If you’re just joining us in this email series, so far we’ve talked through the content features necessary for any (ahem… every) successful printer’s website. We’ve outlined:
- Why content is so important with “What’s the Big Deal About Content?”, and
- We took a look at what types of content you need with “Is All Content Created Equal? The Best Content For Your Print Website.”
This week and next, we’ll review two specific content tools you can use to help you sell more printing and grow your print business.
Meet Your New Best Friend: Your Email Newsletter
Printers have relied on direct mail marketing for decades, even centuries, and rightfully so: because it works.
But many in the industry have also overlooked the enormous benefits email marketing can be when combined with other marketing efforts, and that, friends, would be a mistake.
Not only will email marketing help your business personally, but it will also highlight your expertise in all areas of marketing for your print buyers. Side note: Your customers and prospects already expect and assume you’re an expert in marketing as a whole – print, digital, online, offline, and everything in between, so it’s essential you work to meet those expectations.
To help you out, here are a few ways email newsletters help you win at selling more printing.
Email Newsletters are All About Connection
What is the most important thing you can do for your customers?
Connect with them.
When you deliver a newsletter consistently, it helps your brand come to mind when your customers and prospects do need a product. Although the medium is different than print, the idea is the same: You need to be regularly connecting with your audience.
Return Path sums this up quite well when they say,
“When newsletters deliver great content and follow email best practices, they help marketers measurably strengthen subscriber engagement and stay connected to their audiences.”
Why is that connection meaningful? Because connection means they know you, they like you, they trust you, and they buy from you.
Think of it like this: how many times have you gone to purchase something and found a cheaper, off-brand version? If you didn’t have a connection with that brand, more than likely you found yourself saying something like, “Hmm… they’re cheaper, but I don’t know that brand. I’ve never even heard of them. Can I trust them? Better not risk it. I’ll go with what I know.”
The more you make that connection through the multiple touch points of your content, the more you’ll be that “go with what I know” brand they decide to go with in the future.
Email Newsletters are Cost-Effective
A 2016 Direct Marketing Association study notes that the return on investment for email marketing is a whopping 4,300%.
That’s a lot of bang for your buck!
Now, if you’re a print purist, you might be starting to squirm in your seat a little thinking, “Where are you going with this? I’m a printer. I print. What is this digital mail thing you speak of?” But, hold up a minute and think this through a little further.
Email is an extremely inexpensive way to reach your audience, which is why it’s an excellent tool to have in your marketing toolkit. But, just like a screwdriver doesn’t work the best for pounding in nails, email marketing has its own limitations as well. That’s why you have to use multiple tools to get the best results through various mediums (email, print, social media, website content) to connect with and reach your audience.
Email Newsletters Help Build Credibility
One of the first things you’re taught at a young age is where to go for help.
From learning how to call 911 in an emergency to reaching out to a teacher if you’re not understanding something, knowing where to go for help is one of the most vital things you needed to learn as a child. However, as kids are learning, it’s highly possible (maybe even probable) that they might call 911 to order McDonald’s or take up a teacher’s time with “Why is the sky blue?” questions. Eventually, though, they’ll learn when, where, and who to go to for help for the situation at hand.
In the same way, when you inform your print buyers with tips and updates and inspire them with new ideas by using an email newsletter, they learn that they can come to you as a trusted, reliable source of information. You become the 911 they should call when they need help with their creative projects because of the credibility you’ve established with them.
Email Newsletters Help Drive Sales
Just like you can’t throw a party and hope people come to you, in the same way, you can’t merely put up a website and expect people to go to it.
People go where they’re invited. So, if you want to invite them to your online home (a.k.a your website), use the tools available to you to ask them to come on over and take a look around. If you’re a good host, you’ll be sure to offer them some refreshments (content) to inspire them to stick around awhile.
Hmm… what would be a good tool to use as an invitation to your website?
You guessed it: an email newsletter. Jay Baer of Convince & Convert mentions that 44% of customers made at least one purchase based on a promotional email they received.
Email marketing warms up your leads –> opens conversations –> drives sales.
If you need more sales, it’s time to invest in the solutions that will help get you there.
