Timing. Is. Everything.
Do your print customers know this? Do they know the clock is ticking? Do they know that time is flowing and tomorrow things may look very different?
Are you prepared to educate them so they can get time on their side?
Then and now.
I help a friend sell ads for our local newspaper. For 16 months, our core advertisers kept their ads running. They took a financial risk in a time when money was precious.
They marketed to our readers while families were stuck at home. Kitchen remodelers, landscapers, take-out restaurants, hardware stores, childcare providers, credit unions, and mortgage brokers.
Sixteen months is a long time to market unfettered to a captive audience.
They told readers, “Stick with us. We’ll figure out how to accommodate you. We will keep you safe. You can trust us, and we care.”
During this time, we helped them with their marketing strategy, their ads, their social media. We used direct mail, sandwich signs, window clings, and door hangers. We even used the services of a telemarketer. Why?
Because people had time to spend… and time to pay attention.
Now, with the vaccine and relaxed restrictions, people are getting busier. Businesses are getting nervous. It’s not going to be a slam dunk to get customers through their doors. Habits have changed. Attention is shifting.
Anywhere people are marketing, advertising, or selling, it’s going to get more crowded.
Time is speeding up.
If you don’t do your advertising, marketing, or active selling right now, you won’t have customers in the fall and winter. If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding! Do your customers know this?
This is no time for fence-sitting.
If your customers want to be successful, they need to print with you, mail with you, and learn from you — right now — so they have a fighting chance as the economy floods with their competitors.
I’m trying to convey this urgency to you, their print provider. You need to work with them if they are going to be successful.
For me, the newspaper is FAT, and everybody wants in.
Timing is everything.
Sandy Hubbard is an expert Marketing Strategist specializing in the Printing Industry. She consults with Print CEOs and owners of print, media, and platform businesses of all sizes — helping marketing teams build visibility and increase sales.
Sandy is also co-host of #PrintChat, a weekly discussion on LinkedIn. Join the group here.
Read more from Sandy here.
