7 Things Small Businesses Need to Know About the Future of Mobile Marketing

With more than half of all Americans now using Smartphones and nearly a quarter of all online activity now coming from mobile devices—we have stumbled into a new age in technology and the future of mobile marketing has unexpectedly shown up at our doors. Is your business equipped to market to the new digital consumer? Here are seven things all small businesses need to know about the future of mobile marketing. 1. The future of mobile started yesterday The first thing you need to know about the future of mobile marketing, is that it actually started yesterday. Don’t worry; you’re not the only one who may be running a little late. In fact, most of the world’s biggest retailers and service providers are still playing catch up. That’s because, no one could have fully predicted the rate at which the surge in mobile ownership would begin to influence all of our online activities.Hits from mobile devices more than doubled from January 2011 to January 2012. By 2013, mobile web searches are expected to eclipse searches from desktop for the first time in history. Don’t wait until next week, next month, or next year to start thinking about mobile—get started today! 2. Mobile users are social users If you’re already using social media to engage with your target audience, chances are you’re already involved in a conversation with the mobile majority. Over 80% of smartphone users use their mobile devices to connect to sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. On Facebook, 600 million of its 1 billion users are logging onto the site via a mobile device, and 70% of those users return to the site on a daily basis (compared to 40% for desktops). That means, whether it’s at home, work, or at your place of business—mobile users are among the most engaged members of your social communities. How can you prepare your social media marketing to speak to these members? First, make sure to download the mobile apps for each of the networks you’re currently using to market your brand—that way you’ll have a better understanding of what their online experience looks like. Then, put yourself in the place of a customer on the go. Most of these users won’t have the time or patience to read long pieces of text, and in the case of Facebook, any posts longer than 160 characters are going to be cut off. Focus on photos, videos, and other types of rich media. Track your results and see what types of post are driving the most engagement. 3. Consumers are accessing more information in more places than ever before The influence of mobile on the life of your customers is already being seen at home, on the go, and especially at your place of business. Consumers are ahead of the mobile curve. A recent study found that two-thirds of all smartphone users had used their mobile devices to help with making a purchase—with more than a third of those customers using their devices for in-store research. Last week, Google released a forecast for the holiday season projecting that four out of five Smartphones will rely on mobile devices for help during the shopping season. These users are checking prices, reading reviews, and researching competing businesses. Bottom line? The mobile consumer is an informed consumer, and it’s never been more important to have your information up-to-date and accurate across all of your online channels. Plus, 72% of consumers say they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, which means, sites like Yelp, could become even more important to your business. 4. Most mobile searches are location-based If you’re not on mobile, you don’t exist. Over 40% of all mobile web searches have local intent. These are people that are currently living or visiting your area, searching for a specific product or service, and who are hoping to discover a local answer to their mobile questions. In the case of restaurants, 64% of these mobile searches convert to real business within the hour. That’s a huge opportunity for a business looking to attract new customers and tap into the potential of mobile marketing. Mobile web searches can either be a small business’ dream or its worst nightmare. Take the time to search your place of business for keywords related to the work you do. Make sure that what customers are finding is something that accurately represents your brand. And most importantly, make sure you have a presence on mobile maps! 5. Mobile videos have gone viral If you’re already a smartphone or tablet user, you know that much of the activity that’s done on these devices is, well … less than active. The fact is, these devices don’t only provide people with endless amounts of information—they also provide an excellent tool for making less use out of free time. (Thanks again, Angry Birds.) That’s likely why watching online video has become such a popular activity amongst smartphone and tablet users. In the last 18 months, YouTube has seen a 400% increase in mobile viewership. Today more than a fourth of all videos being watched on the video sharing site are being seen on mobile devices. If you’ve been on the fence of about using video to market your business, now may be the time to rethink your directorial future. Video is a powerful medium for small businesses, and it doesn’t have to cost a dime to create. 6. Mobile will redefine customer service If you haven’t been monitoring your social networks for customer comments, questions, and complaints —you may want to add it to your list of resolutions for 2013. Nearly three-quarters of all companies are now using social media as a channel for customer service. One in five consumers is already using sites like Facebook and Twitter to have their voices heard. Expect mobile to send that number skyrocketing and for social costumer service to become the norm for businesses of all sizes. 7. Content creation is going mobile The mobile revolution isn’t only having a profound influence on the lives of consumers, it’s also changing the way business owners—especially small business owners—are marketing their business. This is especially true when it comes to content creating. Coming up with content ideas for Facebook, Twitter, or an email newsletter is one of the biggest pain points facing small businesses. And while Smartphones aren’t guaranteed to alleviate all your content creating anxieties, they do make it easier than ever before to capture content ideas and turn everyday work experiences into engagement posts on Facebook and active-worthy articles for an email newsletter. Today, less than 1% of marketing budgets are being allocated for mobile. That’s a huge miss for business owners and, more importantly, a huge disappointment for their growing mobile customer base. But preparing your business for its mobile future doesn’t have to break the bank. Start by giving the tools you’re already using to market your business another look. Does your social media marketing strategy fit a mobile world? Does your website offer the type of experience you want on Smartphones and tablets? Is your business easily discovered by online searches? Start small, think big, and begin to plan for a bright future in mobile marketing. To find out how mobile marketing can benefit your business call Dan or Kimberly at 303.320.4855.

Let EDDM Take Your Marketing Further

If you are looking for an inexpensive way to increase sales by expanding into a new market located in a well-defined geographic area, we urge you to take a close look at Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM), a new program from the United States Postal Service. EDDM is an outreach program aimed at helping businesses with small marketing budgets use direct mail as an effective way to promote their products and services. The USPS launched EDDM in March 2011 after making changes to postal regulations to allow the use of the simplified address format in city mail delivery routes. To help make EDDM a success, the USPS heavily promoted the program using self-mailers, Grow Your Business in-person presentations, online seminars, sales calls by USPS personnel, and a comprehensive website emphasizing do-it-yourself. And it worked. According to Paul Vogel, USPS president and chief marketing/sales officer, as of January 2012 EDDM mail was approaching the one billion mark and had generated $270 million in revenue in 2011. If you aren’t familiar with what EDDM can do for your business, give us a call and we’ll bring you up to speed.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! May you have a Blessed and Joyful Holiday From all of us at BC Print and Web

Manage Your 2013 Inventory

Actively managing your inventory of business stationery and forms is a great way to avoid the stress of last minute ordering and to stay within your printing budget. • Estimate a 3-6 months supply. We recommend you order enough to last between three and six months. More than a six-month supply could mean that you are tying up money in inventory and, in some cases, running the risk that the printed piece may become obsolete. Less than a three-month supply and you are foregoing cost savings that result from a longer print run. An easy way to estimate is to ask yourself how many of this item you use in a specific interval (per day, per week, per month). • When you order an item, ask to have it included in our reorder reminder system. We’ll check your order history, predict when you might be running low, and notify you when it is time to reorder. • When reordering, ask us to price additional quantities. Our computerized estimating and pricing system makes it easy to recall a job from history and to produce a current quotation using multiple quantities. Then you can evaluate the tradeoff between storing an item and the cost savings of a longer print run. If you need help developing reorder quantities, contact us at 303.320.4855

Year End Printing

With the end of 2012 quickly approaching now is the time to finish those last minute projects before the upcoming holiday break. BC Print and Web is here to help take the stress out of year end printing, but be sure to place your orders soon so that we can guarantee to meet your deadlines and bring your print projects to completion before the new year. BC Print and Web will be closed to celebrate the holidays starting Monday 12/24/2012 and returning Wednesday 1/2/2013. Don’t forget that whether you are looking to send a simple holiday greeting to your clients or promote your sales over the rush of the season BC Print and Web offers solutions to make this holiday season simple. For inquiries or to place an order visit us at http://www.bcprintandweb.com/ or simply call Dan or Kimberly at 303.320.4855.

The Secret to Saving Money on Printing

Are you the person who buys printing for your company or organization? If so, we want to talk to you! Whether you are ordering business stationery, functional forms and documents, or marketing materials and sales collateral, we’d like to help you get the most from your printing budget. So keep reading to learn our secret that will help you save money on printing. Printing = manufacturing Printing is a custom manufacturing process. When we fill your order, we aren’t taking something off the shelf and shipping it to you. We start from scratch each time, with paper (either blank or preprinted for business card shells or newsletter templates), ink or toner, and a digital file containing the images to be printed (either provided by you or retrieved from our secure file storage). All printing jobs have at least two manufacturing steps: prepress and printing. The prepress step uses a digital file (usually a PDF) to create a raster image or bit map – a grid of x and y coordinates with instructions on which coordinates to illuminate to create monochrome or color values. Printing is the output and reproduction process, which may be done on an offset press or a digital printer. Depending on the requirements of the job, it may also require finishing steps such as trimming, folding, stitching, drilling, binding and assembly. Jobs being printed for the first time may need design and preflight. Like all custom manufacturing jobs, printing requires clear, unambiguous specifications to guide the manufacturing process. These include the type of paper, the ink color(s), the finished size of the printed piece, and whether finishing work is required. For each new printing project, we write the initial specifications based on the choices you make. To eliminate errors that might be caused by rewriting specifications each time the job reprints, we use a computerized print production management system to store the specifications. Custom manufacturing takes time, and haste makes waste. Recognizing this, we have developed production standards that tell us how much time to allow for each step in the manufacturing process. Our production standards aren’t arbitrary; rather, they were developed to allow our production team enough time to read and understand the job specifications, decide the best equipment to use for the job, and operate the equipment in a manner that produces quality results while ensuring operator safety. Can we speed things up when necessary? Can we pull rabbits out of hats and perform minor miracles? Of course. But that’s exceptional work, not our production standard. Actively managing your inventory of business stationery and forms is a great way to avoid the stress of last minute ordering and to stay within your printing budget. • Estimate a 3-6 months supply. We recommend you order enough to last between three and six months. More than a six-month supply could mean that you are tying up money in inventory and, in some cases, running the risk that the printed piece may become obsolete. Less than a three-month supply and you are foregoing cost savings that result from a longer print run. An easy way to estimate is to ask yourself how many of this item you use in a specific interval (per day, per week, per month). • When you order an item, ask to have it included in our reorder reminder system. We’ll check your order history, predict when you might be running low, and notify you when it is time to reorder. • When reordering, ask us to price additional quantities. Our computerized estimating and pricing system makes it easy to recall a job from history and to produce a current quotation using multiple quantities. Then you can evaluate the trade off between storing an item and the cost savings of a longer print run. Printing = partnership You need the products and services we provide, and we need the income from providing those products and services. This is the basis for a mutually beneficial relationship where both of us do our respective parts to ensure success. We learned long ago that being dependable is the most valuable thing we can offer you. Our goal is to deliver your printing on time, as ordered, and at the agreed-upon price. But we need your help to do this. • Tell us the real due date. We will have your job done at the agreed-upon time – period. That means you don’t have to pad the due date because we might be late. If you prefer to have all printed materials in-hand a week before the meeting at which they will be used, we understand and will have the job ready. If you intend to pick up the job on your way to the meeting, we also understand. Either way, we won’t let you down. • Respect the price we give you for the job. We don’t pad our prices. If you find a lower price somewhere else, it is because the specifications changed (even though you may not know it) or the other printer is more efficient at manufacturing that particular item. Can we shave the price a bit to meet your budget? Probably, especially if you are a regular customer. Will you get us to lower our price by announcing you can buy it for half as much somewhere else? Not likely. Instead, we’ll congratulate you on finding a better price for that item and suggest you take the deal. • Provide your inputs on time. Remember our production standards? They are the basis for developing the production timeline. When you are providing inputs – a PDF file, text, photographs, illustrations, mailing list, postage deposit – we will give you an interim due date for each input. The interim due date is when we must receive the input for the job to stay on schedule and be ready on time. If others in your company are responsible for some of the inputs, we suggest you share the interim due date so you won’t be late. You be on time and we’ll be on time. • Provide inputs in industry-standard format. Microsoft Word is an industry standard for a report, but not for a brochure or a mailing list. Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop are industry standards for drawings and illustration or color correction and photograph manipulation but not for page layout. Some programs can make print- ready PDFs; others cannot. A special word about design, file repair and desktop printing: our job is to make you look good in print, and we take this seriously. We want all your printed materials to represent you well and for your branding to be consistent. That is why we may suggest that you let us design your new printed piece, or redesign an older one that needs refreshing. We may suggest redrawing a pixelated logo or creating a digital file of a document that currently exists only as hard copy. We may also offer to print something that you have previously printed yourself on desktop equipment. We make these suggestions as part of our job as print professionals. We will always provide a cost estimate and will not proceed with work you have not authorized. Most of the time our suggestions are based on a short-term or one-time expense that we can demonstrate will save money in the long run. The secret to saving money on printing So what is the secret to saving money on printing? Simply this: find a printing company whose equipment and capabilities match your needs and develop a relationship based on mutual responsibility and trust. Learn about printing as a manufacturing process so you can provide inputs and evaluate suggestions. Be a key liaison between your company and the printing company and call Kimberly or Dan at 303.320.4855 to learn just why we are that printing company.

Thanksgiving

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. -W.T. Purkiser Thanksgiving is upon us and as we take this time to enjoy friends and family, we count the blessings in which we have received throughout the year. BC Print and Web would like to take a moment to thank you for your loyalty, kindness and continued patronage. We know that it is with your support that we continue to grow and we are grateful for the opportunities to service you. In celebration of Thanksgiving we will be closed Thursday 11/22 & Friday 11/23. We will return Monday 11/26. Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds. -Theodore Roosevelt Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at BC Print and Web