Exciting Changes

As we continue to evolve into a full-spectrum MSP, knowledge truly becomes
the master-key. More and more, I find myself in the daily position of making
decisions for my clients. Gone are the days of simply providing printing
quotes to customers. Now, you advise and educate them on the varied creative
marketing techniques that should be utilized to best assist them in the
full development of their campaigns.

It's amazing to be selling SERVICES to clients versus just selling a
product. The meeting template has changed, as well. Instead of talking about
paper stocks and sizes, we're now discussing email, PURLs, texting, TV, and
radio. We're building entire campaigns from start to finish, and what's
exciting is that we handle 90 percent of the work, from concept to
fulfillment. Yes, times are changing, but what a great change for printers.

An Ad Agency with Benefits…

That’s how I introduce my company now with my quick 30-second elevator speech. Hello my name is Donnie Boivin with Global Group Inc. we are a Marketing Services Provider company, which is like an Ad Agency with benefits. (After the Laughs) we handle every type of media outlet an agency would but handle the production is done in-house. We work with companies helping them establish brand strategies and campaigns to meet a unique goal. What sets us apart from the competition is that not only will we help concept idea we will produce these ideas in-house.

Marketing and Sales = Explosive

Marketing combined with sales is the heart and soul of any business. They can be done eparately or in conjunction, but combined is when they are most powerful. How do you combine sales with marketing well test the market and see what works. Each person on your sales force has unique qualities and abilities. Each tends to lean toward a certain type of clientele. Some focus on technical clients who prefer specific details on project management and product knowledge. Some of your sales force will work clients that care more about social life and activities and have no need for details. Other might work with clients strictly on a consultant-advisory mode that allows them to guide their client in specific directions. Yet, then again, some of you sales force will combine all aspects of these traits into the ultimate selling machine. However your sales staff works each individual salesperson is unique, and your marketing should complement their sales skills set. With multiple, inexpensive campaigns you can target a plethora of clients quickly and
efficiently with personalized direct mail, email, or utilizing other media outlets. Work with your sales staff and understand their unique abilities; then develop targeted campaigns to up sale current clientele or help prospect into new waters. Develop target campaigns that highlight their
abilities to best fit each client. It will take a little work on your part to set this up, or you can partner with company that specializes in this type of sales technique. If you need more detailed assistance, shoot me an email at B4Marketing@gmail.com . Bottom line the technology is out there to use. Use it before your competition does.

How to Develop Relative Data

In marketing or advertising, I am a firm believer that Data is King! Without it, you won't know who you need to market to or what that message needs to convey. I have worked with many companies that either have no data or the data they have is so outdated it no longer has any relevance. The majority of clients these days seem to have the mentality of
wanting to pawn off whatever they can on whomever they can. That concept is fine with
me . . . as long as they are willing to pay for it. One of these areas is data
management. To the average John Q. Client, data management looks, feels, and sounds
extremely complicated. In reality, it is complicated only if you don't have database
knowledge and experience. Very few people enjoy crunching numbers and measuring metrics for
anything. It takes a dedicated specialist to do it properly, and if done improperly, can have traumatic effects. A client that has no data is a lot easier to work with than a client that
has bad data. Customers with flawed data can, however, allow you to become the
teacher/consultant, if you can properly show them how to obtain quality data and use it
effectively. One client that I worked with had a lot of data on existing members for their fitness facilities but no data on the visitors to various locations. By helping build a capture device and a follow-up method, they are now accomplishing a 24% response rate on direct mail on weekly business. Which constitutes to almost 1 new member out of every 4 potential member
visits to one of their facilities, after a postcard mailing acknowledging the visit. Now
that we have the data, we are streamlining the process to target these people with other marketing campaigns. The capture mechanism is key in this case. It is a form filled out by
a staff member to collect specific data on each visitor. A unique situation requires a unique approach. The capture piece can come in many forms, from landing pages, surveys, forms completed online or via return postcard, and telemarketing. It can be really easy to capture data; however, it's what you do with that data that really matters. A person may know their business but the data will direct them how to market it.

The First Meeting

Becoming a new Marketing Service Provider (MSP) has necessitated that I jump head first into learning new terminologies and programs. This proves to be a somewhat daunting task unless one already has some solid understanding of demographics and metrics. I think it would be extremely difficult for a person who doesn't have a strong marketing background to fully grasp the whole concept of an MSP. You have to be able to speak to a potential client and really sell the idea of measuring everything they promote. For years, many companies have followed the methodology of, "It's the way we have always done it." What's amusing, and tragic, is that most
companies don't even know if their programs work. Recently, I had a meeting with a client for the first time since becoming an MSP. For many years, this customer has routinely sent out a brochure with a major newspaper in the area. This 12-page brochure is dropped along with the newspaper to over a 120k households twice a year. When I asked why they did this
program, I was not surprised to hear that this was how it was done before she started working there (three years prior). There was no evidence of the benefits of the program, only the strict adherence to the habit of just repeating it.

I have learned these key facts when working with clients or potential clients: They way you present yourself has been completely modified. Coming from the commercial printer (CP) mindset, you must free yourself from looking to print whatever piece currently printed just
because that's the way it's always been done. The same goes for advertising agencies; if a client wants to do a project, first figure WHY they want to do this project. At first, this concept may seem scary, but, if asked, "Can you print 120 thousand brochures or do a radio campaign?" your first response should be, "Yes, but what is your overall objective?" If you simply answer yes and leave it at that, you become like every other CP or agency in the area. Companies are looking to streamline processes, so why not deliver it all in one package! Figure out a customer's overall goal and then show them a way to accomplish that goal with a diversified program. Show them how the program can be tested and how it can provide metrics to all the powers-that-be to help them justify the cost associated with the program. Ask the question, "Why do you want to do this mailing? Or, "Why do you want to do this TV commercial?" Armed with this information helps you help the customer achieve their objective and beyond!

The Journey into the World of Marketing Service Providers Begins

You often hear that we are in a constant state of change, forever evolving into something greater than ourselves. This is true in our personal and professional lives. My journey begins, as I take the next step with my company and my career.

It's curious to me how past experiences in life help prepare one for that step. In St. Louis many years ago, I worked as a data specialist for a pharmacy franchise. My job was to crunch data and help our franchisees with their local marketing. Most days I found myself staring at computer screens knowing I had the very livelihood of these franchisees in my hands. I worked with their individual customer data, looking for uniqueness and shared qualities, trying to establish buying habits and trends. We looked at income levels and ethnicities, attempting to discern as much as we could about the people shopping at our pharmacies. Every day we searched through demographic programs and spreadsheets until we identified our true target market. This was the exact personality and lifestyle traits of the people who shopped in out stores. We developed complete marketing campaigns around these known demographics and completely changed the way marketing was accomplished at our company. The work was fun and fascinating, however extremely limited. There was no Variable Data Printing (VDP), no Personal URLs (Purls), no unique landing pages with information capture. Here we had all this information collected and were limited by only the traditional models to implement it. We did utilize blanket direct mail, radio commercials, and even TV commercials but had little idea how well any of those methods worked. It's the same old cliché, "If I only knew then what I know now. . . ."

As I'm able to look back now, I realize that this was my first step in becoming a Marketing Service Provider (MSP). What is a MSP? It's a company that sets itself apart by focusing on ROI (return on investment) versus just a campaign or just producing a job; a company that can see beyond the bottom-line and focus more on the ultimate goal; a company that can help a client define its target market and current demographics and then implement a program to target them and complete the overall objectives, such as increased revenues, same-store sales, or meeting an over-goal of selling "X" amount of product; to be able to see beyond an ad agency and have more flexibility than a Commercial Printer (CP); utilizing capabilities that allow you to actually test and prove what is working or not; to be able to justify the spending on a campaign with metrics to prove results. Think about the power of being able to tangibly realize that your great marketing idea was effective (and to what degree!) and with the ability prove it! That's a MSP; and that's powerful.

Now I have the unique opportunity to take this learned knowledge and apply it. My desire is to share my continuing journey and perspective as my company makes the transition from CP to MSP. I will talk about what we discover along the way. Hopefully you will find this information insightful and helpful.