Marketing Advice
Your next big win is already in front of you
Most sign and print business owners think they need to invent clever campaigns to win work. They don’t. Nine times out of 10, the best ideas are already sitting in their inbox, waiting to be picked up. The Online Print Coach, Colin Sinclair McDermott, explains further.
A
sk your sales team, or yourself, if you’re a one-person business,
what customers are talking about right now. What’s frustrating them? What’s
stopping them from buying? What objections keep popping up? Those sticking points are gold.
They’re your next social media post, your next email, your next campaign. You don’t need to guess what will resonate; your customers are telling you every single day. But here’s the catch: knowing isn’t
enough. You have to package it in a way that lands with them. And in our industry, tangibility still wins trust. You can’t lick or sniff a LinkedIn post. (Well, technically you can, but you probably shouldn’t). Physical print beats digital for impact.
A tactile sample pack One of my clients recently launched a tactile sample pack, high-quality, branded, and impossible to ignore. It wasn’t just ‘some print’ in an envelope; it was proof. Proof of attention to detail. Proof of quality. Proof they care. That
| 38 | September/October 2025
pack didn’t just open doors, it kept them open. The same principle applies to what
you tell customers. Most won’t ask what else you do. They’ll assume the product they bought from you last time is one of the only things you offer. If you’re a signage company that also prints brochures, embroiders garments, or handles mailing campaigns, say it. Show it. Share it. Marketing isn’t just for finding new customers, it’s for educating the ones you’ve already got.
Quiet customers And let’s talk about those ‘quiet’ customers. You know the ones. They ordered regularly last year, then vanished. It’s tempting to write them off. But often, they haven’t left; they just haven’t been given a reason to come back. A case study, a tip, a reminder, even a simple ‘We noticed you haven’t ordered in a while and thought this might help’, can be all it takes to reignite the relationship. Not everyone will respond, but some will. And in a business where one returning customer can mean thousands in revenue, ‘some’ is enough. The key is permission. Too many
printers still rely on ‘spray and pray’ tactics, blasting out offers to cold lists. But when someone invites you into their inbox, they’re engaged. Engagement beats interruption every time. Direct mail, in particular, thrives when it’s targeted and welcome. Sending 100 letters a month to cold leads might feel productive, but if 90 go straight in the bin, what’s the point?
Quality lead magnets Instead, send fewer, better. Invest in quality lead magnets, something worth requesting. Build relationships first. When you do send mail, make it relevant, personalised, and hard to ignore. The aim isn’t to shout louder, it’s to speak to the right people in the right way at the right time. Here’s the takeaway: stop chasing
shiny marketing hacks. The answers are already in your conversations, your past orders, your email list, and your quiet customers. Make your marketing tangible. Educate your existing clients. Earn permission before you send. And above all, send smarter, not more. Do that, and your next big win won’t
come from luck, it’ll come from simply paying attention.
www.signupdate.co.uk
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