This summer I had the opportunity to travel to Europe. As I took in the sites I kept my eyes peeled for interesting print applications. One thing I noticed is that Europe (in the face of economic woe) appeared to be covered head to toe in advertising. As an example, the bill at a restaurant was brought to me in a colourful paperboard folder. Inside it along with the bill were two pieces of packaged gum. Printed on the package was a QR code linking to a contest. This is pretty impressive given the low penetration of smartphones where I was, not to mention that the contest opportunity had been presented in a novel way. How many times have you been handed a plain black vinyl folder with some restaurant branded mints? Imagine changing that into a benefit for one of your partners and your customers (I got a piece of gum in a nice package, and the brand owner got me to think about them).
This month’s article by Chris Smyth will also introduce you to a new set of opportunities for market and branding. The article explains custom publishing (or content marketing)—probably most familiar to you through retail. A highly print-specific example is the use of magazines by retailers such as Shoppers Drug Mart, Sobey’s, the LCBO, and Loblaws. Print is, however, only a portion of this market. The article discusses other areas of growth such as videos and social networking. While generating these types of materials is not free, the draw has been that it can be cheaper than traditional advertising. Getting noticed on youtube by millions is less expensive than paying for that same viewership in a TV slot. No matter the channel, good content marketing must consist of valuable content. Even more importantly, it should be valuable to your customers and prospects specifically. Chris provides you with some great case study examples, ways to think about your ROI, and even steps to develop your own content. I can think of several examples that printers could publish as custom content: community pieces, white papers for clients and how-to videos to name a few. This is an important article if you interact with marketers and an excellent read for those looking for new growth segments.