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Self-promotion That Scores

Too expensive?
Too trite?
Crafting the marketing plan that’s “just right.”

By Rebecca Trela

Marketing, like scheduling a dentist appointment, is one of those things that you know you should do for yourself but it always seems to be the last priority. Until something happens, that is—like a toothache or a dip in sales—and then it’s almost too late. Your tooth already hurts; you’ve run out of money for advertising or sponsorships.

Even if you own the most thriving distributorship in town, and clients refer your services to their 10 closest friends, marketing is still important to growing your business. It can alert new customers to your presence or existing customers to your new capabilities. It serves as a reminder of services, especially if your messages are timed, and it reinforces a consistent brand. It supports the hard work you’re already doing by prospecting on the phone and in person. And take your own advice—you know end users need to market themselves. Shouldn’t you do the same?

It Takes Money to Make Money
In a wholesale-distribution channel, most manufacturers and sellers concentrate expertise in their primary responsibility, says Gary Moore, a speaker, author and distribution consultant. Moore is a former president of a manufacturing company in the material handling industry. “They’re so involved in the mechanics of what they do that the next thing doesn’t occur to them. ‘Marketing’ sounds like a national TV station kind of thing.”

Most people believe marketing is complicated, expensive and uncomfortable, he says. “They order a few hats and caps and maybe a website.” That’s definitely not enough. Tangible elements must be combined with direct mail and a complementary website and similarly angled sales calls, which work together to build a consistent, lasting image in the customer’s mind.

And it may also require soul-searching: What is your company objective? What makes you special? What’s the best way to reach your group of people? The answers to these questions will help your company move forward with direct action, instead of ambling along without a plan.

A Wide Open World
The biggest roadblock that stops many distributors from marketing themselves effectively is ignorance of the options. Many think they have two choices: low-end and overused postcards and brochures, or high-end and costly VDP campaigns or ad agencies. Distributor network alliances, such as American Solutions for Business or Proforma, provide marketing help—but also involve many other parts of the business. What’s in the middle? There are some tried-and-true options (see sidebar, “Middle Ground”) and a few new ideas popping up in the industry.

Low-Cost Solutions
At PSDA’s Small Distributor Summit in Pittsburgh last spring, a handful of participants began discussing a marketing cooperative as a way to better promote their businesses affordably. A group of distributors pays a graphic designer to invent a marketing campaign that’s stylish, relevant and customizable. It includes sell sheets, a VDP postcard and other items. Each person pays for his or her printing costs and the variable information, but splits the design fees. Surprisingly, says Phil Bertels, the group’s leader and organizer, after a few months of phone calls and emails, there are only eight dedicated people.

“I was really shocked,” he said. “When I put this together, I thought, ‘This is a situation where I’ll have to say ‘no’ to people,’” he says. The small distributors are working together with other owners in the same industry, but not the same geographic area. ZIP codes in the co-op are on a first-come, first-serve basis. “But unfortunately that’s not the case,” Bertels says.

What’s stopping them? He thinks it’s the money. “Getting these guys to separate from $300 is like pulling teeth,” Bertels chuckles.
He also has swift words for industry manufacturers, many of whom have halfhearted or insufficient programs for distributors to market their wares, in his opinion. Not just one particular company, Bertels says. Many industry players have been unable to understand each other and don’t have the time to sit down and talk.

“They all have a piece you can put your logo on. But that’s not really sufficient in our VDP world.” End user marketing executives are far savvier than that, he says. “It’s fine, if you’re a forms distributor, because you’re not going to talk to anyone who cares what your pieces look like. But when you go into a marketing department and you talk about VDP and capturing all the needs for the department, you need to have it together.”

In the ideal world, the key tenets of a campaign are online ordering capabilities, variable options and stylish elements, says Bertels, echoing some industry refrains from end users. “I think they think we want it for free, but I don’t need that. I just need it as easy for me as possible.” The marketing pieces will generate profit, he theorizes, and will easily pay for themselves.

The distributors pay for the project themselves, which includes a down payment and will vary according to the volume of each distributor’s needs. In the future, sponsors may help fund the printing. “We’re probably going to do it in a piecemeal way—try a couple of things and see how they work out.” Each distributor will customize three pieces—an 11- by 17-inch brochure, a series of sell sheets and a matching postcard—to his or her specifications. “The guy in Massachusetts is going to have a very similar postcard with similar information about printing. But then, what do I care what’s going on in Massachusetts?”

Each distributor will claim a few ZIP codes that he or she can’t give or sell to anyone else, and that will be exclusive territory within the co-op. “It’s new and confusing for everybody,” Bertels says, but the group continues to forge ahead by trial and error. “Why haven’t we had a bigger response? It’s difficult to explain. I don’t think it’s because other distributors are doing all this marketing on their own. They’re just not doing it. And that’s why they’re a small distributor.”

Low-Stress Solutions
Your distributorship needs a marketing consultant, but you don’t have the money or time to hire one? A new nationwide organization, OneMarketing, aims to cure what ails you. The startup consortium will function as a one-stop shop for direct mail, marketing collateral, sell sheets, email programs, ROI tracking, follow-up material and more. The idea, says founder Jamie Mentzer, is wide-range offerings—the company will offer “gap analysis” to see who’s missing from your customer base and provide RFP documents to help members win big accounts.

The program takes care of things you know you should do—send a sales call follow-up query, track your marketing spend, deliver a consistent message—but remembers to do it for you. Based on e-Quantum software, two things that sets this offering apart are the online ordering and data tracking options.

“We’re talking about taking over a market space,” said Mentzer, president of Mentzer Printing Inc., Indianapolis, and a marketing guru. He’s been fleshing out ideas for the program for about seven years, he says, but with a new business partner, he’s ready to try it out. “A marketing consortium is something this industry needs. We know that distributors do a poor job of marketing. But we also need something that’s got automatic follow-up ideas and that’s quantifiable—there’s nothing that offers all this together yet.”

And the technology offering is part of the appeal, said Mentzer, who is hoping to drum up 20 to 30 beta testers. The program was supposed to go live in 2007, but the technology is still going through testing by e-Quantum. In the meantime, the group is working on additional program elements for distributors. “If you stand out with the technology you sell, it reinforces that you, the distributor, know what you’re talking about.” OneMarketing will create a pURL program for members to market their distributorships, but it also provides the support and programming so members can sell that service, too. The company would also have a national sales team that would prospect for Fortune 100 companies’ print sales—with a decided IT and service-oriented offering. Printing would be divided among members.

The group is looking for technology-savvy business owners who want to invest in a centralized technology and marketing effort. OneMarketing has a target of 250 to 500 members, with a flat monthly fee and a two-year service contract. Certain aspects of the program are customizable, he says, but that part of the consortium is still being planned.

“The goal would be to work with everyone to go after certain industries,” he says. OneMarketing would design and print marketing collateral, and through the online portal, a distributor could decide to keep the design exclusive (one price) or share the design with other members (a lower price). Distributors would be able to choose among member manufacturers to print the job.

“It doesn’t get any easier than this,” Mentzer laughs. “If you think this is too much, you might as well go home.”

Use What You’ve Got
No marketing collateral, however flashy or clever, is effective sitting in a warehouse—it’s got to reach the right people before sales are realized. There are three audience segments to each marketing campaign: internal employees, existing clients and prospective clients. Many people overlook the sales staff, Moore says. But if your employees can’t communicate the message, customers will never hear it.

The best way to reach the right people is for the sales/CRM staff to maintain a marketing database. This information can start with, but can’t be limited to or updated with, the accounting database. The software type is less important than the practical application, Moore says, noting that managers face an uphill battle in convincing staff to update and utilize the program. Where to start? Lead by example and create a template with what an ideal entry would look like.

“Getting them to use it?” he muses. “That’s an interesting question. It’s a combination of cajoling, persuading and threats.” By measuring the program’s growth and letting employees know you’re monitoring its progress, managers can send a strong message, as well as with leadership by example. “And, letting them know you are using it to their benefit. Oh, did I mention threats?” he jokes.

Rebecca Trela is assistant editor of Print Solutions magazine. Email comments to rtrela@psda.org.