I Print: January 2012

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Give Me Your Top 4...

While making TONS of prospecting calls over the past three weeks to help grow my business in 2012, I'm asking a pretty loaded question. Before I ask this question to prospects, I had to make sure I was ready to provide answers. After all, my credibility as a solutions partner is on the line here. The question I'm asking is this, "What's your top four marketing challenges you face in your company right now?"

Curious to know what others are saying? Keep reading...

The challenges I'm hearing that most marketers are facing are some with which BPI Media Group can certainly help. And as always, we are glad to help because "Our success is measured by the success of our customers." -Alan Davis, President of BPI Media Group.

Challenge #1: How to produce all the necessary materials on a reduced marketing budget.

BPI solution: With BPI's digital printing technology, you can take advantage of reduced costs by lowered print quantities thus resulting in less waste (hooray for the environment too!). Other advantages of digital printing include: fast turn-around times, no minimum quantity orders, incorporation of variable data or personalization and in-line addressing (our digital press allows us to address/barcode each piece as it's being printed). We can also assist with mailing database clean up to help reduce your postage costs.

Challenge #2: How to manage collateral materials and manage corporate branding.

BPI solution: With BPI's storefront solution, we can not only help protect your branding, but we can also help manage your print quantities, orders and inventory levels. Other benefits of using an online storefront include:

Improve the effectiveness of your sales materials via localization or personalization
Automated email alerts to confirm order placement and shipping
Enhanced Reporting (can be downloaded as a csv based on parameters you enter)
Confirm and track orders
Query order activity by year, month, or date
Online approval system for management control of product
Minimize - or eliminate - storage and waste cost

Challenge #3: How do I increase traffic to my website and boost SEO?

BPI solution: BPI's website specialist, Brandon Rome, can help with your site's look, functionality and work behind the scenes to improve your SEO. We're working with a client who, just this week, realized their web traffic is far less than what it should be, and their site is not coming up on key word searches as one might expect. Our fix: using Google analytics, set up key word searches and tie in with social media to circulate traffic back to the site, blog and e-commerce site. Read more ways BPI can help enhance your website here.

Challenge #4: How to be more efficient with proofing (it takes up too much of the production time which is a narrow timeline anyway)

BPI solution: Using Kodak Insite proofing technology, proofing doesn't have to take days. Instead, it can take minutes. Our customers are raving about how quickly they're able to upload, review and approve files for a project that would take hours to upload and a few days to review a hard-copy proof. The speed with which you can review and approve a proof is amazing. Once files are approved in Insite, the hard-copy proof is output for inplant use even if the client doesn't need to see it. Other benefits of Insite: approval levels (some users can have permission to review only while others have permission to actually give approval), upload only pages that have changes and approve them on the fly, and the detailed pre-flight report flagging any potential problems with files before it goes into production. Read more about BPI's Insite proofing system here.

As I learn more about challenges other marketers are facing, I will keep an updated list here, so we can all continue to learn from one another. It is a bit scary to ask a question like this, but I am confident that BPI has the "tools in our toolbox" to help marketers like you!

Until next time...Elizabeth

I'm new to twitter, so please check it out & follow along if you'd like. BPI Media Group on Facebook

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Keep Your Eye on the Prize

What exactly is the prize? The customer or prospect to gain, retain, persuade or thank, that's who is the prize. We each have these prizes in our scopes on a daily basis (I know I sure do!), so how do you keep the focus on them and market to them in the way that will be most rewarding? We at BPI Media Group have a few tips on how to stay focused on the customer and learn which channels they use and which ones are used for various things.

So, you know your customers are on facebook, twitter, shop online and have email accounts and mailboxes. How do you know which messages or offers to send through which channels? Here's a short list of 5 ways to help with this marketer's pain point and keep your eyes on the prize(s) of customers and making them happy and engaged customers.

1. Do your homework. You've got to research to find out who is your target or idea customer. You can do this by creating a customer profile and then break that down into segments. Doing so provides valuable insight into how to reach them and what types of messages and offers work best for each segment. For example, when I'm calling on prospective customers, I break them into vertical markets (manufacturers, education, banking, service, etc). This helps me know what has worked well in the past for reaching out to customers who are in these vertical markets. BPI's data mining services can be a real asset in lead generation and conversion once you've identified your ideal customer.

2. Customize your strategy. Of course you wouldn't want to send out mass mailers to all customers and hope for the best, so you come up with a marketing strategy that involves several channels using the channel for each message and prospect that seems best based on your homework. Carefully consider which channel is best for the segments of prospects and which digital printing method would best fit. Segmentation and personalizing your messages are key to keep the communication strong with your customers and prospects. Click here for some of the benefits of personalized print and how relevant and engaging messaging can help boost your ROI.

3. Break the mold. Don't just do what's comfortable and what has always been done. Sometimes it is a good thing to change up your messaging as well as the channels in which they are delivered. When you review your customers buying patterns, you'll most likely be able to tie the actions to some sort of message or offer. When did mail work best? Email? Social media? Landing pages? By reviewing customer history, you learn more than just how many orders were placed in a time frame, this info can serve as a valuable tool in planning your marketing.

4. Shhh...and Listen to the data. Were the responses to your messaging and channels in which they were delivered well received, opened, responded to? If the answer is yes, then do more of the same to that segment; if the answer is no, are there similar segments who responded better to direct mail or email messaging? With BPI's integrated marketing campaigns, you can alter your messaging on the fly. Need to change the art because it's just not working? No problem. Need to add an email blast to accompany the direct mailer? No problem. That's one of the biggest benefits of digital printing with BPI.

5. Measure! This last step is just as crucial as any of the previous four steps, if not even more so. By tracking what works, you can keep up with the evolving way your messages need to go out and to whom. Since there's no one sure-fire way to reach ALL customers and prospects, we have to mix it up and measure what works best and alter the plan from time to time. Tracking the ROI for each campaign and its channels are key in knowing not only how, but when to deliver your messages and offers. BPI's online dashboard even has a built-in ROI calculator. I'd be glad to show you how this works!

Using these steps can help in creating your content, timing, frequency, channel, etc. of your marketing messages. Please give me a call or leave a message here if you would like to know more about how BPI Media Group can help utilize our solutions to yield a better ROI for your company. To read more on 5 Ways to Focus on the Customer, click here.

Until next time...Elizabeth

I'm new to twitter, so please check it out & follow along if you'd like. BPI Media Group on Facebook

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Leads, Leads, Leads...Quality Over Quantity

One of the biggest "issues" I hear about from marketers is regarding lead generation. One of the biggest "issues" I hear about from fellow sales people is regarding lead generation.

Here are some great tips for helping both sales AND marketing increase lead quality. Yes, quality; not quantity. Read on to learn more and ways BPI Media Group's various solutions can help along the way of helping to find leads, reach out to them, lure them in and communicate with them 1:1.

1. Agree. When sales and marketing agree upon what is meant by a lead (and a qualified lead at that), then you're well on your way to a happier team and the potential for more revenue for your company. (For more reading on sales and marketing alignment, click here.) Once you identify the demographic(s) of who an "ideal" lead might be, then you're well on your way to this agreement. BPI's data mining solution can definitely help you in identifying the categories of folks who are your best buyers, potential buyers and rule out those who just plain aren't interested. Read more.

2. Dig Deeper. Once you've agreed upon and identified what constitutes a qualified lead or an ideal customer/prospect, you'll gain an understanding of the demographic profile of this group, subgroup, etc. This provides you with a benchmark by which you can score and measure other potential leads. Data mining can also be highly beneficial in this area as well. You can monitor your leads and new customers to see how trends in the demographics may change and restructure your marketing message accordingly.

3. Observe and Record. Once you've launched a campaign to your qualified prospects, you'll need to closely monitor the behavior of these leads to see exactly to what they're responding. Was it an email for this segment? Was it a coupon for this segment? Was it direct mail for this segment or maybe even a QR code? This will help you better market to these types of prospects on future or ongoing campaigns. For more details about executing these types of campaigns, drop me a note, and I'd love to discuss in depth to create a plan that's right for you, your sales team and your prospects.

4. Track. While you're nurturing your lead with campaigns, collateral and possibly even calls from your sales team, don't forget the importance of tracking the results. BPI's only dashboard is beyond perfect for this. If you do an integrated campaign (combine print and web), you'll have access to your own dashboard for every campaign where you have record of your prospects' activities and can pass on those warm leads to the appropriate sales region or rep automatically. To see more about how this works, click here. I can also share some case studies with you if you'd like...just ask!

5. Respond. When using the real-time dashboard, you will see how quickly you get an email notifying you of a prospect's activity. Strike while the iron is hot and reach out to that lead while the getting is good!

6. Follow Up. This is an extension of #1 above. Marketing needs to follow up with sales to make sure they're reaching out to those "hot" leads, and sales needs to follow up with marketing to let them know what's working. This can usually be done through a CRM (we love salesforce!) where leads and sales activity are recorded. BPI's integrated campaigns and dashboard sync seamlessly with salesforce to make this even easier for both departments.

For more reading on "6 Surefire Ways to Increase Your Lead Quality", click here. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and BPI Media Group would love to hear from you and explore how our solutions of marketing, printing, design, campaign execution, mail and data management can help you not only generate qualified leads but also convert them to repeat customers.

Until next time...Elizabeth

I'm new to twitter, so please check it out & follow along if you'd like. BPI Media Group on Facebook

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

12 Marketing Ideas to Consider in 2012

As we kick of 2012, I thought I'd suggest 12 ways you can complement your marketing plans this year with BPI Media Group.

12. Mail! It's proven, and it works. It's also making a come back. Click here to learn more about the power of direct mail.

11. Email too. Don't just email, but pair it with your direct mail campaign. You'll boost your response rate and give those who prefer email to mail a chance to see and reply (i.e., resulting in increased sales activity).

10. Go digital. No, I don't mean forego print, just use digital printing when it's a better fit than conventional printing. This can help you eliminate waste from excess or obsolete printed materials as well as take advantage of variable data (see # 9 below), dimensional coating and print on demand (see # 2 below). Click here to learn more about digital printing and how it can benefit your marketing plan.

9.Use Variable Data. Personalize your message to get a lift in response rates and create a 1:1 message with your customers and prospects. Variable data is so much more than just adding the recipient's name...ask me for examples and details of how to take variable messaging to the next level.

8.Add a QR code. Give your customers and prospects a way to view your message or offer on their smart phone or tablet. Adding a QR code is easy and can be tracked if you tie it to a landing page (see # 7 below).

7.Include an integrated campaign. In your call to action, send your respondents to a landing page (personalized or generic) to ask key questions, get feedback and gather the golden data you desire to be able to drill down and market to them more specifically. This is also a great way to fill the sales funnel with qualified prospects for your sales team and for this, they will L-O-V-E you. Learn how an integrated campaign works here.

6.Be Social. Include calls to action via your social media outlets (facebook, twitter, etc.) to promote special offers, membership reward or loyalty programs, and entice prospects to join your group or following. You can also get tremendous feedback through social media.

5.Consider an iPaper or page-turn document to complement your hard-copy catalog or publication. iPapers are a great way to take your printed material (brochures, catalogs or other collateral) and turn it into a socially-sharable online document.

4. Don't forget the SWAG! (stuff we all get) If you do tradeshows or customer/prospect acquisition and retention campaigns, then you know how useful these items can be to promote your brand. Let BPI help you choose items that are useful and can be part of an overall campaign instead of just a novelty item that will go in someone's drawer of other "swag." Click here to browse our online store of specialty products.

3.Amp up your website. While your website may "look" good, but is it highly functional? Are you using SEO to its maximum potential? Don't fret...BPI's website review offer is still on the table, but only for a little while longer. It expires Feb 29 (it's leap year, so we get an extra day!). Ask me for details about this offer and how we can help with website optimization.

2. Take advantage of Print on Demand. With BPI's digital press technology (Kodak Nexpress, see #10 above). There are so many options with digital printing and printing "on the fly" to send out custom messages to individual prospects and customers. You don't have to print thousands, you can just print what you need, when you need it without giving up all your budget.

1. Set up an online storefront. BPI can help you assess your marketing asset management needs and determine the best print and fulfillment channels for your company's needs.

I hope this list will be helpful to generate some new ideas for your marketing campaigns in 2012. I'm available to meet and discuss ideas with you, just drop me a note, or look me up on twitter (see below) or on LinkedIn. Here's to making 2012 the best year of sales for you and your company!

Until next time...Elizabeth

I'm new to twitter, so please check it out & follow along if you'd like.