Top 10 Marketing Tips for Printers

If you’re looking for ideas on how to market your printing business, read our top 10 tips below now.

• Let customers order online

For your customers convenience it’s a good idea to give them the option of how to order their prints i.e. over the phone, in person or online. An online ordering facility will increase the number of hours you can take orders and will make it quicker and easier for people to order what they need.

• Don’t try to compete on price with the big boys

There are thousands of printers online all desperately trying to compete with each other on price but often the quality and customer service from these companies is sadly lacking.

If you’re a small printing firm and can’t compete on price then you need to think of an angle to promote your business and offer your clients something they can’t get from these cheap companies.

• Have an online portfolio

As a printer your website is your shop window so you need to make sure you have an extensive and high quality portfolio to show prospective customers what you can do and encourage them to order.

• Send out your best examples

A good way to market your printing business is to allow people to order sample packs of your best work online. Sending these out for free will let people see the quality of your work close up.

• Offer additional services

As a printer there may be a number of additional services you can offer to your customers to give them a better experience and give you more profit.

For example if you print a lot of flyers for local businesses you could partner with a leaflet distribution company and take a cut of any work you can pass their way.

• Network online and offline

It’s important to remember that in general people buy from people, so networking online and offline with businesses and individuals in your local area can really boost your printing company’s profile.

• Get involved with high profile local projects

If there are any local festivals or events in your area that have a high profile you may be able to get great exposure for your printing business by offering to do the printing for flyers and posters at cost price in return for an advert in any marketing materials such as brochures.

• Use email marketing for promotions

As a printer you’ll probably have customer’s email addresses for sending them proofs, invoices etc so you can use this to your advantage by asking permission to send them promotional offers by email.

A good tip for email promotions is to give a deadline and make people want to act promptly. Something like “this offer is only valid for the next 7 days” will encourage a quick response.

• Build relationships with local businesses

Tailoring your printing business to the types of company in your local area can bring you a lot of work. For example you may want to focus on flyers for pubs and nightclubs or menus for takeaway outlets and strike a deal with business owners for ongoing orders.

• Promote your website on all your prints

You never know who might pick up one of your prints so it’s a good idea to put your web address on the flyers or takeaway menus you print so people can contact you.

Of course this shouldn’t be to the detriment of the client’s prints or infringe on their design, so it’s best to ask permission rather than just going ahead and doing it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 2nd, 2010 at 11:29 am and is filed under Industry Specific Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.