Marketing for Print Companies

Here we’re sharing the most important aspects of marketing for print companies and the most critical channels to market your print business through.

You have to be online if you want to reach existing customers and new print prospects. It must be done or you will fall significantly behind in the market.

Getting found in the search engines is a critical piece of your marketing strategy because it’s the first place print buyers go when seeking new print options.

Marketing your print business on social media effectively connects you with prospects and existing customers. It creates a voice for your brand.

Sending email out to existing customers and prospects is both affordable and effective. When done well it will increase print sales month over month.

Yes Google Ads is an important marketing channel for your print shop. Don’t let past results scare you. Doing it right will generate more revenue and profit.

Publishing content on your website in the form of blogs is the easiest way to get content into the search engines, in email and onto social media.

Every marketer’s dream is to develop the branding for the print company they work for. Yes you need it. Yes it matters. This is what will make you stand out from the competition.

Yes, you need a strategy to market your print business. It can be simple or it can be comprehensive, but without one you’ll be flying blind & without direction.

The unfortunate truth is that the majority of print companies don’t actually market their print businesses. Therein lies the problem that is plaguing the industry as a whole. But the fact that you’re here, reading that article, means that you’re planning to change everything and be the leader who steps up for your business and achieves the visibility and results your company expects and needs!

When deciding on how to market your print business it’s really less about the tactics and more about the strategy of what type of companies you are trying to attract and how you are positioning your print shop to those companies.

One of the most important factors in a marketing strategy for print companies is defining who your customer is. There are a lot of factors that can be considered here such as what you are trying to sell, what industry you are targeting, and how you are positioning yourself as a business. You could be targeting owners of small businesses, marketing decision makers, directors at non-profits, sales leaders at dealerships, big agency directors and the list goes on.

The decision on who you are targeting is largely directed by what type of print company you want to be. It has to do with your brand, your solutions and your price point. There is no right answer here and regardless of what the online publications say, you get to create and shape the type of print business you want to be.

Not only print companies target specific industries, but many will focus on several, niche into working with a single industry or many printers target a lot of different industries. Regardless of how many industries you target it’s a good idea to identify the ones you will go after so that you can pair them with your target audience and personas for better messaging which will relate to that print buyer’s needs. This in turn will create better brand engagement and increase your sales.

Some of the Most Commonly Targeted Industries by Printers Are…

Another major component to how you will market your print business is what print products, print services and print solutions you’ll share with your audience. This one may sound weird to you, but will be a very familiar topic for others. The reason that this is important is some print companies will choose to focus on promoting individual products such as banners, brochures or direct mail and services such as binding, mailing or installation. But other print companies will solely market print solutions that are a combination of printed products, print services and in many cases specific to industries or use cases. These collections of services are typically priced at a premium to generate higher margin for the print company. But the truth is selling print products is easier than print solutions.

Again there is no right answer here, but you 100% must decide on how you are going to promote your print company and what “things” you’ll be sharing with your target audience.

There are so many avenues a print company can take when sharing their business, it’s service, products and solutions. But some marketing assets are better than others, so we put together a list of the most effective tips on marketing your print business.

1. Print Galleries
Showcasing an image gallery of printed work that you’ve done or work that represents what you can do is a simple and powerful way to get the creative attention of customers and prospects.

2. Print Case Studies
Case studies of print work that you have done serves as social proof and acts as a trust factor when prospects are deciding to work with you over a competitor. These work, so if you can do them, do them!

3. Customer Testimonials
One of the most powerful market assets a print company can have is a customer testimonial. Customers that are willing to share their positive experiences publicly shows the strength of your quality and customer service.

4. Videos
Using video to showcase print work, customers, employees and more is another tool that prospects love to see. It’s easy to consume and many of the digital marketing platforms love promoting videos.

5. Employee Spotlights
Showing love for your employees online is a way to engage the human side of your business. It legitimizes your company, creates an emotional response and shows that you care for more than just the bottom line.

6. Sales
Running a sale is a tried and true way of generating more revenue. It of course comes at the cost of margin, but when done right you can easily find ways of making up for that sacrifice in add-on sales or future purchases.

7. Giveaways
Doing a giveaway can come in two forms. One, you can literally give something away using a contest and the other is giving away some number of printed products when a business makes a purchase. Either method works great!

8. Collaborations
This marketing tactic can be a fun one in that you can partner with other brands and work with them to promote to their audience and have you showcased as the print partner of choice.

9. Promote a Differentiator
Lastly it’s very wise to market some differentiating factor that sets your print business apart from the competition. This could be turnaround time, quality, service, niche industry, niche products, etc.

Again the most important thing you can do is actually market your print business, even if it’s just a little. The more you can do it, the better your results will be. If you can set aside the time to plan out all of the areas of marketing we list here for your print company, that’s a 100% guarantee you’ll lead in your market and grow your print shop significantly!

Also read our page on Advertising Your Print Company here.