Advanced Customer Acquisition Strategies For Commercial Printers
August 22, 2018
Im going to go into some advanced strategies and tactics used by professionals to get more customers in the printing industry.
I want you to think about getting more printing customer like a water dripping down a funnel.
The water is the conversations you need to have with local business owners and potential prospects everyday to keep the water flowing. Once the water flow stops at the top of the funnel, the water at the end of the funnel also stops and so does your sales.
So you need to keep the water flowing, or in other words, keeping yourself and your business in a conversation with old customers as well as new potential prospects.
The question is how?
I’m going to show you comprehensive advanced strategies on using different channels to get orders and sales coming in. I’m also going to assume you have basic knowledge and experience in getting new customers, so a lot of basic tips such as setting up an Adword account is not going to be a part of this article.
Here are the most effective ways for commercial printers to get more business:
- Search Engine Marketing
- Local Public Relations
- Direct Mail
- Teleprospecting
- Email
- LinkedIn
- Advertisements
- Facebook
- Content
- Referrals
Let’s say i’m the owner or manager of a commercial printer and I need new customers coming in. I have decided to add magnetic printing to my list of products on offer. I know my biggest customers are real estate agents and local business owners who needs to print magnetic real estate calendars for direct mail.
How do I go ahead and find these potential customers? Here are the customer acquisition channels:
Search Engine Marketing
One of the fastest ways of getting new customer inquiries is through Search Engine Marketing. When people search for a query, your ad shows up on Google. Let’s dive into some advanced tips on how to get this process started.
Hop onto your Google Keyword Planner
Type into the keyword planner a root keyword. In our example of magnet printing it would be “print magnets”
Here you can see the monthly search forecast for this keyword in the United States.
Now, go and get a list of similar keywords that has sufficient monthly search volume
For the printing industry, we suggest you target everyone in your state. For example if you are in Houston, it is recommended you target all searches in Texas. Since this is a specialty product, you can target the entire US if you want, but you must figure out the distribution costs and if its justified.
Now you want to make a campaign called “Magnet Printing” with a adword group called “Magnet Printing - Exact”.
In this ad group you only want to target the people who searched exactly for keywords such as “magnet printing” not “free magnet printing” or “magnet printing for cheap in NY”. By targeting the exact keywords, you are likely to see a high Click Through Rate.
The keywords will look something like this:
[magnet printing]
[fridge magnet printing]
[magnetic direct mail printing] etc
Now you want to create another adgroup in the same campaign called: Magnet Printing - Exact Modified”
Here, the adword group will have the exact same keywords but with + at the front instead of [.
+magnet +printing
+fridge +magnet +printing
+magnetic +direct +mail +printing
Now, in this ad group, go to the “negative keywords” section and add
[magnet printing]
[fridge magnet printing]
[magnetic direct mail printing] etc
This will show ads for people who searched for everything in the modified broad match minus the exact keyword searches (which is already in the first ad group).
We do this because we want to see what keywords are being searched and clicked on that is not the exact keyword but similar to the exact keyword.
This will be something like:
Magnet printing in houston
Printing fridge magnet for realtors
Printing magnetic direct mail local printers
Etc.
When creating an ad
Now, think of other keywords that is relevant to magnets and create multiple campaigns at the same time. Because the keyword “printing magnets” may not have sufficient search volume for you to see an increased jump in customers coming to your website, test out other possible keywords such as “realtor marketing materials”, “marketing for real estate’ etc.
Make a landing page with an email capture form, phone capture form and your phone number.
After about a month or so, optimize and pause the campaigns that didn’t get many clicks and increase the bids that are doing well.
Other tips include:
- A/B split testing your landing page
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esWM3aUP-K0
- A/B split testing your adword ads
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpwMGgeYoro&frags=pl%2Cwn
- Ad keywords to URL, Ads and Landing page
- Using coupons/discounts as a site extension
- Use your mobile/landline phone number as call site extension
- For keywords that has a bigger volume, have a look at Bing. The cost per click is much cheaper than Google.
- Test out Google banner ads to see its effectiveness. Also add a pixel and use retargeting
Here is a great video if you ….
Local Public Relations
Email:
Firstly, you want to set up a CRM if you don’t have one. All emails will need to end up going into a CRM so that you can manage your pipeline. CRMs i recommend include Hubspot if you want a simple and free one. Others i recommend include Salesforce, Insightly, and Nimble.
So how do you go about getting an email campaign started if you decide to promote magnet printing to business owners like real estate agents or dentists.
One way is to get it from LinkedIn. Once you target your demographic down to occupation and location, there are thousands or tens of thousands of potential customers. Use a Chrome extension such as Getprospect.io or Skrapp.io to find their emails.
What if you want the emails of local business owners such as plumbers or electricians? One way is to go to yellowpages.com or yelp.com or manta.com. Type in the local post code or surrounding local post codes.
Type in the type of businesses that you need to target and you will get a list of all the businesses near you. Many of these listings in business directories will have a website URL.
Now go to Hunter.io and put the domain in. This will normally yield email addresses associated with the domain. You can also go into the “contact us” page of each website and there is usually a email address such as “info@companyname.com” or “sales@companyname.com”
Once you have this list of email, you can write a personalized outreach email to these potential prospects.
If the email response is positive, move the customer down the funnel in your CRM and
EMAIL MARKETING TOOLS
Constant Contact – Design professional-looking emails, grow and manage your email list, and track results. In addition to email, Constant Contact offers tools for social campaigns, online surveys, and more.
iContact – Create HTML emails and signup forms, send campaigns to customers inboxes, track email campaigns, and more. Also offers social social media marketing tools.
Campaign Monitor – Customize your email template, send campaigns, conduct A/B testing, integrate with your blog, and more.
Vertical Response – This free tool enables companies to send emails and newsletters that are responsive on all platforms.
RapidMail – RapidMail is an email newsletter software that also delivers statistics and insights needed to grow a subscriber base.
Sales Panda – Create better marketing collateral, improve SEO, and share relevant content on social media to build your sales pipeline.
GetResponse – GetResponse is an email marketing software that assists in the design and distribution of content for better consumer engagement.
Emma – This email marketing software offers several different editions, customized for businesses, agencies, non-profits and universities.
MailChimp – Use this email marketing software to create a subscriber base, automate and personalize emails.
Email Tips -
- Make sure your email hard bounce rate is below 3-5% and spam complaint rate is below 0.2%. If bounce rate is too high, you can use a service like zerobounce.com to clean your list. If you spam complaint rate is too high, test your email copy.
- You can use a email sending software like woodpecker.com to manage your email sending
- A/B test your email copy and headline to constantly try to improve your open and response rate
- Write short text emails instead of html emails no longer than 3-5 paragraphs with a clear call to action.
- Send a LinkedIn connection request, Twitter tweet or phone call within 1-2 days of sending the email to better response rates.
-
If one person is unresponsive in the company, go on Linkedin and find another employee and try to reach them. Use the layout of the email to guess other employee’s emails. Eg, Sam Smith is CEO, his email is sam.smith@company.com, then most likely Jane Conway from Marketing is jane.conway@company.com
- If you want opt-in lists, you can buy emails directly from your target customers trade associations. Many trade associations offer marketing programs or lists which you can send emails to. However, these are quite expensive in our experience.
LinkedIn
Linkedin is probably one of the lowest cost customer acquisition channel you can find because most of the potential customers are already on Linkedin and you just need to reach out to the correct people.
So here is what you do. First, lets find your target customers. Go and search for real estate agents by either industry or role. Now, narrow that down to your state or local area.
With all these potential customers, how do you connect with them? I suggest using a few tools where you can get their emails. One of them being getprospect.io and the other being skrapp.io. Both of these are Chrome extensions where it scans their Linkedin profile and it matches the records in their database giving you their work email.
Once you have their emails, you can do a few things:
- Reach out to them via Email
- The people who replied and are interested, you can upload their emails via Linkedin contact book so you can connect with them
- Use Linkedin Ads to target those who responded favourably to your outreach email
Make a list of all the potential businesses and their decision makers who would need magnets printed such as:
Dentists
Plumbers
Vets
Politicians
Electricians etc and do the exact same thing as above for all these businesses.
You can also target businesses via LinkedIn Ads. These ads are every effective since most people who are on Linkedin are either looking to network with other professionals or are in a work-related mindset compared to other platforms like Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
LinkedIn Ads can be extremely targeted since you can actually target by company and accounts. Also another very useful targeting is role based: such as Owner of Plumbing Businesses.
If you do decide to run LinkedIn Ads, I recommend using Sponsored Content instead of Text Ads. The click through rate seems to be very high. Another thing you can test is lead generation forms where you can capture their details with pre-fulfilled information.
The upside of LinkedIn Ads are that the conversion rate is much higher than that of other social media platforms. However, the downside is that it is very expensive. You a looking at $6-$7 CPM (cost per thousand impressions) and if you get a decide click through rate of 2%, the CPC will be $3-$4, which is more than Facebook, Twitter and Google.
Other tips:
- You can actually build a lead funnel right in Linkedin by using tags. For all the new connections that you have, add a tag to each and every individual. Eg. Tags can be: new prospects, emailed, looking to buy, closed deal. With tags you can classify where the customer are at the stage of the buying cycle and send personalized messages based on where they are.
Facebook
While Facebook is not a conventional platform for B2B marketing, Facebook is a very effective way of targeting potential prospects for very low cost if targeting is done right. First step is to go to Audience Insights and search for anything that is related to real estate agents (or your target customers).
This will include associations, magazines, influencers, real estate brokerage firms etc.
Now make a list of all the pages that are being liked by them
Now you want to layer the audiences with someone who have purchased or liked printing services before. So you now want to layer in a business like Vistaprint or Moo.com
Now, target your state or country and narrow by age if necessary
This will narrow your audience down to a pretty small sample.
Other tips: 1. Import emails of your existing customers / potential customers phone number/emails into facebook to create an audience. You can then let Facebook duplicate this audience based their demographics to expand audiences.
- As Facebook Ads are becoming more expensive every year, you need to split test Ad copies and value offering.
Direct Mail
There are two types of direct mail that i recommend running. One is a low cost broad end of funnel campaign and the other being a targeted high value campaign.
What do i mean by this? One rookie mistake i see a lot of printing businesses make is to send out 3000 flyers or brochures to local businesses hoping anything will stick. This is the wrong approach and a guaranteed way of burning through your marketing budget.
The two correct ways are:
- Only target the businesses that have shown a significant interest in purchasing from your business. This may be the businesses who you have contacted on the phone or those who have responded positively to your emails. These “warm” leads are those close to the end of your funnel in your CRM. Because there wont be that many perhaps 100-1000 at most, direct mail such as a brochure or price list can be used as a good way to get them to order. From my experience, sending out direct mail once isnt enough, and must be done on a consistent basis monthly over a period of 6-12 months. Because you have narrowed down your warm customers, if you only need to send 100-1000 every time and 1200-12000 max the entire year. You will find this much more effective than sending out 5000 pieces cold to businesses who do not know you. Also mix up the content being sent throughout the months with prices such as pricelist, promotional codes, business cards, magnetic calendars etc
- The second way is to laser target extremely warm leads or big customer accounts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUG7VVRrf-c
Content
While content marketing isnt a channel, it is something that i want to talk about. This is essentially a form of pull marketing because it can educate your customers and guide them to buy the product you want them to buy.
For example, not all real estate agents or local business owners know how magnet printing can help increase their business. It is up to you, as a printer and seller of print material to help educate them on the effectiveness of this form of advertising.
If you highlight the positive side such as the fact that magnetic print material is less likely being thrown away and if it lands on their fridge, it means being seen over and over again throughout the year, they are more likely to purchase.
They will not buy if they do not know this.
Once you create the content necessary to help them make a purchase, then
https://www.slideshare.net/AlexandreFerreiraPal/75-more-content-marketing-examples
Referrals
Referrals is probably one of the most powerful ways of generating new prospects or leads. Get out your customer list and make a compilation of your 50 best customers. Give them a call and ask how they thought the last print project was and if they were satisfied with your service.
Writing the referral script:
- Start with an opening question or statement and state the problem you’ve solved or the need your product/service has met.
Opening statement/question: “Can i ask you a question?” or “I was wondering....”
State the problem: “You brought us in, basically, because of your frustration with the performance of your past printer. And your instincts and data have shown that your decision to bring us in has boosted the quality and profit by 11%. Do you think you’ve seen a good return on investment?
- Check for agreement and ask for a referral. If they agree with you:
Then ask who they know who could use your product or service. Notice we aren’t asking them if they know someone. We are assuming they have plenty of relationships they can pull from. Eg. “I’m glad to hear we’re meeting your expectations. You may or may not know this, but our company is built upon relationships like yours...which made me wonder who you know. Other companies or other business owners, who could use our help? Would you please introduce them to me?
Before the referral call, you can also browse their Linkedin profile and look at who they have interacted with recently that you think might be a good customer for you. You can then call and say a specific name for a referal.
- Thank them and then qualify or quantify the referral: Your client gives you a name. When you first get that referral, quantify or qualify it with a question: “Thank you for that name. I’m curious, why do you think of Mr. / Ms. Customer would be interested in talking to me?” You’ll hear some insights as to whether there’s a need you should be aware of or if it’s just a good connection.
- Ask for an introduction: “Would you be comfortable calling him/her for me to make the introduction?” Then, after a yes, “when do you think you’d be able to make that call?”
- Thank the person. When you receive referrals, thank the source. Show gratitude by giving gifts. If that is not allowed, at least send a thank-you note. This would be a real note, not an email. Then keep the person updated on the status of your new relationship.
Teleprospecting
Telemarketing is a prospecting activity, inviting the person to come down to your business to have a look at the products you sell or asking them to purchase over the phone. You can offer the prospect a special offer on price, a bonus add-on, or a trial offer to test out your product.
Telemarketing is a prospecting method that can get you instant appointments for today and tomorrow and can turn into instant sales.
Building a database is critical for all businesses. Gaining a list of names and numbers of your current clients, ex-clients, and potential customers allows you to communicate with them on various levels, including promotions, newsletters, education, and fun activities.
Databases can be built on specialist industry software or a basic excel spreadsheet. Obtain a range of information about your leads, including name, address, phone number, email address, and their specific needs for your product.
A few resources you can use include:
Thomasnet
Yelp
Manta
Chamber Of Commerce
Local Library
Business Directories
Yellow Pages
Local Newspaper Ads
All of these sources will have the contact information of potential customers who will need your printing services. Before calling, most people like to use a script. This will include who you are, why you are calling and what solutions you are offering.
Here is a sample script that works:
“Hi Pat, this Sandra Smythe from ABC Printing. We help businesses such as yourself increase sales through the printing and distribution of direct mail promotional brochures.
Pat, I’m not sure if my services would be of benefit to your business but I’ve worked with other retailers in your industry helping them increase their customers and ultimately their sales.
If I’ve caught you at good time, I’d like to ask you a few quick questions to get a better feel for your situation and determine if it might be worth our while to chat further.
Let me ask….”
While this is a conventional cold calling script, I recommend using the telephone later in the marketing funnel and sales cycle if you are short on staff. If the person already knows you by name, whether it is through an email conversation or a conversation on Linkedin, the telephone is much more effective, if they are anticipating your call or at least know who you are.
Tips For Teleprospecting:
- If they know who you are, its much easier to get past the gatekeeper. If they ask who you are you can say this is John from ABC Printing, im calling in regards to a conversation i had with Kelly on LinkedIn yesterday about printing magnetic calendars for her direct mail campaign.
Tools I Recommend Using:
Linkedin Sales Navigator -
Finding Emails From Linkedin - Getprospect.io & skrapp.io
Free CRM - Hubspot.com
Social Selling CRM - Nimble.com
Cold Email Sending Software - Woodpecker.com
Finding Leads - Zoominfo.com
Sales Via Email - Nudge.ai
Retargeting - Adroll
Conclusion:
At the end of the day, getting new customers is extremely crucial for businesses in the printing industry due to its competitive nature. So it is very important we explore ways to find and keep customers while still making a reasonable profit margin. We need to see which channel brings in new customers at the lowest cost, below customer lifetime value and then scaling it.
There are other channels for customer acquisition as well that is not mentioned. This includes SEO, guerilla marketing, Twitter, Instagram, Quora, Niche Forums, Youtube etc. While these platforms can be useful, you must test its effectiveness.
To sum up, if you use all of these tactics and channels at the same time, there will be a guaranteed increase in prospects and customers. Make sure you are consistent in your efforts and make it a daily routine!
