further because the recipient views their connection to your brand as more of a relationship. You provide value by sharing with them the things you know that matter most to them.

 

Email Marketing for Printers – The Consideration Phase

When it comes to print, the consideration phase is the point at which print buyers know they need something printed or a print service provided. These customers & prospects are at the point of exploring what their options are to get the work completed.

This period of evaluation is critical because if you provide the buyer with the information they need to consider you an option then the next step is getting a quote and closing the sale.

 

How can you do this in email?

The simplest way to ensure you capture customers or prospects in the consideration phase is to include a focus on a product or service in your email content. It really is that simple.

By including details on products you print or services you provide it instantly sets you apart as an option for them to consider.

 

Including details such as…

  • Product & Service capabilities
  • Price ranges for the printed pieces or services
  • And examples

 

… are the easiest ways to ensure you are an option in the consideration mix.

All done through email.

 

Email Marketing for Print Businesses – Converting & Closing More Sales

Now we’re to the most important part of email marketing for printers, Closing More Sales and Increasing Revenue from your email.

 

In the world of digital marketing conversion can mean a number of things. Some marketers consider an email being opened a conversion, others say the click through from the email, other would argue the action taken post email click through is a conversion and finally some say only the sale counts.

Who’s right?

Technically they are all right, but what you’re focused on is getting that sale.

 

Take a look at a couple of these email statistics

  • Email is almost 40 times more effective than Facebook & Twitter combined in helping your print business acquire new customers – a study by McKinsey
  • 66% of print customers make a purchase as a result of a marketing email  – a study by the Digital Marketing Association

 

Those aren’t small numbers!

 

How Can You Get More Conversions from Print Focused Emails?

The simplest way to do this is with a strong “Call to Action”.

 

These CTAs need to be one of three things…

  1. Request for the print buyer to Call to get a quote
  2. Request for them to Submit their quote details online
  3. Share with them the opportunity to Learn more about your product or service (which needs to result in a call or submission for getting a quote)

 

In email you’ll want to use buttons to promote the CTA (Call to Action) and provide phone numbers prominently to induce more quotes via phone.

If your company commits to dedicating even a small amount of time to running your email marketing in the way we’ve described here then you are guaranteed to increase your awareness, get more print leads and close more print sales.