As printers, we’re no strangers to industry evolution. While there’s a tendency for the commercial printing and mailing communities to feel as though we’re victims of technological changes— I say let’s embrace new growth opportunities instead of lamenting the past. Marketers of all stripes from small biz owners to inbound pros must adapt or get left behind. The old advertising paradigm of mass messaging and one way communication won’t win your brand the kind of long term relationships you need to develop.
Speaking of evolution, the fine folks at Vocus created a special contest to celebrate the spirit of progress: #EvolveMKTG! Share your best marketing prediction or your biggest challenge on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #EvolveMKTG. Your share automatically puts you into a raffle drawing—the grand prize is a MacBook Air and a 1 year subscription to the Vocus Marketing Suite! The contest ends on March 31st, so you have time to put your thinking cap on.
The PrintFirm #EvolveMKTG entry
Since we’re Vocus clients, I already have access to the suite. We purchased the small biz PR package, and they recently added the Suite as an upgrade. That means I probably can’t win the contest. But the Vocus team’s been in my corner since the early days of my career; I even wrote about my devotion to the best PR service in the business in our Twitter Tale. Senior Social Media Community Manager Stacey Miller in particular really goes the extra mile on customer care. Here’s her personal Twitter account so you can follow her adventures:
LinkedIn Wants to Dilute Your Brand http://t.co/0RmDIDFIW5 via @margieclayman
— Stacey Miller (@staceylamiller) March 28, 2014
I’m happy to report that after a year with PR Web, we’ve increased our brand awareness tenfold. And PR Web is our #1 source of referral traffic. Our last release got picked up by 268 sites, which wouldn’t be possible without a quality distribution service. So I’m hoping one of you awesome people will read this and win! May you find similar success with the right tools at your fingertips (social media metrics, email campaigns, and more).
Now for my personal marketing prediction:
Ok, maybe I’m a little biased towards print communications. Nevertheless, print is an essential part of the marketing mix because of the emotional factor. My prediction already stands out more than the rest because it’s proudly written on premium recycled Neenah Paper (For the paper geeks, Environment Smooth Desert Storm 24 W).
Looking forward to seeing your entry in the #EvolveMKTG stream! If you happen to win, please send a tweet our way to let us know. Good luck!