Print Solutions -September2014

SEPTEMBER 2014 | VOLUME 52, NUMBER 8

WEB-TO-PRINT PAYS OFFPage 20

12 TIPS FOR DOCUMENT SECURITYPage 30

PURL CAMPAIGN IN ACTIONPage 38

Align Your Marketing with

Your GoalsPage 140

Sales and Marketing Strategies

PSDA.ORG | SEPTEMBER 2014 | PRINT SOLUTIONS | 3

PRINT SOLUTIONS MAGAZINE

FEATURES PERSPECTIVES

September 2014

14 3 Points on the Marketing Spectrum By Andy Brown

Find the best frameworks for organizing your marketing activities so

they’re in line with your objectives, budget and organizational structure.

20 Tapping into the Customer Perspective

on Web-to-Print By Heidi Tolliver-Walker

Two companies explain why they invested in W2P , what problems

it solved and how to approach customers with the benefi ts.

26 The Importance of Partnership The partnership between distributors and manufacturers is a crucial

one, and in today’s market, it is important that manufacturers provide

innovative solutions to support the distributors they work with. Here are

some ways PSDA member manufacturers are doing just that.

30 Selling Security By Darin Painter

As point-and-click criminals try to alter and dupe documents,

distributors can use these 12 concepts to keep clients safe.

35 Make Joint Calls to Secure Custom Business By Andy Brown

04 EDITOR’S MESSAGE Better Together By Alexa Schlosser

06 EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Smart Marketing Is About Help, Not Hype

By Bryan Praught

08 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Marketing Deserves

Our Attention By Rob Whitman

38 CASE STUDY pURL Helps Distributor

Promote Trade Show By Katherine House

Innovative Business Products doubled its booth attendees, increased traffi c to its social media accounts and continues to see success with its campaign.

42 GOOD IDEA Volunteer Your Way

to Better Business By Andy Brown

52 FINAL THOUGHTS Compensating Your

Sales Force Questions to Ask Yourself Now By Susan Palé

DEPARTMENTS

10 PSDA NEWS

44 INDUSTRY NEWS Compiled By Alexa Schlosser

48 CLASSIFIEDS

51 ADVERTISER INDEX

How Well Do You Know Your Market?

Crafting aCampaign

A Steady Supply of News

1

2

3

The history of marketing as a discipline began with economists who wanted

to bridge theory and practice. Th eir primary focus was the distribution of

goods and services. Marketing forerunners such as L.D.H. Weld published

descriptive monographs with titles such as “Cold Storage as a Factor in

Marketing Farm Produce” and “Middlemen of the Wholesale Produce Trade.”

As the fi eld evolved, studies of agricultural markets gave way to consumer goods

markets. Th e next generations of marketers also incorporated theories of consumer

behavior into their frameworks. Marketing principles were articulated, tested and

practiced. Th e interdisciplinary, practical approach to marketing was cemented in the

late ’60s, when Philip Kotler introduced the concept of marketing management. In

Kotler’s view, advertising and promotion are part of a company’s marketing functions.

His concept of the Four Ps (product, promotion, price and place) has infl uenced

marketing professionals ever since.

Th e underlying idea of marketing management is that an organization conducts

activities with some degree of intention and control. Kotler’s framework has been

discussed, debated, revised and extended, but the idea that marketing is something to be

managed is central to the operations of many successful organizations.

As a medium for communications, print isn’t going anywhere, but the industry is

evolving. It’s not enough to wait on orders or assume that customers know what you sell

or how it can benefi t their businesses. An appreciation for the markets you serve is as

important as how you promote to them.

In other words, it’s a good time to evaluate your approach to marketing management.

It’s a good time to fi nd the best frameworks for organizing your marketing activities so

they’re in line with your objectives, budget and organizational structure.

3 Points on the Marketing Spectrum Find the best frameworks for organizing your marketing activities so they’re in line with your objectives, budget and organizational structure.

BY ANDY BROWN

16 | PRINT SOLUTIONS | SEPTEMBER 2014 | PSDA.ORG

MARKETING SPECTRUM

Aft er survey results are collected and

evaluated, they’re shared with the

sales group. Relyco uses a marketing

automation platform that allows

salespeople to access survey results for

individual prospects. “Th ey’re able to

see how to speak to that potential lead,

or even if they’re an existing customer,”

Simko says.

Although surveys take time, require

planning and involve strategic thinking,

the execution is relatively easy. Th ird-

party survey soft ware allows even small

companies to create and send email

surveys aff ordably. “When you look at

it, it’s not that diffi cult a thing to do, and

the data can be a game-changer for your

business,” Simko says.

marketing and communications. “We’re

trying to fi gure out the interest within our

diff erent product groups and also interest

for potential future new products that we

want to off er, since it’s a great way before

we even introduce a product to survey the

market and our customers to see if that’s a

product that is of interest. If we get a solid

response, then that’s a prerogative that we

would immediately move forward with.”

Most of Relyco’s surveys go to existing

customers, but the company has also

purchased lists to survey prospects in

diff erent market segments. Every survey

is designed and sent to targeted lists. “I’m

not going to send a waterproof paper

survey to somebody who’s in AP or payroll,”

Simko says. “Th e whole idea of making

In this article, we present three ways of

categorizing your marketing activities.

Th ink of them as points on a spectrum.

At one end are activities that inform

business strategy, including market

research. In the middle are targeted

campaigns with specifi c objectives,

timelines and metrics. At the other end

are ongoing, day-to-day marketing tasks.

To give an idea of how these categories

are executed, each point on the

spectrum is illustrated by activities that

print industry companies are doing

to communicate with prospects, raise

awareness of their brands, and discover

what customers need and want.

Each point on the spectrum is illustrated by activities that print industry companies are doing to communicate with prospects, raise awareness of their brands, and discover what customers need and want.

1 How Well Do You Know Your Market? Behind every marketing

activity are assumptions about customers.

To begin marketing at all, you must know

something about the markets themselves.

Some companies hold onto long-held

assumptions without evidence. Others

gather information about markets

informally and rely on anecdotal

evidence. But companies that practice

marketing most eff ectively gather

and analyze market research in a

formal manner.

Not all research needs to be diffi cult to

gather. Customer surveys are an example

of research that almost any company can

conduct. Relyco, a supplier of business

printing and payment solutions based

in Dover, New Hampshire, conducts

approximately six diff erent customer

surveys every year as part of its marketing

activities. “It gives us a lot of great data

from our customer base,” says Christian

Simko, Relyco’s director of product

your surveys eff ective is making sure you

can properly segment your own database.”

Relyco’s surveys include questions

about how customers use the company’s

products. Th ey also ask about

applications. “You can start to see some

trends, and that can change how you

market a product,” Simko says. “With

our waterproof paper, we saw trends in

applications for signage and menus and

maps, so we were able to build email

marketing campaigns that were a lot

more targeted to those applications.”

To increase response rates, Relyco

will oft en off er an incentive to survey

recipients. “What you may see if you

don’t off er an incentive is you might get

better or cleaner data. Th at’s somebody

who looks at the survey and wants to take

it for their own purposes without being

incented. But if you want to get a higher

response, the bigger the incentive, the

better the response you’re going to get,”

Simko says.

2Crafting a CampaignArmed with information about

your customers, a typical

framework for marketing

activities is the campaign.

Promotional campaigns are discrete; they

have beginnings and ends. Moreover,

they’re characterized by specifi c

objectives and evaluated according to

predetermined metrics. “At any given

moment, there’s an opportunity to touch

your customers … but a campaign

is something for a specifi c purpose

or a specifi c time,” says Bev Burger,

president of Big 5 Marketing, a creative

agency that works with customers in the

printing industry.

Campaigns are also characterized by the

development of a plan. Th ey oft en involve

signifi cant upfront research and decision

making. But that shouldn’t deter companies

from doing them, says Burger. Th e key is to

start somewhere and start small.

Th e fi rst step: Make a list of what

products and services you sell. “Break


MARKETING SPECTRUM

down what you do inside your

organization and just take 100 of your

customers. That’s it,” Burger says. “From

there, in an Excel document, say I’m

going to take ABC Company and put a

dot by all the things they do today. It lets

me see that ABC Company is only using

us for three out of the five services that

we offer. Okay, now from a marketing

perspective, I’ve got somewhere to go

with that.”

The next step in Burger’s campaign

planning process is to group customers

that have a need for the same product

or service and then build a promotional

campaign around them. “You have

to start with where you want to go —

your end objective,” Burger says. “If all

you’re doing is marketing for the sake

of marketing, it’s difficult to create a

message, because what happens is your

message gets too convoluted. Just because

I can sell five different services to my

customers doesn’t mean that they need to

know about all five services.”

An objective might be to sell more

marketing services or Web-to-print

applications, for example. The campaign

plan should also capture metrics to

indicate whether it’s working. That could

be a specific number of visitors to your

trade show booth, responses to a direct

mail piece, scheduled appointments or a

revenue target.

Whatever the objectives and metrics,

it’s important to maintain realistic

expectations about the results. “The

biggest mistake people make with

marketing is that they put something

out into the universe, then say, ‘Oh my

god, my sales didn’t increase 200 percent.

Marketing doesn’t work,’” Burger says.

“You’ve got to give it time to work. A

lot of people I talk to are not interested

in marketing because they’ve got this

legacy history of what didn’t work. You’ve

got to let go of that. If you approach

everything with how it didn’t work the

last time, you’re never going to have the

opportunity to let something work.”

In other words, some campaigns may

be successful and some may fail, but the

more campaigns you execute, the better

Three YouTube Channels You Should View

I have never heard a friend, family or co-worker utter the phrase, “You’ve

got to see this,” and then hand me a direct mail piece.

What usually happens is that they drag me to their computer and play a

video. Or hand me their phone and tell me to hit play. I’ve seen cats fight

dogs, babies dance to pop songs, outtakes of movies … you get the idea.

Increasingly, I also use video to educate myself. I’ve taught myself to break

down a whole chicken, tie a Plattsburgh knot and use advanced features in

Photoshop.

I love print. I still get excited by forms, decals, packaging, postcards and

magazines, but when it comes to instant gratification, video has a leg up.

It’s easy to access, easy to digest and easy to share. Because we carry

computers in our pockets, video has a direct line to our consciousness.

All this is to say that any company planning to stay in business has to

contend with video. Embrace it or defend against it, but the one thing you

can’t do is ignore it.

Some companies in the industry have already thought about how video can

support their business models. They’re producing and distributing video on

a regular basis. Vanguard Direct has a series of videos on YouTube titled

“Orange is my Favorite Color.” The videos promote the distributorship’s

foray into iBook publishing. Featuring animation and interviews with

employees who worked on the project, the series is both a learning

opportunity for the company and a source of insights for customers and

prospects.

Trade manufacturer 4over also publishes videos on YouTube, including

a series of step-by-step instructions for assembling assorted packaging

products. For customers who might have bulk ordered wine boxes,

for example, it’s a handy reference. 4over also videos interviews with

employees.

And finally, take a look at paper-supplier Sappi’s humorous “Off Register”

series, which features Chicago’s famed Second City Improv troupe. In

the episode “Improving the Workplace,” the final scene made me laugh

out loud.

Trust me, you’ve got to see it.

— Andy Brown


MARKETING SPECTRUM

that is sort of the bullet for the press

release. Whenever you send press releases,

you’re kind of setting them free. What a

publication chooses to excise from that press

release, whether it’s the full press release or

three sentences of your two paragraphs, is

completely up to them. So, first and foremost,

be straight to the point and get that single

thought out that you want to share.” A press

release template should also include your

company name and location, the date and

contact information.

As tools for building awareness, press

releases cost little to produce and distribute.

Though it’s difficult to measure impact on

revenue, companies can benefit from press

releases by getting their name in front of

key audiences on a routine basis. “Just do

it,” Smith says. “There’s no harm in getting

information out about your company, and

the more times you can put your company

name in front of a customer, the more likely

they are to recognize you and consider

using you.”

In addition to business news, Smith also

sends press releases announcing employee

promotions, new hires and company awards.

“Publications always seem willing to share that

as there’s no favoritism in announcing that

sort of information,” he says. PS

3A Steady Supply of NewsCampaigns require more

money and time to execute. For

companies short on both, it’s worthwhile

to think of your marketing activities as

routine, long-term tasks. Take, for instance,

the issuing of press releases.

The humble press release is the

subject of debate among marketing

communications professionals. Do they

work? Does anyone read them? The truth

is, the standard press release is still an

effective promotional tool, provided it

says something of value.

“We send press releases out anytime

we feel there is important information

to share with our distributors,” says

Chuck Smith, marketing director of

manufacturer Gill-line of Lenexa, Kansas.

The company, which is finalizing an

acquisition, has kept the local community

and its customers up-to-date with regular

press releases about the integration of

operations, for example.

As a routine promotional activity, writing

and sending press releases are things that

can be done in-house. A single employee

can compile a list of contacts who should

receive the press release, including

industry publications. From there,

crafting the release is a straightforward

process. Smith offers some advice: “We

always start with a single bold sentence

you’ll get at recognizing what works

and what doesn’t. By starting small,

you’ll learn lessons to apply to larger

campaigns.

One campaign that Burger designed as

an employee of a manufacturer led to

work with a new customer who became

the company’s third largest client in the

span of a year. The campaign began with

a list of 2,500 prospects in the company’s

local market. “The whole premise was to

drive them to a landing page. We learned

something about them, just asked some

general questions, and the last question

on the landing page was to pick your

flavor of cupcake: vanilla or chocolate,”

Burger says. “We ended up getting a

whole bunch of replies, maybe 20 to 30

appointments, which is a lot when you’re

selling. And considering these were all

new people, they didn’t know us at all.”

The campaign didn’t end there. During

the appointments, Burger brought a

dozen cupcakes and a coupon for the

prospect’s first order. “It’s difficult to

engage with people who are new to you.

Most of the time, what people do is they

send them a flourish of information about

their company,” Burger says. “We decided

they didn’t need to know everything

about us in the first piece that we sent to

them. We just wanted to get in front of

them, because we knew if we did that,

everything we did would speak for itself.”

Andy Brown is a freelance writer in Arlington, Virginia, and owner of Methodical Writing (www.methodicalwriting.com).

I think it’s a good idea for manufacturers to make joint calls to end users in

the custom business because it increases the chances that it will actually

result in a sale. The partnering of manufacturing expertise with the

distributor who has the relationship is a much more powerful tool than the

distributor working independent of the manufacturer at arm’s length in closing

custom business,” says Sean O’Brien, vice president at Reign Print Solutions. “And

it reduces the risk of the solution being wrong, not working and all the chaos, bad

feelings, problems that come with returns, complaints and unhappy customers.”

O’Brien should know. Before joining Reign Print Solutions nine years ago, he

worked at Avery Dennison for 19 years, supporting distributors with custom label

applications. As a distributor, O’Brien walks the walk by making use of joint calls.

Make Joint Calls to Secure Custom BusinessBY ANDY BROWN

“


JOINT SALES CALLS

says. “And everyone wins — the customer

gets the desired solution, and both

the manufacturer and distributor reap

profitable business.”

Relationships Built On TrustThe ability to make joint calls doesn’t

happen overnight. O’Brien likes for

manufacturers to have a presence with

his distributorship before opportunity

knocks. That includes at least one face-to-

face meeting with his team.

“It means stopping in to see us, calling on

us, explaining what you do, a handshake,

looking you in the eye,” O’Brien says.

“I think a lot of manufacturers who

obtained business from me in my nine

years have done it by at least doing that

first wave of relationship building, so I

know who they are. They have established

When Joint Calls Make SenseWhen an order is small or the product is

a stock item, distributors can rely on their

knowledge and manufacturers’ general

support services to make a sale. But

when the application is custom, there are

more requirements, which means greater

margin for error.

“Let’s say I’m calling on a customer

and he needs help with a chemical

drum application. That’s not time to

worry about if you have a binder from

a manufacturer in your office that

has everything about chemical drum

applications,” O’Brien says. “The first

thing the end user might say is, ‘Are you

GHS and BF5609 standards compliant?’

And then as a distributor, your eyes may

glaze over because you don’t know what

he’s talking about.”

When applications are custom and

outside the distributor’s area of expertise,

it’s better to put the manufacturer

and end user in the same room.

“The manufacturer, depending on

your relationship, can go in as the

manufacturer by name, or he can work

with you under your distributorship’s

name,” O’Brien says. “You need to be an

expert in front of your customer. You

can’t appear to be winging it. So, now the

manufacturer, who knows this product

better than me, is doing the work to

obtain the requirements, and the best part

is I’m learning. Not only do joint calls

help increase your chance of making the

sale, they provide real-time training in

the field for that product line.”

After the requirements stage, the

distributor and manufacturer can

jointly present the solution, or “the

distributor may have learned enough

during requirement building to present

the solution on their own,” O’Brien says.

After the sale is closed, the end user

might order a test run of the product, and

the manufacturer is involved if there are

minor changes prior to a full rollout.

“When you roll it out, it should work,

and the manufacturer probably doesn’t

need to be involved, but can be because

you’re talking about a team now that’s

working together with trust, in tandem,

to get it done for all parties,” O’Brien


Not only do joint calls help increase your chance of making the sale, they provide real-time training in the field for that product line.

what I call ‘presence’ — the same

presence that is required for me to gain

an end user. Presence builds trust.”

O’Brien cautions manufacturers not to

assume that distributors already sell their

products. They should ask first, and if

the distributor doesn’t, discover together

whether there’s an opportunity. “If I’m

not selling that product right now, the

manufacturer might motivate me to go

to my book of business and ask 15 clients

if they have a need for it. And if he’s

willing to partner with me to go out there

and help me sell it, I’ll do that for him,”

he says. PS

Sean O’Brien, Vice President, Reign Print Solutions


GOOD IDEA

Volunteer Your Way to Better BusinessBY ANDY BROWN

Patrick Ennis spends around 10

hours every week on volunteer

activities. He’s a member of two

chambers of commerce, sits on

two boards of directors, and serves on the

sponsorship committee of the American

Marketing Association’s Washington,

D.C., chapter (AMADC). He’s also an

independent owner of an American

Solutions for Business distributorship in

Northern Virginia.

“My goal is always to meet people

who are doing the kinds of things that

relate to my business,” Ennis said. “Just

meeting them is not usually as effective

as meeting them and then spending

quality time with them. That’s where the

volunteering helps.”

Member to VolunteerEnnis spent 22 years working for Moore

Business Forms. He also held positions

at Quebecor and Cenveo. But it’s only

when he went on his own that he took

networking to the next level. His entrée

into volunteering started with a local

chamber of commerce. “We’re in the

printing business. Everybody buys

printing and promotional products, so

that was my main reason for joining the

chamber,” he said.

Ennis attended the chamber’s educational

sessions and was asked manage the

chapter’s business growth committee,

which focused on small business

education. “That was a great way to learn

about and meet local business people, and

then progress through volunteering to

something that got me exposed to more

people,” he said. “But it’s limited. You do

sort of end up meeting the same people

over and over again.”

At the same time, Ennis faced a challenge

experienced by many distributors: how

to go from taking orders to offering

services. “My customers want me to be

more than just somebody who sells them

something,” he said. “So for me to be a

real resource, I need to be able to bring

up best practices and ideas, and the only

way to do that is to meet and talk to other

people, leading-edge people, who are

actually doing things and telling me what

works and doesn’t work, so I can relay

that back to my customers.”

A friend suggested he join the American

Marketing Association, so he did. “It’s

an organization of my ideal clients,” he

said. “I sort of expected to go meet people,

then call them later and ask if they want

to buy something. But it’s turned into an

opportunity to build relationships and learn

about the craft that we are involved in.”

After a year as a member, Ennis began

volunteering with AMADC. As part of

the sponsorship committee, Ennis helps

recruit corporate sponsors to fund chapter

activities. The role matched his sales

background and desire to build credibility.

“I have a lot of nonprofit clients, so when

they’re interested in understanding how to

get more sponsorships, I’m always advising

them on the things they should be doing

anyway,” he said. “So it makes sense to put

some of that into practice on my own.”

Relationships Are ForeverEnnis cautions that volunteering is a

long-term strategy. “You don’t develop

relationships overnight, and you do have

to figure you’re going to stay in the game



for at least a year or maybe even a couple

of years,” he said. “But it will work. I’ve

been amazed at how well it works from a

business standpoint.”

Th rough volunteering, Ennis says he’s kept

abreast of best practices, made business

partnerships and received referrals. “I’ve

been able to refer some people to some

clients and, as a result, I’ve gotten some

referrals back, either to those same clients

or to prospects, because it just develops

a whole diff erent relationship and trust

level that you wouldn’t have otherwise,”

he said. “I don’t think I could have done

it without volunteering. When you

volunteer, you put in hours sitting next to

somebody doing something. As a result,

you develop a relationship that you wouldn’t

otherwise develop.”

To put it another way, “People who

worked on a committee 10 years ago will

know each other for 10 years. Th ey’re not

going to stop knowing each other just

because one of them moved to a new job

or moved up the food chain,” he said. PS

Good Ideas > To Volunteer • Join a volunteer organization with a diverse membership.

• Plan to volunteer for a year at minimum. • Choose a volunteer role that lets you combine new and

old skills. • Select a volunteer role you can get excited about.

Print Solutions -September2014

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