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What a Great Marketing Campaign Follow-Up For Your Print Business Looks Like

Most printers are experts at producing the postcard, the brochure, or the email that starts a marketing campaign. The design looks sharp, the colors are on brand, and the message is clear. But after the campaign goes out, the next step often never happens. The phone doesn’t ring, no one follows up, and the conclusion is that the campaign “didn’t work.” In reality, marketing campaigns fail when there’s no follow-up plan in place. Great campaigns are not one-and-done efforts. They’re a series of connected moments that build recognition, trust, and ultimately, action. What you do after the first impression determines whether your campaign succeeds or falls flat. Let’s walk through what a strong follow-up looks like for a simple postcard campaign, something that works whether you’re a one-person shop or managing a whole production team. Step 1: Begin With a Clear Goal Before anything goes to press, decide exactly what you want to happen next. Are you trying to get people to request a quote? Do you want them to visit your website? Stop by your location? Each of those goals requires a slightly different follow-up path. For example, if your postcard encourages people to visit your site, your next

There’s something powerful about being the local printer. You’re not just another vendor; you’re a familiar face in the community. You print the school programs, the restaurant menus, the nonprofit flyers. You probably know the people behind at least half of the businesses you serve. That connection is your competitive advantage. The challenge? Making sure your customers see it, remember it, and feel it, especially online. Here’s how to turn “local” from a tagline into a marketing engine that helps you sell more printing. Make Local Obvious “Local” isn’t something to mention once on your About page. It should show up in the way your brand feels, looks, and communicates. When people visit your website, they should immediately know you’re nearby and part of their world. Use real photos, not stock ones. Showcase your shop, your team, and your town. Talk about the people you serve and the causes you support. You don’t need to say “we’re local” if your story already proves it. MI4P’s Base Website design helps bring this authenticity to life. The built-in photo galleries and homepage sliders make it simple to feature your community, not just your products. The goal: when someone lands on your site,

Ever tried to get back to the gym after months away? The first workout feels like starting from scratch. Muscles that used to feel strong are sluggish. Progress is slower. Motivation is harder to come by. Marketing works the same way. Many printers hit pause and put marketing on the back burner when things get busy, when money feels tight, or when they assume one big push will cover them for months. But just like skipping workouts, stopping your marketing means you lose the strength you’ve built. And the longer you stay away, the harder it is to rebuild. “People often say motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing—that’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar What Happens When You Let Your Marketing Muscle Rest Too Long Think about what happens when you stop working out. At first, you don’t notice much. But over time, your strength fades, your endurance drops, and the progress you made slips away. Marketing is no different. Your audience drifts. Clients have short memories. If you stop showing up, they don’t wait around. They fill the silence with someone else’s voice. Maybe it’s a competitor’s postcard in their mailbox, or another shop staying active on

Have you ever felt torn between wanting to grow your business and worrying that marketing might actually backfire? You’re not alone. For many printing companies, marketing feels overwhelming. It’s tempting to put it off, but avoiding it altogether can be far more damaging to your business than taking imperfect steps forward. Your Marketing Matters More Than You Think Some printers hesitate to use curated marketing tools, concerned it might make their business seem less unique. But what if you could consistently connect with your customers, build trust, and grow your sales—all while saving time? At MI4P, we’ve spent over 30 years perfecting marketing strategies that do just that, helping printers like you stand out in all the ways that matter most. What Makes Pre-Built Marketing Tools Effective? Curated content works because it’s crafted with purpose and designed for print businesses like yours. It addresses the most important aspect of marketing: making a connection with your customers. It’s a powerful solution for your print shop because it’s: Designed for Printers Unlike generic tools, our professionally crafted content speaks directly to your audience with topics and messages tailored to help you sell more printing. Customizable for Your Business You can personalize every

Getting out of your comfort zone is tough—whether it’s in life or business. But here’s the thing: sticking with the same old, same old, won’t help you grow your print shop. If you want to lead your clients and help them succeed, you’ve got to dive into the world of marketing yourself first. Embrace Change: Your Print Shop Deserves It We get it—learning new marketing strategies can feel overwhelming, especially when printing operations or management is your main focus. But think of it like this: every time you stretch yourself to try something new, like mastering social media or email marketing, you’re not just improving your business—you’re setting an example for your print buyers. They’re watching you, and when they see you succeed, they’ll trust you to guide them too. Show Them How It’s Done: Be the Example Social media might seem like a whole other world, but by embracing it yourself, you can show your clients how powerful it can be. Imagine how confident they’ll feel when you say, “Here’s what worked for me, and it can work for you too.” Whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn, by sharing your journey, you lead by example. Email Marketing: Don’t Just

Social media is a must-have tool for print businesses like yours to connect with target audiences and build a strong online presence. However, concerns about negative comments and feedback can sometimes deter printers from fully embracing social media. But what if we told you that these potential hurdles can be turned into brand-building opportunities? Let’s explore how you can effectively leverage social media to your advantage. Explore the Advantages of Social Media for Your Print Business While it is understandable to have concerns about negative feedback being visible to everyone, it is essential to remember that the benefits of social media far outweigh this slight risk. Here are some key reasons why you should seriously consider embracing social media as an integral part of your marketing strategy: Enhanced Brand Visibility Social media provides an exceptional platform for you to not only showcase your diverse range of products, services, and expertise but also to captivate and engage with your target audience. By proactively and creatively leveraging social media platforms, you can significantly amplify your brand visibility, enabling you to reach an even wider customer base and establish a more robust presence in the market. Building Print Buyer Relationships Through the power

Social media is essential to your print business, and because your print buyers are on various social media channels, you and your brand need to be where they are. Social media marketing works because it helps you: Achieve better customer service Control your reputation Increase trust in your business Generate more website traffic Complement all of your other marketing But maybe you feel overwhelmed trying to manage a social media presence for your business. Or perhaps you have no idea what a successful social media strategy for printers looks like. If this is you, rest assured that social media doesn’t have to be complex or complicated, certainly not to start. If you want to get started on social media with a consistent presence across various channels, it’s time to consider Social Marketing For Printers. What is Social Marketing For Printers? Imagine hiring an employee at your business to find fun and relevant content for you to post on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and your blog every single day. Then, imagine you only have to pay that employee $50 a month. Social Marketing For Printers is a monthly subscription service that does just that. You receive daily content to post to your

“I don’t have a clue what to talk about. I’m not an expert. How can I write about something like that?” These are the common thoughts that surround the idea of blogging. (Can you relate?) Blogging isn’t as scary as it seems though. All it takes is an idea, a question, or a pain point to address. Donald Miller, the author of Building a Story Brand, says it like this: The more we talk about the problems our customers experience, the more interest they will have in our brand. The problems your customers are experiencing reach far outside the scope of their printing needs. Your customers are small business owners or employees themselves, and it’s important you seek to provide content that speaks to that. After all, when you seek to understand the problems of your audience, you can create content that is genuinely useful to them, and once you do that, well, you’re golden as they say. Your Ultimate List of Blog Topic Ideas Here are 45 (yes, 45!) ideas to get you started. 1) Advertising trends What’s working and what’s not. 2) Blogging Seems ironic, don’t you think? A blog on blogging. But yes, it can be done! 3) Books What

The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, says that roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. You’re probably more familiar with the business version of that rule which says roughly 80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients. BUT DON’T FORGET THE 80%… The other 80% of your clients that remain are important too. You won’t want to ignore them! Why? Because that 80% of your customers are providing 20% of your sales, and: 20% is still a big number; big enough that you’d miss it if it were gone! Those customers that provide the 20% of your sales may not command the full attention of your marketing budget, but they’re still driving sales your way. What if a high-value customer leaves you? You’d have to scramble to fill the gap, and if you’ve ignored your replacements (or the other 80% of your customers), they may not be too willing to step into that group of 20% for you. Remember, your competitors are focused on the 20% too. That leaves a big, untapped market with the 80% that remain! REVERSING THE 80/20 RULE So, don’t ignore the 80%! Social media marketing is

The impact of social media on SEO is one of the most interesting and talked about topics in digital marketing, but the question is: Does social media help your SEO efforts as a printer? The short answer is yes. But, social media doesn’t help SEO in the ways you might think it does. Printers and SEO: Social Media + Ranking Factor Do you fully understand the algorithms for Google, Yahoo!, or Bing? Probably not. The reality is, results for your print business will vary. You might find that some things work well, while others don’t work at all. And, unless Google shares information with you related to their algorithm, you’ll never know how it works for you to leverage it to improve your ranking through social media. So, What’s a Ranking Factor? A ranking factor describes the criteria applied by a search engine when evaluating a web page in order to determine the rankings of a specific search result. A ranking factor can relate to your website’s content, something technical on the web page, a backlink, or any other feature a search engine considers relevant. Understanding how ranking factors work is a HUGE prerequisite for effective SEO. Think of it

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