The times are tough and there has been a huge paradigm shift in the Canadian Print Industry due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic! While entertainment, marketing and corporate enterprises dominated the Print Industry previously, the demand from those industries has dropped drastically and Print Shop owners have been forced to rethink their sales strategies.
For instance, 3D printing businesses have diverted to the Healthcare industry by providing customized and standard Personal Protection Equipments aka PPE products to enterprises and individuals. Others have diverted towards digital platforms and have introduced customized products to their product offerings to serve the retail and corporate customers with products such as masks, Coronavirus communication products and customized print products with the help of an online design studio commonly known as a web to print solution.
Although Canada is reviving itself and Printers have managed to survive during these times, it is now high time that they think not just of survival but also of growth as the world adjusts to the new normal! While the product diversifications, adaptation of digital platforms and investment in an ideal web-to-print solution for customized product offerings has become the new essentials in the Print Industry for long term growth, for Print Store owners must take to boost their sales and quickly grow in the Printing Industry in a short term, below are some approaches that Print Shop owners can adapt for quick growth.
Tips to Grow your Print Shop Business Sales in Minimal Time:
1. Employ Push Marketing Strategy:
Now is not the time to sit back and wait for the customers to reach out to you for their print demands! It is time to put the pedal to the metal and accelerate your marketing activities with Push Marketing Strategies! To put it simply, push marketing strategies are those promotional activities that businesses employ to take their products to their potential customers. Below are a few of those Push Strategies that can result in short term sales growth.
- Social Media Marketing:
With a majority of cosmopolitans are working from home during these times, there has been a surge in Canada’s active Social Media users and businesses can easily reach your potential customers on these platforms! Printers can employ a mix of organic and paid marketing strategies and use their online product designer software to integrate their customized products on the social media platforms.
- Re-establishing connections with past clients and customers:
One of the most adapted ways of sales and promotions by businesses around the world have during this pandemic is by maintaining communication with present and past clients! You too can reach out to your past and present customers via emails, calls and newsletters with your availability status, your product introductions and general hygiene and precautionary standards.
- Search for future leads:
As a print shop owner, it is essential that you understand the market situation and based on that you anticipate the future demands that customers might make. Not only do you have to prepare for those demands, you must actively search for such leads well in advance! Assign your marketing team to search for any such requirements and start gathering leads well in advance before you prep your business for those products.
Also Read: Product Personalization: The Perfect Organic Marketing Tactic For a Print eCommerce
- Cold Calls and Print Ads:
While these activities are tedious and conventional, they can still help during these times especially when you need to find quick ways to surge your sales. But instead of making scripted advertisements and cold calls, you can introduce personalized approaches and can also introduce promotional schemes for advertisements.
2. Introduce irresistible promotional strategies:
No matter how dire the situation gets, we Canadians will always respond to quality products and promotions where they see their benefit! But instead of relying on heavy product discounts and reducing your profit margins, you can create smart promotional strategies with other associated business processes! For instance, while quick deliveries were a norm during the pre-corona period, it has become a luxury during these COVID-19 times! Thus, you can introduce “guaranteed deliveries” and “quick deliveries” and that too at a premium price! Apart from that, you can introduce discounts on “customizations”, “quantity” and also towards “access to your online product designer”!
3. Seek for Print Demand Surge trends:
Right from floor graphics to signage and banners for Coronavirus communications to need for customized masks and t-shirts for general and fundraiser usage, Canada has seen a lot of Print Demand surges! Keep an eye on these demands and introduce it quickly on your digital platforms with Web-to-print software and increase your sales quickly!
But you mustn’t make major investments in inventory and designs only on your anticipations! Instead, you can leverage your online print shop software to create virtual designs and ask customers to place bulk orders or once the actual demand and orders start rolling in, only after that you make all the necessary changes and investments.
4. Introduce COVID-19 category with Customised Products:
The world is not going back to its past normal anytime soon and even though the economies and businesses are resuming their activities around the world, the new normal will still have many customized product requirements! Whether it is customized masks or PPE products or fundraiser merchandise, Print Business must introduce Customised products with the help of an online product designer tool and list them under the COVID-19 Category on all their digital platforms.
Also Read: How to Start A Photo Printing Business? A Step by Step Guide
5. Customer-Centric Approaches:
The best way to increase your sales is by increasing the lead conversion ratio! And to increase the numbers of sales and customers, personalized customer experiences is one of the best ways! Not only is personalized customer experiences effective, it has become the need of the hour as competition is high in the market and personalized experiences and customer-centric approaches can lead to satisfied customer experiences! When you have a high customer satisfaction ratio, you will have a lot of organic brand representatives who will promote your business and your product offerings with positive word of mouth.
Parting Words:
While many businesses in Canada are facing crises in these unprecedented times, with the above-mentioned strategies and approaches not only can you sustain your Printing business, but you can also grow in the short term! However, to ensure that these strategies have effective execution, it is essential that not only do you have established and optimized Digital Platforms, you must also have a wide range of customized product offerings and an ideal web-to-print solution to ensure your customers have a delightful experience.
