“Exhilarating and fast” is how VP of Marketing Francis McMahon describes the integration of Canon and Océ in his PRINT-13 interview with Mark Michelson of Printing Impressions magazine. In the interview, McMahon explains how the integration of the two companies allows them to do more for customers than ever before. Joint R&D, funding, training, programming, and the addition of new leadership have heightened the speed at which CSA successfully brings solutions to market. Hear for yourself what McMahon has to say…

Among the many exciting 2014 products, did you catch the name of one of the industry’s first cutsheet inkjet device?!

Meet the Niagara. “Exhilarating and fast” is also one way to categorize this high-volume sheetfed color inkjet press. Revolutionary to the print industry itself, the Niagara features a patented four-color ink system (with a planned future extension of up to six stations) that will produce at a speed of 3,800 duplex B3 sheets per hour and up to 8,500 duplex letter-sized sheets per hour, with a monthly volume of up to 10 million letter sheets per month. The Niagara consolidates sheetfed black-and-white and color workflows on to one production printing system, which ultimately streamlines print jobs and can reduce overall operating costs. One of the most exciting and celebrated features of this product surrounds its ability to leverage many already existing in-line finishing options. The ultimate combination of speed, efficiency, quality, and consistency. Look out for the Niagara at the end of 2014 and early on the 2015 market!

Interested in learning more? Check out the full press release here

No matter how large or small a business is, the following four marketing channels are must-haves for increasing brand awareness, growing product interest, and enhancing your online presence.

1. Your Website: A corporate website should be your business’s first priority for establishing a strong marketing effort. Strong websites have the ability to promote all of your products and services, collect data from inquiries and leads, and help enhance your search engine optimization. Online searches are the primary way for people to find any type of business these days – make sure their first impression of your business is a positive one!
2. Email: Whether your business is B2B or B2C, this channel is a must-have because people use their email every day, for both personal and business reasons. You can use it to announce new products, cross-promote services, and for follow-up campaigns from previous events. Email is a great way to stay in front of your audience, increase product awareness, and drive traffic to your website.
3. Mobile: In case you didn’t notice, mobile devices are kind of a big deal right now and they aren’t going away. Businesses of all kinds need to review their website from mobile phones, tablets, laptops – you name it! If the user experience of your website is not mobile-optimized, you are losing your mobile audience.
4. Social Media: There are many benefits of social media marketing for businesses. These channels are great for staying in front of your audience’s eyes on a daily basis, driving traffic to your website, and finding new audiences. Social media channels also tend to rank higher in search engine results because they are updated so frequently.

Each one of these marketing channels are essential for broadcasting your business’s capabilities to your audience.

What other marketing channels does your company invest a lot of its time into? I’d love to hear below!

Sick of hearing about QR Codes yet? Sorry, but it’s not going to slow down anytime soon. New comScore data shows that smartphone penetration has reached what it calls “a significant majority,” with 156 million people in the U.S. now owning a smartphone. This is nearly two-thirds (65%) of the mobile market.

While people don’t scan QR Codes just because they own smartphones, this does increase the base for adoption. Plus, smartphone owners are using their phones for an increasingly sophisticated array of services. They — we — like to scan things. (Well, we do, don’t we?)

According to the Parks Associates study “Transforming Commerce: Mobile Wallets and LBS,” for example, 20% of all smartphone owners have used at least one mobile location service or mobile wallet in 2013. This is forecast to increase to about 113 million, or 43% of all smartphone owners within three years.

Furthermore, the study found that almost half of all holiday consumer electronics shoppers in 2013 expected to use their smartphones while shopping. More than one-third (35%) of these planned to use their smartphones to look up product information. This is one of the key uses for QR Codes, especially on packaging.

This doesn’t automatically translate into QR Code use, but it certainly speaks to trending mobile phone behavior that supports QR Code use.

I’m curious, has anyone reading this not scanned a QR Code in the past month?

I’ve put the question out there for awhile: Has there been sufficient adoption of QR Codes that we should start removing the explanatory text around them?  The answer has been a resounding “No!” Feedback is that the explanations are still necessary.

The other day, a friend mine, knowing that I write about QR Codes frequently, pointed out a “QR Code” on a label that might be of interest to me. It was, in fact, a Datamatrix used for tracking.

That made me wonder. Have consumers become so used to seeing the square black-and-white tracking codes (such as those used for inventory management) that, when they see QR Codes, they think they are just larger versions? Could this by why some consumers still don’t recognize QR Codes as marketing response mechanisms?

If so, then it makes sense why some sort of explanatory text is necessary. Perhaps that explanation doesn’t have to be how to scan, how to download a reader, or that level of detail. Perhaps it can be something more subtle, such as making it part of the call to action: “Scan this code to get a 10% discount!” Or, “Scan this code for a chance to win free tickets!”

Such calls to action should be used anyway. The point is just that perhaps it’s less critical to tell people how to use the codes than it is simply to draw the distinction between codes for tracking and inventory management (which consumers ignore) and codes for marketing response (which they shouldn’t). What do you think?

Marketers today need content and plenty of it. Ebooks and whitepapers make great giveaways, but, increasingly, users demand their info in bite-size chunks. Enter short-form content.

By definition, short-form content is created quickly and consumed even faster. Widely used examples include tweets, Facebook and/or LinkedIn status updates, Instagram photos, and even truncated blog posts and articles.

Josh Schwartz, a data scientist at  traffic analysis firm Chartbeat, took a look at how people scroll through Slate articles. His data shows that readers can’t stay focused. “When people land on a story, they very rarely make it all the way down the page. A lot of people don’t even make it halfway.”

Popular apps and software like the following confirm that users are hungry for short and sweet.

• Vine, a mobile app that features seven-second video clips. Example: Airbnb.

• Tapestry, an app that employs digital index cards by which users tell a “short story,” one card at a time. Example: Patch.

• Infographics that turn complex textual information into a picture. Example: 10 Ways To Use Infographics.

• Pinterest, a collection of photos gathered from around the web to tell a particular story. Example: Amnesty International.

• Flipboard, software used to “build” your own magazine on any subject, simply by aggregating web content. Example: Evernote.

• Snapguide, an app that lets users create and share concise step-by-step “how-to” guides. Example: School of Architecture, Kingston University London.

• Snapchat, a mobile photo and video sharing service developed by Stanford University students. Talk about short! Messages posted to Snapchat self-destruct after they’re viewed. (P.S. Snapchat is H-O-T, having recently turned down a $3 billion buy offer from Facebook.) Also consider SnapChat Stories, eager to grow in ever smaller ways with  VC money  waiting in the wings. Example: Sorry, no examples are available; they’ve all self-destructed.

There’s one more short-form app I’m compelled to add because it’s so futuristic. This app — Summly  – generates short content for users automatically. Developed by a 17-year-old Brit and recently sold to Yahoo for a rumored $30 million, Summly delivers machine-generated news summaries to mobile users. 

It is very interesting to me how print is reinventing itself right now. Print and mobile, in particular, seem to be having quite the love affair.

For example, more steps toward integration were announced by Lord & Taylor and Hudson’s Bay just recently.  Both are using the same mobile application (Pounce) to allow customers to make purchases directly from print media using their their smartphones and tablets.

The experience of the user is very much like a checkout screen on a website. The customer scans the code on a piece of direct mail, a circular, or a magazine. On their screen pops up a mobile-optimized page. The page shows the item, the price, and allows them to select size, color, and quantity. When they are ready, they hit “purchase.” First-time users have to input all of their credit card and other information, of course, but subsequent purchases can be made using the same app with a single click. As long as the retailer is using the same app, their credit card information is stored and they don’t have to input it again.

Although mobile wallet apps have been around for awhile, incorporation by large brand names will help spur adoption. Currently, they require explanatory text and app downloads, but just like QR Codes, they are becoming more common. Over time, less explanation will be necessary.

This is great news for print. The more print can be used to drive mobile sales, the more valuable print becomes.

The data is on a very positive trend. As reported by MediaPost based on a Parks Associates study “Transforming Commerce: Mobile Wallets and LBS,” 20% of all smartphone owners used at least one mobile location service or mobile wallet in 2013. The study suggests that this will increase to 43% of all smartphone owners within three years.

Do you have any clients who could benefit from a mobile payment app?

It’s become part of our national consciousness . . . “Mike, Mike, Mike! What day is it? HUMP D-A-A-A-A-Y!!!”  It’s the Geico camel and his ridiculous waddle through the office. “Hump D-A-A-A-A-Y!” has become one of those brand phrases that become incorporated into our daily speech.

That’s why when this letter showed up in our mailbox, it had such promise. The familiar “Mike, Mike, Mike” replaced with “John, John, John” and the familiar camel staring at me across the envelope.

Unfortunately for Geico, there is no John here. It’s a quirk related to our former address. John is my father-in-law’s name, and it seems that the list never got cleaned.

Personalization should have really worked here. Unfortunately, when you get a name wrong — especially on the outside of the envelope — it’s not a good marketing tactic.

There are techniques to clean up messes like this before they happen. People move all the time, and there are tactics for identifying and removing duplicate names within a defined geographic radius.

If your clients are purchasing lists for producing personalized prospect mailings, work with someone who knows the pitfalls of purchased data and how to avoid common mistakes. When embarrassments like these get avoided, you look like the hero and your client doesn’t look like the heel.

PODi recently independently reviewed the Canon Océ PRISMAprepare workflow suite and authored case studies and product briefings on these workflow solutions. The overview from PODi:

“Canon’s Oce PRISMAprepare simplifies and streamlines document make-ready processes to efficiently compile, correct, personalize and program print applications. This includes various layout and tab programming, spine printing, color splitting and releasing to production presses. While it can be integrated with other software packages, PRISMAprepare can also be used as a completely self-contained stand-alone make-ready solution.”

PODi completed their analysis by posting a series of podcasts reviewing PRISMAprepare capabilities including:
• Document Editing
• Page and Image Editing
• Personalization
• Make-ready Automation

For more information – visit PODi’s site here.

It’s no secret that the internet has taken off. So my question to you now is, how developed are your online marketing tactics?

With almost 100 million people using the Internet in the United States alone, I hope your answer is very.

Yes, I know there are so many options and offers floating around out there. They are all intended to help you and your business drive traffic to your website and generate leads through inbound tactics, but the question is, what is right for you?

How can you draw customers to your services?

Learn how you can succeed with online marketing in 3 easy steps by downloading “Online Marketing: Tools You Need to Succeed,” free for The Digital Nirvana readers!

Take a moment to read and share this resource at http://ilnk.me/OnlineMkt! Do you have any additional tips for success with online marketing? I’d appreciate your feedback below!

Whenever I write on “greening print marketing,” I always get rotten tomatoes thrown at me. In a virtual sense, of course.  I get the inevitable, “Printing isn’t green! The only green my customers care about is the kind in their wallets anyway.” In other words, nobody cares.

I care, and I’m not sure that “nobody cares” is true anyway.

When I write on greening print marketing, I’m not saying that printing is green. What I continue to say now, and what I have said in the past, is that clients can make their print marketing green-ER by taking simple steps. That’s print marketing (not printing itself) and they can make it green-ER. More than it was.

Last week, I posted some data on changing consumer attitudes toward green products. What was interesting was that, while the luster has come off the green label, consumers still care. They just look at labels for green information instead of doing intensive research and they aren’t willing to pay more for it. But they still care. Last I checked, clients and prospects are still consumers.

Are they going to select your business because your print shop is greener than another? Probably not, but “going green” makes people feel good. Anytime you have a story to tell that makes you clients feel good, especially without requiring them to actually do anything different, you’re doing something positive for your business.

As I talk about in Greening Print Marketing, the green discussion is really the same discussion you’re having with your customers already. It’s about targeting, segmentation, personalization, cleaning up databases, print on demand, JIT, and Web-to-print. It’s the same discussion just framed differently.

Another reason to talk about green is that, when all things are otherwise equal, you also never know what is going to tip the scales between someone choosing to work with you and choosing to work with a competitor. It might be the press you are printing on. It might the color of the carpet in your entryway. It might be the fact that you talk about greening print marketing on your website and your competitor doesn’t mention green initiatives at all.

Your clients may not be asking you about green initiatives, but that doesn’t meant they don’t care of that talking about them won’t positively impact their perception of your business or have long-term value in their customer loyalty. Every printer has at least some green story to tell, and if you sit down and really think about it, I’ll bet you’ll find it. It’s worth telling.

Want to learn how to keep your print services on top within the fast-paced marketing community? If so, InfoTrends’ Kate Dunn offers insight and recommendations on how to adapt and automate print services for your clients. Sponsored by the PressGo program of Canon Solutions America, this webinar gives you the information needed to bolster your online business.

You might be asking, “What are some of the web-based market models out there?” For starters, there is the standard Ad-hoc Send-and-Print, which most printers already have in place. This allows the customer to upload a single file, receive a cost estimate, and send the file to print. The Catalog and Template based models mainly surround business communications, sales and marketing collateral, and direct mail, which are customizable to certain degrees. The holy grail of models is Process Automation, which integrates an enhanced supply chain with fully customizable print ordering.

OK, let’s apply a model to a real-life scenario. With an automated template process system, a realtor can sign-in online, choose a business card template, select copy that pertains to his property sales pitch, send the card to print, as well as have the business cards packaged, postmarked, and mailed to recipients. Accomplished all in a series of clicks without having to juggle communications with a number of service providers.

Let’s review: why are automated print services so important? Well, InfoTrends predicts that 40% of all printed materials will be procured over the Internet in the coming year. Customers are asking for automation services in order to streamline their supply-chain and maximize profits. In short, web-based automation adds value for both you and your clients. Today’s marketing supply chain consists of multiple, interconnected suppliers that an organization relies on to produce materials (print, promotional, and point-of-sale) to market their products and services. It’s astonishing, however, that 70% of businesses surveyed have no way to track or predict obsolescence within their supply chain. The last thing any client wants is a loss of control over their brand! That’s where a web-based approach is applied to fix the gap. Some of the benefits include: customer access 24/7, increased print accuracy, reduced customer service workloads, and enhanced volume production. Sounds like a nicely packaged offer to me.

If you want the complete list of benefits, the stats, and further insight into web-to-print solutions, view the webinar here:

Research into the purchase of “green” consumer products shows that overall, consumer awareness and value of green product development is growing even as their commitment to actually paying more for green products is waning. Consumers like to think of themselves as being green, but their actual purchasing behavior should not be taken for granted.

Does this mean you should scale back your plans for encouraging your clients to green their print marketing? No! If consumers are going to purchase green products, they are most influenced by very simple factors you can help your clients control — print and packaging.

In “The Green (r)Evolution,” Grail Research found that of the top five reasons for consumers to purchase green products, four of them are heavily influenced by print: the product is manufactured from recycled / post-consumer materials, the product can be recycled, the packaging can be recycled, and the product has green certification.

What this means is that if your customers aren’t printing information related to the recyclability and recycled content in their products and packaging, encourage them to get it on there! According to Grail Research, more than half (55%) of consumers say that they look for information about a product’s greenness on the packaging itself.

Furthermore, these factors [which are heavily influenced by print and packaging] are the most influential in the broadest category of green consumers — “light green.” Therefore they receive the biggest bang for the buck in terms of visibility.

Grail also found that consumers evaluate companies and products differently when it comes to being green. Adopting sustainable manufacturing practices is perceived as the most important green attribute for companies. Thirty-four percent of consumers said that it was “very important,” not that the product itself was green, but that the company manufacturing it was green. So if you or your clients have environmental certifications, make sure they are printed on your packaging, promotional materials, and displays where they can be easily seen.

Green may not be the heavy hitter it once was in marketing, but where green does still influence consumer behavior, it is promotes the need for print.

Writing at businesgrow.com on January 6, influential blogger Mark Schaefer postulated that content marketers are in for Content Shock, “the merging marketing epoch defined when exponentially increasing volumes of content intersect our limited human capacity to consume it.”

In other words, too much to read and not enough time. But is Schaefer right?

On January 7, Christopher Penn took on the topic in his shiftcomm.com response. “Mark makes the point that deep pockets will win the content marketing battle, to the extent that it can be won, and he’s correct. Any content marketing effort absolutely must have paid media behind it to help it grow. The days of “build it and they will come” are long, long gone.”

Not everybody who commented at Mark’s post agreed, of course. Brian Clark, founder and owner of copyblogger pointed out that “If content (something people want) is doomed, then advertising (something people allegedly don’t want) should already be dead … you raise a valid issue Mark, but have come to a sensationalist and untenable conclusion.”

Joe Pulizzi added, “This is where so many brands go wrong…they think they need a lot of readers/engagers to be successful with their content marketing. Sometimes, it only takes one (some content programs are geared toward just one company, or even, one individual). That is why this thing is so powerful.”

Industry legend Shel Holtz blogged “Six Reasons There Will Be No Content Shock,” including [my favorite] “We are mainly consumers of niche content.” Shel’s right. All that content out there has nothing to do with us. We choose what we read and always have.

A  host of other blog commentators had opinions about Schaefer’s posit, too. A few even had solutions.

1. Be local and give back.
2. Build and connect with a “tribe.”
3. Listen more than tell; connect at a deeper level.
4. View “content” as a transition, not a destination.
5. Interact more with the audiences you already have.
6. Master engagement, customer service, and rapid response.

My favorite resolution is the discovery and application of better filters to drown out the noise we don’t want. Moreover, as times/technology/innovations unfold, new content will continue you to be in demand. After all, if content marketers don’t, who will explain and analyze what’s happening now? As for old content, it will, over time, just sit there, unnoticed, someplace in the digital archives, replaced by the fresh content we do want.

That’s why I’m not worried about content fatigue. How about you?

Are you keeping a log of stats for promoting 1:1 printing over online alternatives? One of the categories of stats I keep seeing recently is how a high percentage of online targeting is completely mistargeted.

Most recently, Blue Research noted that not only is online advertising mistargeted, but consumers are getting so irritated by irrelevant advertising that they are abandoning the brands doing it.

Here’s the latest:

96% of consumers report receiving mistargeted information or promotions. While that’s not new, many are so fed up that they are abandoning brands as a result. [1]

Sure, there is the occasional database mess-up in 1:1 printing, but overall, targeting in print is highly accurate. The contrast with online mistargeting can create a powerful impression on customers thinking of reducing print volume in favor of electronic alternatives.

[1] 2014 Consumer Research: Social Login and Personalization (Blue Research 2014)

When we read about cross-media marketing, we are most likely to read about sprawling, comprehensive campaigns that involve multiple social media sites, TV, mobile, posters and billboards, integrated dashboards and real-time metrics from global brands. White papers abound from IT services and data management companies like SAS.

It’s as if cross-media marketing has to be big or it’s not effective.

But what is cross-media marketing really? It’s communicating a marketing message using multiple channels or moving consumers from one channel to another to reinforce branding or communicate a marketing message.

That means that QR Codes are cross-media marketing. Personalized URLs on direct mail or email are cross-media marketing. Direct mailers with email follow-ups are cross-media marketing. These are campaigns that are easily implemented, and as long as they are done well, they generally achieve much better results than a single channel alone.

In an ideal world, every marketer would be able to use big data, gain a 360-degree view of the customer, and start, monitor, and measure social media conversations relating to their brands. But if that’s the only way we talk about cross-media marketing, it makes these campaigns sound inaccessible to the average marketer.

It’s time to bring the cross-media marketing conversation down to earth and talk about real campaigns that are really implementable by even small and mid-sized marketers.

How are you helping your customers do that?