PsPrint Blog » Jerry

Barriers to marketing online

Jerry — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:02:53 +0000

The Internet has made marketing online a global focus. Despite its accessibility to the masses, the Internet also presents many barriers to marketing online. Changing technology creates a need for constant adaptability and the ability to accommodate change quickly and wisely.

Here are a few of the common barriers presented to online marketers:

The first barrier is the speed of the Internet that your potential customers are using. You may have a great website designed and using the latest technologies, but if your customer is still using dial-up your site will never load on his computer. You can actually become too advanced to make sales.

The second most important barrier to marketing online is one related to information security. Information security is important both to companies and consumers that participate in online business. Many consumers are hesitant to purchase items over the Internet because they do not trust that their personal information will remain private. There are many companies that offer encryption methods. Using them and placing their logos on your site can help with this one.

Marketing online is important to every company. You have to market online or your company could risk losing a vast pool of potential customers. These few barriers can be easily overcome through research and putting security features in place. How would you approach these barriers?

Graphic design printing and you

Jerry — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:23:50 +0000

Graphic design printing covers a vast scope of services. Any graphic that is printable falls into this area. You as an average consumer need to be focused in order to get what you want.

First of all know what your focus is going to be. Are you shooting for a holiday theme or a general graphic that is pleasing to the eye? What is your demographic? These two questions will lead you in the right direction so that you can make the most of your campaign.

Next, you need to know what your medium is going to be. Do you want a full tri-fold brochure, a flyer, or will a postcard do it? This will help you to keep the number of graphics to an optimal level without overloading your printing piece.

Lastly, be honest with yourself. Do you need to hire someone or at least look to an online printer for templates and tips? Getting in over your head will most likely lead to a waste of your hard earned dollars.

Using print products to improve customer relationships

Jerry — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:10:09 +0000

You can use a direct-mail print campaign for many things, but have you thought to use it to improve customer relationships? Here are three tips to do just that.

Suggestion cards

Whether you start with a basic business card template or create your own design, suggestion cards are an effective and inexpensive way to encourage customers to share their feedback. It also makes them feel as if their voices are being heard. To be effective, a suggestion card should include your contact information, a place to write comments, a rating system and instructions on how to submit the feedback.

Direct mail

Doing a small run of postcards
using an online printing service starts at about $50; that’s $0.05 per postcard. Each postcard costs $0.28 to mail. In short, you can’t afford not to be sending out regular mailings to your customers and clients. Remember, when a customer shops at a local or small business, they’re doing so for a reason – usually because they like that one-on-one feeling, the personal service and the idea that they’re supporting someone local. Don’t let them down by acting like a big-box store. Stay in touch. To do this, you should be maintaining records that not only include your customer’s contact information but also their purchasing habits. This can help you target specific groups, follow up on a particular purchase or get back in touch with customers who you may not have seen for a while.

Information sheets

If you’re in the information business or a service-based industry, information sheets are a great way of giving something useful back to your customers. What are they? Well, let’s say you’re a hair salon that does a lot of coloring – you may want to hand out an information sheet with instructions on how to best care for recently treated hair. Or, if you’re a dentist’s office, you may want to provide colorful handouts for kids on how to brush. They’re basically take-home pieces for your customers that help them and promote your business

Do you use any other type of direct-mail pieces in your marketing campaigns?

What is digital marketing?

Jerry — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:09:59 +0000

Digital marketing is a term used to cover the use of the Internet, mobile devices and other interactive channels to brand and promote products. It is really just another cog in the overall marketing machine, but it is a very important cog in today’s market.

While digital marketing does include many of the techniques and practices contained within the category of Internet marketing, it extends beyond by including other channels. As a result of this non-reliance on the Internet, the field of digital marketing includes a whole host of elements such as mobile phones, SMS/MMS, display/banner ads and outdoor digital mediums. A way to simplify it is to think of it as a way to digitally direct market your product.

There are two types of digital marketing: push and pull. Both have their own pros and cons.

Push digital marketing

Push digital marketing technologies involve both the marketer as well as the recipients being active participants. E-mail, SMS, and RSS are examples of push digital marketing. In each of these examples, the marketer has to push the messages to the users in order for the message to be received. The pros include personalization, detailed tracking and reporting, and a high return on investment. On the downside, there is compliance issues and your message can be blocked at any time.

Pull digital marketing

Pull digital marketing requires the user to actively pull the information from a web search. Websites, blogs and any streaming media are examples of this. The upside of this is that there are no regulatory or technological restrictions; however, the cons include a considerable marketing effort, a lack of personalization and limited tracking ability.

Digital marketing, like many other forms of marketing, can be effective during a short period by itself, but only achieves its maximum potential if it is used as part of a vast campaign that encompasses many different media.

Tips for successful custom greeting card printing

Jerry — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:03:16 +0000

Custom greeting card printing is a great idea to help you send that highly personalized message to friends and family. On the other hand, most people do not want to go to the expense of hiring a professional designer. Luckily there are some tools available to help you.

Follow these five easy steps to get the perfect custom greeting cards: select a template, choose a theme, get your graphics, arrange your text and graphics, and finally proof and print.

Templates

Most professional printing firms will supply you with downloadable templates so that you can develop and design your own custom greeting cards. Once you have the templates, you can design custom greeting cards in your favorite software.

Theme

Next, choose a theme such as a holiday or special occasion. This is an important step so that you know what kind of graphics and text to put on your custom greeting cards. There are an abundance of themed images for public use that can be found on the Internet.

Graphics

Once you know your theme you can start collecting your graphics. Keep in mind that most Internet images are 72 dots-per-inch, but all professional printing should be done at 300 dots-per-inch. There are many wonderful resources for free and legal high resolution graphics, such as iStock.com.

Put it all together

Arrange your text and graphics. Once you have gathered your graphics, you’ll need to arrange them on your template. Keep your original theme in mind and use fonts that are easy to read. If these are custom greeting cards for your business, do not forget to include your logo and contact information.

Print a proof

Finally, print off a test copy — referred to as a proof — to make sure what you see on your screen is what you’re going to get. Once everything looks right, save your file, and send it to your favorite print shop. Unless you are only printing 10 or less of your custom greeting cards, you should strongly consider using a professional print shop as they will more than likely save you money and get you better results.

Creating Thanksgiving holiday cards

Jerry — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:56:40 +0000

Holiday seasons are often a sentimental time of year. Especially the winter holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Taking the time to make these Thanksgiving holiday cards yourself not only tells your friends and family that you are thinking of them, but they are so much more personal and from the heart. There is just so much more to be said for a greeting card created from your own hands than a sterile card bought at the local drug store.

That is not to say you can not use a custom printing service to help you out a little bit. Honestly, not all of us are as creative as we would like to be, and the service will handle things in a more timely fashion and free up a lot of your time.

Make sure to get your kids involved in the process, too. Making Thanksgiving holiday cards can be a family tradition that your kids can carry into their parenting years. After all, any time spent with you children is important and precious.

At the right time of the year, most custom printing services will have their Thanksgiving holiday cards discounted. Not only will you have the freedom to create the cards that you want, but the power to save money at the same time.