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TAPPING THE UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF PRINT

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TAPPING THE UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF PRINT

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Written by: Contributing Writers

When it comes to marketing, no channel reigns supreme. Every channel has its strengths and weaknesses, and part of creating relevance is capitalizing on the strengths of each one. For example, email is powerful for flash sales and quick updates, while print has a beauty, longevity, and stopping power that digital channels can't replicate. Here are some ways to capitalize on the strengths that are unique to print.

1. Tap the tactile experience. Integrate tactile media, such as textured surfaces or stocks to engage your audience and create a memorable experience more deeply.

2. Use the wonder of printed color. Digital color is beautiful, but nothing replicates the depth and richness of a beautifully printed piece. Take advantage of the vibrant nature of printed color to evoke emotion.

3. Add special effects such as coating, die-cuts, and embossing. All computer screens feel the same - smooth and flat. Print offers the opportunity to add physical, tactile embellishments that make your audience want to engage with it over and over again.

4. Go dimensional. Whether it's a piece that pops open into a dimensional shape or a lovely box containing a gift card, use the dimensionality of print to make people feel special. Dimensional mail is excellent for getting past gatekeepers in B2B marketing, too.

5. Include product samples, personalized booklets, and other incentives not possible in a digital world. The Global Ad Impressions Study from the Advertising Specialty Institute, for example, consistently finds that people are more likely to purchase from a company that gives them a promotional product, such as a branded bag or mug.

Every marketing channel has its unique benefits, and one does not replace the other. That's why it's essential to understand how to capitalize on the unique characteristics of direct mail, marketing collateral, and other print forms. Need to make people feel unique and valued? Nothing does the job like something they can touch and feel.

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Thomas Printworks offers specialized printing services. We are proud to be your screen printing specialists for the industrial, graphic, and textile sectors.

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Written by: Contributing Writers

There are many ways to engage your audience, raise your company's visibility, and define your brand in the marketplace. From drip marketing to event planning to strategic direct mail campaigns, you have many tools at your disposal. Regardless of which tools (or combination of tools), you use, here are five tips to keep in mind.

1. Plan your timing carefully.

Although you want to communicate with your audience frequently using the right channel mix, be strategic in your timing. Some companies bombard their audiences so that those audiences begin to tune them out. Pick your channels - and your moments - and make them count.

2. Don't complicate your message.

It's tempting to load up your communications with every bit of information right out of the gate. The risk, however, is that your audience will get overwhelmed and buy nothing at all. Keep it simple. Let your most compelling points come ringing through.

3. Don't go it alone.

Encourage the departments within your company to work together. Whether in marketing, sales, or customer service, break down the silos and lean into each other's experience. Bring in outside perspectives, as well. Ask objective experts. Do focus groups. By all means, ask your customers! Just because your message is clear to you doesn't mean it's clear to everyone else.

4. Remember the call to action (CTA).

Once recipients have read your communication, tell them what you want them to do. Call for more information? Buy a product? Sign up for a seminar? Without a CTA, the communication can get set aside for later, then be lost or forgotten and never acted upon. We mention it because the CTA gets overlooked more often than you think.

5. Don't rush.

When you've got a great idea, it's tempting to want to take it to market quickly. But take your time to get it right.

Before planning your next campaign, pick up the phone and call us. We can often offer suggestions on targeting, mailing formats, coatings, and other critical elements of a mailing that you might not have thought of.

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Thomas Printworks offers specialized printing services. We are proud to be your screen printing specialists for the industrial, graphic, and textile sectors.

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5-STEP CHECKLIST BEFORE REFRESHING YOUR MARKETING

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5-STEP CHECKLIST BEFORE REFRESHING YOUR MARKETING

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Written by: Karen McCleve

Mid-year is always a good time to re-evaluate your marketing strategy, especially when there has been a period of downtime. Whether you are using direct mail, email, mobile, or social media, here is a quick checklist to make sure that, as you look forward to the rest of the year, you are hitting all of the basics.

Make a plan.

What are your marketing objectives? They are likely somewhat different than they were at the beginning of the year, and that's okay. What are your goals now? Re-engage your audience? Recapture lapsed subscriptions? Build your e-commerce engine or delivery services? Have specific goals and apply numbers to those goals to help you measure success.

Target emotion.

How do you grab attention and get your audience to act? Now more than ever, people respond to how products make them feel rather than the details of what those products do. Insurance makes people feel secure. Freedom to travel makes people feel adventurous and independent. Developing personas rather than just demographic data can be a great investment.

Understand the journey.

Some sales happen quickly. Others are the result of a process that includes discovery and education before the decision is made. This is called the "sales journey." Take the time to understand what your customers' journey looks like. Also, take the time to understand the benefits of each communications channel. Where does print fit? Email? Social media? Video? Which channels work best to move your prospects from one stage of the sales journey to the next?

Market to the generation of "me."

This is the "me" generation, so tailor marketing content to your target audience. This can be done through personalized communications that match images, messages, and offers to individual recipients. Or it can be done through strategic targeting and segmentation.

Create a timetable.

When and how do you intend to deploy the components of your marketing strategy? Success depends not just on getting the right message in front of the right audience, but on getting the right message in front of your audience at the right time. Create a plan for what content to deploy, using which channel, and when.

Miss something on the checklist? Need help with implementation? Contact us. That's why we're here.

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Thomas Printworks offers specialized printing services. We are proud to be your screen printing specialists for the industrial, graphic, and textile sectors.

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Thomas Printworks offers specialized printing services. We are proud to be your screen printing specialists for the industrial, graphic, and textile sectors.

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Written by: Karen McCleve

Supply Chain this, Supply Chain that. Everything starts as raw materials and then through their own process becomes the finals goods, ready to go to the consumer. The idea of Supply Chain Management is overseeing and simplifying the process of products and services from start to finish and everything in between.

When it comes to Marketing Supply Chain Management, these are a few commonly asked questions:

Why do I need Marketing Supply Chain Management?

Simplify. Supply the idea, give us the info and then be hands off.

Consolidate. Don't worry about calling four different manufactures to arrange time lines and color schemes.

Control your brand. All of your marketing materials will be made by one company to ensure consistency.

Save time. With someone else managing everything else, how many fewer phone calls do you think you'll have to make?

Save money. With our facilities, you don't have to store left-overs.

How will using a MSCM program impact my end users?

(By end users, we mean your franchisee units or other locations)

Simplify. You'll have a branded website where every item available is pre-approved by you and you can set limits on how many can be ordered.

Reduce costs. Allow for brand consistency with flexibility for localization. Phone numbers and addresses can be changed quickly and easily in the portal.

Will MSCM save me money or cost more?

Save by up to 50% in cost for materials and fulfillment and save your marketing people's time by up to 25%. Let all of the hassle be done by us.

Which parts of my business can be managed in a MSCM program?

Everything Print (direct from the manufacturer - all from one source)

Marketing Collateral

Limited Time Offers/Seasonal Rollouts

Training materials

Environmental Graphics

Direct Mail

Promotional Products

Apparel/Uniforms

Digital Signage

Vehicle Graphics

Fulfillment

Does Marketing Supply Chain Management sound right for you? Don't wait on it; contact us and see if we're the right fit for you.

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Thomas Printworks offers specialized printing services. We are proud to be your screen printing specialists for the industrial, graphic, and textile sectors.

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Written by: Karen McCleve

Have you ever wondered how using multiple marketing channels impacts your results?

A recent study from Demand Metric / PFL gives some insights. In this study, "2019 Multichannel Marketing Report," which surveyed 579 marketers, researchers asked how many channels respondents were using and how happy they were with the results. The study found that two-thirds of study participants use between three and five channels for their campaigns. Fewer respondents use six or more channels, but those that do are getting better results.

How Many Channels Are You Using in Your Campaigns?

Next, researchers asked participants to rate the effectiveness of their efforts. Consistently, respondents using more channels reported getting better results:

7+ channels: 77% report good or very good response rates

4-6 channels: 69% report good or very good response rates

3 or fewer channels: 61% report good or very good response rates.

Adding channels boosts results! Which channels should marketers integrate? It depends on their marketing goals, budget, and available time and resources. But direct mail comes in very high as a component of these campaigns.

When asked which channels were the most effective at reaching their target audiences, 78% of respondents cited "integrated, branded, personalized direct mail" as being effective or very effective and 61% said traditional direct mail is effective or very effective. Not only this, but 80% of study participants report that direct mail directly improves multi-channel campaign performance.

When it comes to multi-channel marketing, there is no magic bullet, but there are some trends we can count on:

1) well crafted, integrated multi-channel campaigns get better results, especially when those campaigns include direct mail; and 2) all types of direct mail are powerful, but especially those that are branded and tightly integrated with the other channels being used.

What does a well-crafted, branded, integrated direct mail campaign look like? Let us show you.

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Thomas Printworks offers specialized printing services. We are proud to be your screen printing specialists for the industrial, graphic, and textile sectors.

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Written by: Karen McCleve

Just because you have a limited marketing budget doesn't mean you can't have big results. With the right strategy, you can maximize your investment, no matter how much you have to spend. Let's look at seven ways to do that.

Find and target your best audience.

You might think that the more people you reach, the better your sales, but that's not necessarily true. You'll make more money by finding 100 people who spend $250 each than 500 people who spend $50 each.

Get expert advice - upfront.

Involve us in the design of your printed and digital projects from the beginning. With print, in particular, we can recommend paper, ink, trim sizes, and layouts that save you money.

Be smart with your postage.

Postage rates are always rising, so don't mail less-mail smarter! Let us advise you on creating mail pieces that minimize your postage expense while maximizing your ROI.

Switch from letters to postcards.

Postcards can deliver key information at very low cost, with near certainty that your message will get seen. Ask us for assistance in creating low-cost postcards that meet USPS specifications for reduced postage.

Establish yourself as an expert.

When prospective clients need your product or service, you will have instant credibility if they have seen your name elsewhere in print. Create a newsletter or blog, write articles for magazines, newspapers and journals, or consider producing your own branded magazine.

Get out there.

Be visible in your local community. You might be surprised how many jobs you can win by being a featured speaker at a local event or networking at a trade show. Utilize online networking resources, such as LinkedIn.

Partner with non-competing businesses.

Identify companies that offer complementary goods and services, and create cooperative marketing collateral using a pool of shared dollars.

There are many cost-effective ways to maximize your marketing budget and get great results even from limited dollars. Just plan ahead and plan smart!

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Thomas Printworks offers specialized printing services. We are proud to be your screen printing specialists for the industrial, graphic, and textile sectors.

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Written by: Karen McCleve

We hear a lot about content marketing these days. Why is it so important? Content marketing builds customer trust, engagement, and loyalty - which are the foundations of long-term revenues and growth.

As you are starting or continuing to build your content, here are three things to pay attention to.

1. Be Consistent.

Content marketing is aimed at building customer trust, engagement and loyalty. However, it's difficult to build trust, engagement and loyalty to something that doesn't properly reflect the brand. Have a consistent schedule or revolve around the same topics.

Branding

All of your content should reflect consistent branding. Place someone in charge of managing your content strategy and set up guidelines for elements such as logos, brand colors, images, and fonts, styles, and sizes of text. Remember that all of your brand elements must work across multiple channels, including print, email, and mobile.

Scheduling

It's important to get into a rhythm. You will be rewarded for posting consistently not only by customers but by search engines ( Content Marketing Institute). Whether it's every week, every other week, or once a month. Consistency in your schedule will build that engagement and trust.

Topics

Be sure that the topics that are written about on your blog are consistent. What's the point of having a blog about dieting if you offer financial services? Maybe that's a bit dramatic of an example, but stop and think about your products and services and market. Then ask yourself, "What would my customers would be interested in?" Then go from there. Don't stray too far, even if your customers would be interested. It's important to be viewed as the master of one or a few topics, then to be the jack of all trades. You will be rewarded for your expertise.

2. Target Your Audience (Including Stages of Sales Funnel).

Who would benefit from your product and services? Who would be buying it? Have a detailed knowledge of who your audience is and where they spend their time. Target channels they frequent, and use strategies and language that connect with them on that level.

Not only can your customers be segmented into different target groups, but they are also at different stages along their buying journeys. For example, someone who needs your product but isn't yet aware of your brand isn't ready to skip right to product selection and pricing. Know where customers are along the journey and craft the right message to hit them at the right time.

3. Measure the Results.

How you incorporate content marketing into an overall marketing strategy will depend on what you want to achieve. Use metrics to further specific marketing goals, including:

Sales volume

Market share

Number of leads

Cost per lead

Length of sales cycle

Put numbers to these goals and time frames to achieve them.

Sound complicated? It doesn't have to be, and you don't need to go it alone. Contact us!

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Thomas Printworks offers specialized printing services. We are proud to be your screen printing specialists for the industrial, graphic, and textile sectors.

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GOT LEAVE-BEHINDS? HERE ARE THREE “MUST HAVES”

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GOT LEAVE-BEHINDS? HERE ARE THREE “MUST HAVES”

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Written by: Contributing Writers

When it comes to interactions, consumers hold power in their hands. They choose what content they want to see, when they want to see it, and what channels they want to engage with. That's why successful companies do more than simply build their brands. They motivate their customers to choose them-to choose to engage. How do you get your audience to say yes to your messaging when they could so easily say no?

1. Be authentic.

Consumers want their brands to be authentic, and they can sniff out inauthenticity a mile away. 86% of consumers say that authenticity is crucial when deciding what brands they like and support (Stackla). Be honest and transparent in your marketing. Use natural language. Be a brand your customers can relate to.

2. Be respectful.

Your audience is bombarded with marketing messages 24 hours a day, so don't be a pest. Respect their time and the boundaries they choose to set. This is one of the reasons people still love direct mail-it doesn't intrude in their space, and they decide when and where to engage with it. It's no wonder Gallup found that 41% of Americans look forward to receiving their mail every day. Make sure your marketing mix includes both digital and traditional mail.

3. Make things easy.

Consumers' lives are busy. They will respond to brands that know who they are and what they are most likely to buy. Ensure that the communications you send are relevant and that, when your customers make purchases, the process is as seamless as possible.

4. Get it right the first time.

Research from The Advertising Research Foundation shows that shoppers tune out after receiving a few dozen messages from the same company. So even though people love direct mail, don't bombard them with it. Be selective about what you send and when.

5. Go beyond demographics.

In targeting your messaging, go beyond demographics. Look more deeply at what motivates, interests, and is of the most value to your audience. There are multiple ways to get at this information, so create a plan for getting what you need.

Consumers are savvier than ever, so you have to be savvier, too. Let us help you create a plan for getting filtered in!

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Thomas Printworks offers specialized printing services. We are proud to be your screen printing specialists for the industrial, graphic, and textile sectors.

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UV COATING: THERE'S NOTHING ELSE LIKE IT

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UV COATING: THERE'S NOTHING ELSE LIKE IT

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Written by: Contributing Writers

Some print pieces stand out from all of the others. Maybe the color is more brilliant. Maybe the gloss has a shine that catches your eye. Or perhaps it's the reverse-the piece has a luxurious matte finish but with brilliant accents that you can't seem to look away from.

"Wow," you think. "There is something special about this piece. I wonder what it is?"

The answer is likely UV coating.

Whether you're looking for a high-impact shine or a more subtle effect, UV coating is a specialty finish cured instantly using ultraviolet light. It creates a brilliant finish that is precise enough to highlight even the fine details of images or text. UV coating is also highly resistant to scuffing and moisture and helps to protect the piece over time.

Whether UV is used to flood the piece or simply to provide highlights, you can't miss the effect. As soon as light hits the areas where the coating is applied, they dazzle.

If you're an automotive manufacturer, you might add UV spot coating over the entire body of a car to enhance its gloss and shine.

On a business card, you might use spot UV coating over the top of your logo to make it leap off the page.

If you're a nonprofit raising money for a clean water project, you might use spot UV over water droplets falling from the spigot on a newly drilled well. Your eye is immediately drawn to those droplets, which sparkle like shimmering rain.

Spot UV can be used on a wide range of stocks, but for maximum impact, try using it on matte-finished paper. Thicker weights are generally preferred. This will create the most remarkable contrast with the glossy coating.

Here's another benefit of spot UV: The process emits no VOCs, so it does not release toxic compounds into the air. This means it does not contribute to environmental pollution.

Need more reasons to love spot UV? Ask us for samples!

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Thomas Printworks offers specialized printing services. We are proud to be your screen printing specialists for the industrial, graphic, and textile sectors.

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WHY AREN'T BUSINESSES TAKING ADVANTAGE OF PERSONALIZATION?

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WHY AREN'T BUSINESSES TAKING ADVANTAGE OF PERSONALIZATION?

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Written by: Contributing Writers

We all know that personalization drives results, but what do consumers really want? And does personalization impact all consumers equally?

According to InfoTrends, consumers respond strongly to personalized mail. The research firm found that 84% of consumers say that personalization makes them "much more likely" or "somewhat more likely" to open mail. Yet businesses are not using this to their advantage. How do we know? Because these same consumers say they "rarely" or "infrequently" receive personalized mail.

This is truly a missed opportunity, especially among certain demographic groups. According to InfoTrends, personalization is more motivating to some consumers than others, particularly younger ones. For example, when asked whether personalization makes them more likely to open mail, here is how different groups responded:

Just over half of all consumers, regardless of age, say personalization makes them "slightly" more likely to open mail.

Among consumers aged 18-24, 35-49, and 50-65, the percentage saying personalization makes them "much more likely" to open mail is about 30%.

Among those aged 25-34, however, the percentage saying personalization makes them "much more likely" to open mail rises to 36%.

You might expect consumers to be inundated with personalized mail with these numbers, but research shows the opposite. Only 24% of consumers say they are "frequently" or "very frequently" receiving highly personalized direct mail. Forty-one percent say they only receive personalized pieces "once in a while." More than one-quarter (27%) say they receive personalized mail "rarely."

Fortunately, missed opportunities by competitors mean open doors for you. If you are already personalizing your mailings, keep it up! Invest in customer profiling. Build the depth of your database. Increase your level of precision. If you are not yet personalizing your mail, jump in. Get started before your competitors do.

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Thomas Printworks offers specialized printing services. We are proud to be your screen printing specialists for the industrial, graphic, and textile sectors.