Print Shop Management Tip: Follow Developments in B2E Marketing

1. Print Shop Management Tip: Follow Developments in B2E Marketing How would you categorize your print-shop? Are you a business-to-business (B2B) company? A business-to-consumer (B2C) firm? Or are you becoming a business-to-everyone (B2E) firm? Some print shops that developed ​web-to-print storefronts to sell marketing collateral and signs to business buyers now see the potential of opening separate web-to-print storefronts to sell printed products (e.g. photo gifts, T-shirts, or posters) directly to consumers. Becoming a B2E print shop can provide some of the diversity needed to ensure a steady cash flow throughout the year. Even if you don’t have any immediate plans to become a B2E print shop, it’s still useful to keep abreast of advances in marketing technology. When you understand more about the differences and similarities between B2B and B2C marketing in the fast-changing world of e-commerce, you can make better-informed decisions about your readiness to open a B2C web-to-print storefront. What Is B2E Marketing? Some companies use B2E to signify “business-to-employee” or “business-to-enterprise” marketing. But at the 2019 Adobe Summit, Adobe senior VP of digital experience Steve Lucas used the term B2E to mean “business-to-everyone.” Many tech companies (such as Amazon, Facebook, Booking.com, HP, and Canon) don’t classify themselves as B2B or B2C companies. They pursue growth by selling products and services to everyone both businesses and consumers. Automated B2E marketing platforms will aggregate and analyze data from a customer’s multiple online accounts and automatically send customized messaging that reflects whether they are researching

2. products for their employers or for personal use. For example, marketers can combine data from your work-related accounts such as Office 365 and LinkedIn with personal accounts such as Facebook and Instagram. They can send you specific types of messages whether you are shopping in a retail store or attending a business event. In theory, B2E marketing will create “buying journeys” that are more convenient, efficient, and satisfying. Instead of feeling as if we are constantly being sold to, we should feel as if we have independently discovered products or services that match what we are looking for. But making the transition from traditional one-way sales and marketing messages to data-driven marketing isn’t easy. One risk of data-driven marketing is the “creepiness factor.” Some customers may feel their privacy has been violated or sense they are constantly being watched. Big companies that want to deliver “personalized” experiences to millions of customers must rely on marketing automation, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to make B2E marketing possible. But smaller businesses, such as print shops, can continue to refine sales and marketing efforts by gathering and recording insights from in-person sales conversations, customer-service calls, and face-to-face interactions at trade shows and events. Bridging the Differences Between B2B and B2C Marketing While e-commerce has blurred the lines between B2B and B2C marketing, major differences still exist. B2C marketers focus on getting a precise view of individual consumers. They know that consumers will make their own buying decisions, often using recommendations from friends, family, and respected influencers. B2B marketers focus on getting a big-picture view of a targeted account and understanding the role of influencers within the buying team. They strive to understand what type of information each influencer needs during each stage of the product research process. Persuading a targeted business account to change from their current print-service provider can be a long and arduous process that doesn’t yield any short-term revenue. Understanding which channels of communication are most effective with different types of accounts can help you streamline your effects and get a greater return on your marketing investments. B2B vs. B2C Web-to-Print Storefronts As more people prefer to research and buy all types of products and services online, business buyers will expect the buying process to match that of consumer e-commerce. Web-to-print storefronts for business customers are a great e-commerce entry point for print shops. With B2B storefronts, your print shop doesn’t have to market to a huge pool of potential buyers. or compete with millions of other online stores for attention. Your clients benefit because they no longer have to designate a few individuals to buy all of the printing products for the organization. Whether an employee works in sales, human resources, or engineering, they can go online to order the printed products they need for an upcoming presentation or event. Opening a B2C storefront is more complicated because your print shop must reach a large pool of customers with very little one-to-one human interaction. Running a B2C storefront requires proficiency in digital marketing, including online advertising, SEO, influencer marketing, content marketing, and

3. social media marketing. To continuously attract new visitors to your site and keep them coming back, you must keep up with the ever-changing tactics and best practices of SEO and B2C e-commerce. How Ordant’s Print-Shop Management Program Can Help With an easy-to-use print-shop management program such as Ordant, everyone on your customer-services, sales, prepress, production, and fulfillment teams can keep notes on details that affected the successful delivery of a job for each customer. For example, what changes did they request? What questions did they ask about file preparation or materials? Were they particularly concerned about matching a specific brand color or finding an eco-friendly printing material? The more you know about each buyer as a person, the more effective your marketing team can be in sharing relevant and persuasive information. Ordant’s print-shop management program also makes it easy to see what types of products customers have ordered from you in the past and how frequently they order. This can help shape the timing and content of sales conversations and marketing messages. We can also help you set-up a tightly integrated B2B storefront that makes it easy for your customers to submit all jobs online. When you are ready to open a B2C storefront, Ordant can help with that too. To schedule a personalized demonstration of Ordant’s easy to use, estimating and order management system, and web-to-print storefronts, visit ​www.ordant.com​. Recommended Reading: Inc: Welcome to Business-to-Everyone (B2E) Ad Age: Adobe Says Business to Everyone is the Future