We talk a lot about the challenges of marketing and selling 1:1, QR code, email, social media, and other “new media” services. But one of the things we rarely talk about is kind of the elephant in the room — are marketers even willing to give printers the time of day to talk about it? Sure, printers use the term “marketing services provider” now (or sometimes “solutions provider”), but does it really make a difference?
I decided to ask them. I set up an online survey and posted it in several LinkedIn discussion groups. Pass it around to your clients, too, and I’ll tabulate the results and report back next week.
(http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/W38PY5Y)
Please, responses from buyers of print and marketing services only.
Great idea Heidi…I’m looking forward to seeing the results!
Brian
Heidi, this will be interesting! In NZ agencies are happy to engage a print provider/mail house for print and mail but getting them to commit to a cross media campaign is still a bridge too far. My clients providing 1:1 multi channel marketing services are only really having success when dealing directly with the brand/company – and this takes some selling!
One challenge is companies inability to integrate data collected online (in a cross media campaign) for future use. They are still after the quick sales results rather than looking at the lifetime value of their clients and how the benefit of knowing more about them drives response in future campaigns. And that’s just one challenge – as we all know there are many!