Commercial printers, it’s time to step up

The past several years have been tough on the printing industry. Many companies have re-evaluated the role of print in their marketing efforts, often leading to fewer things getting printed. And large online print providers, like Vistaprint, have forced print prices lower than ever before.

If we’ve learned anything navigating this new environment, it’s this: printers can no longer just sit back, upload files, and fire up the press when the client says “go.” Successful printers need to actively participate in the marketing process—stepping up to help customers with everything from strategy, to design, to delivery.

In other words, printers need to become a marketer’s best friend. Here’s what that means:

• Strategy.  Collaborate with or provide a design team that can help customers figure out how to carry out projects and build a campaign, with as much or as little creative guidance as needed. Printers should also understand—and introduce clients to—the complex but fruitful world of variable data.
• Execution. Provide high-quality digital and offset printing capabilities to print materials perfectly in brand.
• Delivery. Provide relief from the ever-changing headache of postal regulations. Printers should know the least expensive and most effective ways to mail just about anything.
• Referrals. Promote close partnerships with everyone from writers to photographers to designers. If your printer can’t do it, they should steer you toward someone who can.

This kind of printer is much more than just an order-taker. It’s one that will call and confirm if they notice an inconsistency in your brochure copy. One that will help you track campaign feedback—and celebrate with you when your efforts pay off. It’s one that lends advice and expertise at all points in the creative process.

It’s the kind of printer that Oregon strives to be every day.

Contact Oregon, and we’ll show how we can help carry out your marketing goals. It could be the start of a beautiful friendship.