As we come to the end of this six-part email series, it’s important to remember that “the buyer’s journey is nothing more than a series of questions that must be answered,” and it’s your job as the printer to provide the content that answers those questions.
To bring you up to speed, in case you missed anything over the last six weeks, here’s what we’ve covered:
- What the ultimate buyers’ journey for your print buyers would look like
- What the Awareness Stage is and what types of content work best
- Content types and a better understanding of the Consideration Stage
- Reaching the point of purchase within the Decision Stage
- Which is better: a Flywheel vs. Funnel Approach
If you’ve ever thought that all we ever talk about is content, you have good reason to think that (and it means we’re doing our job!). Content is one of the crucial ingredients for the success of your overall print website, and it’s vital to help move your print buyers from stage to stage within the buyers’ journey.
Today, though, we’re going to look beyond the content and show you how everything works together to achieve your goal: more print orders for your printing company.
Content is Your First Step, But Don’t Stop There
If your only strategy for growing your print business was to focus on content, you might be extremely valuable in the way of providing knowledge and information to your audience, but you’d probably still be struggling to sell printing.
You see, the thing about content is it’s only the first step in acquiring and keeping prospects and customers. Content is the invitation that helps to open the doors to create relationships and build trust.
But, remember, that content invitation is useless if it can’t be translated into sales or you never actually get a return on investment from all of your content.
This is where online ordering comes in.
Content + Online Ordering = More Sales!
Content is what will bring your print buyers in, but it’s your e-commerce solutions, your offering of online ordering, that translates that content into more sales.
Think of content and online ordering as two prongs of the same plug-in. You won’t get any power with only one prong. You need both to complete the circuit and get the results you’re looking for.
If you have content without online ordering capabilities, you’re probably credible, trustworthy, knowledgeable, and… struggling! You could be missing out on all of those potential customers you snagged in with your content because you have a massive roadblock in their way: no way to order from you online.
On the other hand, if you have online ordering capabilities without content, you’re providing a way for customers and prospects to order printing, but they have no compelling reason to want to order from you or ever return to your website. They don’t know you, they haven’t built up any trust with you, so they have no desire to take a risk and order online from you. It’s those things that are accomplished through your content.
Like peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper, and bacon and anything, content and online ordering work best when they work together, helping you to sell more printing and increasing your bottom line.
Putting it All Together Through the Eyes of Your Print Buyer
Let’s walk through what the complete buying journey could look like in real life through the eyes of a print buyer.
Meet Parker, the Print Buyer. Parker recently opened his own dental clinic and isn’t sure where to start in getting the word out to potential new clients.
Parker’s buying journey might look something like this:
Awareness Stage
Parker’s thought process: My last direct mail campaign didn’t get near the results I was expecting.
On-site content provided by you, the printer: 3 Ways to Sabotage Your Next Direct Mail Piece (And How to Market Smarter)
Your content offer: Drive Exponential Growth Through Omnichannel Marketing (white paper)
Consideration Stage
Parker’s thought process: I need to make my direct mail campaign more effective. But how?
On-site content provided by you, the printer: 6 Rock-Solid Strategies to Improve Your Next Direct Mail Campaign
Your content offer: 10 Simple Tips for Effective Direct Mail (downloadable checklist)
Decision Stage
Parker’s thought process: Working with a professional printer would help me maximize my direct mail campaign’s results.
On-site content provided by you, the printer: How Working with a Professional Printing Firm Tripled My Results (case study/testimonials)
Your content offer: Request Your Free Custom Estimate/Order Now
This is a key milestone in your print buyers’ journey.
Do your print buyers have the ability to place that order with you online the minute they’ve decided to purchase from you? Or, is there a giant no-way-to-order-online-from-you stumbling block in their way? Online ordering capabilities paired with your content, make this step in the journey as smooth and effortless as it can be.
Keeping Parker in the Flywheel
Parker’s thought process: None. His order is complete, and he’s stopped thinking about you, unless…
Content provided by you, the printer: Follow-up email that asks how his latest direct mail campaign went.
Your content offer to keep them in the flywheel cycle: 3 Opportunities for Better Customer Follow-up (blog)
Bringing it Full Circle
As you’ve seen, being ready with the right content at the right time will not only maximize your sales, but it will ensure you satisfy the needs of your print buyers as well.
If your print buyers’ journey could use some content help, be sure to reach out to us for help below to build your library of content and online ordering resources instantly!
