Today’s Buyers Seek Full-Service, Omnichannel Approach by Printing Companies

When the word “omnichannel” is used in the printing industry, nine times out of 10, it is referring to the marketing, direct mail, and/or transpromo side of the business. The omnichannel approach to branding, however, is spreading to encompass every printed component, which means printing companies of all types can no longer afford to ignore the concept or fail to find ways to integrate it into their own business models.

Brands are no longer looking to have their marketing splintered and fractured across platforms and segments. The direct mail and promotional materials need to match their mobile app and landing pages, which need to match banners, posters, and even billboards and bus wraps. Everything from the color matching to the messaging has to be cohesive, which is challenging enough when considering the vast numbers of substrates, inks, and printing processes that may be involved, nevermind trying to coordinate it through multiple specialists.

In the past, that coordination was a given. A brand or agency would turn to a direct marketing printer for direct mail pieces, a wide-format printer to handle the large-format prints, and then a digital house to design and implement the app. Perhaps even a web staff was charged with designing and maintaining the online presence.

Today, however, brands are looking to have fewer touchpoints with fewer providers — they want one shop that can offer it all. The omnichannel approach to branding is, in fact, a major driving factor of the convergence of the print world as shops stretch themselves outside of their traditional boxes in order to serve the specific messaging channels their particular client list prefers.

Responding to the Diverse Needs of Clients

Taking the concept of omnichannel and putting it into practice won’t look the same for every print service provider (PSP). Omnichannel encompasses marketing communications in every shape and form, and each shop will need to spend the time getting to know their specific clients’ needs to know which additional services will be the best fit — and the most profitable.

Expand Services to Avoid Sticker Shock

Given how broad the definition of omnichannel can be beyond an admonishment that everyone should be thinking about it, where should a typical PSP start? It starts with having detailed discussions with your customers.

Today, many printers simply have too narrow of a focus, taking the print orders as they come in, doing the work, and then sending the invoice. But it’s the opportunistic business that sits down and asks, ‘What else are you doing? How else do you communicate your message?’”

For brands, the messaging is “precious cargo” that the PSP is being entrusted with. They care about things like color and message integrity, So, it starts with asking how else are they communicating that message, and how can you help. And then once you start working with those assets, you can identify how to better use them.

It’s A Brave New World

The key is investigating and then responding to the needs of clients. “Delve deeper into your customer base. Try to expand the business — it really is a different model of selling that printers are not accustomed to. It’s going in a different door — the marketing or CMO door is a lot more successful [than the print buyer.] You can provide them with a lot of viable products that help them generate more revenue for their products, increase their response rates, etc.”

The reality is that today, most brands aren’t interested, necessarily, in a specific marketing vehicle. They aren’t starting by deciding they want to do a postcard or create an immersive retail experience. Rather, the starting point is the message itself, and then trying to find the best methodologies for ensuring it reaches the right end-users, at the right time, in the right place.

This is where a printer that has transitioned into an omnichannel visual communications company can shine. Rather than selling print, it becomes more about selling the results, and print is just one of the tools used to get there. But the printer remains the pivotal person in designing and executing that vision.