Did you know that 62 per cent of retailers are using digital printing to make promotional products? What about that more than 80% are using it for direct mail marketing? According to a study from the Specialty Graphic Image Association and NAPCO Research, digital printing is being utilized by marketers at each stage of the Buyer’s Journey in order to provide greater personalization, making marketing more relevant for specific consumers.
Not only did marketers who used digital printing across the buyer’s journey see greater customer acquisition, but half said that customer engagement increased dramatically as well.
What is the Buyer’s Journey?
The Buyer’s Journey, or conversion funnel, is a way of visualizing the steps consumers take towards making a purchasing decision in order to create marketing strategies that target them at each specific stage.
These stages can vary somewhat, but they are generally comprised of the Awareness, Consideration, Decision and Retention steps. Here’s how digital printing can be used to attract consumers at each of these buyer’s journey stages.
Step 1: The Awareness Stage
At the Awareness stage, consumers are only just becoming aware that they have a problem that needs to be solved. At this point, marketing should be focused on raising brand awareness and targeting the consumer’s pain point.
For instance, a direct mail marketing campaign at this stage can be targeted to certain areas and act as educational content focusing on specific seasonal issues facing B2B or B2C clients. Creating content that speaks to particular buyer personas is very important at this stage, because you want to create trust. The customizability offered by digital printing allows you to tailor very specific messages very easily.
Be warned, the awareness stage is not about “selling.” You want to create trust with your target market before you start discussing specific goods and services.
Step 2: The Consideration Stage
Once consumers identify their pain point, they will research a wide variety of businesses for solutions that will alleviate it most efficiently.
At this point, distributing customized promotional products that are functional and extol your goods and services will keep your brand at the top of the consumer’s mind as they weigh their options.
For instance, a real estate firm distributing customized promotional products like calendars can use it as an opportunity to include details about their closing rates and other accomplishments.
Step 3: The Decision Stage
Once the consumer narrows the field to their top prospects, that’s the time to produce digital printed pieces that wow and excite. Send out a direct mail marketing campaign with exclusive claim offers to the consumers most likely to convert, to put a cherry on top over your competitors.
Using high-quality, digital printing for packaging and signage can create a bespoke packet the consumers feel was practically made for them, thus driving considerable customer engagement.
Step 4: The Retention Stage
Just because a consumer has converted, doesn’t mean that the buyer’s journey is complete. Rather, this is your opportunity to convert a one-time customer into a brand loyalist with retargeted direct mail campaigns that address their specific needs and offer exclusive deals just for them.
This is made possible by digital printing analytics that give you access to increased customer tracking and profiling. These advanced functions can only be provided by printing companies with the latest digital printing and web-to-print solutions, such as Print Three.
For 50 years, the Print Three network has provided businesses across Canada with the latest direct mail marketing and digital printing solutions to target consumers at all stages of the The Buyer’s Journey. Contact us to learn how we can grow your business.