Web to Print – A Worthy Argument

Not long back our team had visited a print industry expo and boy what an experience it was! It gave us a real good feel of the market. We came up and close to some pretty good prospects from printing industry. But at the same time it also brought us back to the grassroots of web-to-print marketing.

We knew beforehand that our audience was going to be a market segment that was naïve about technology. This segment was still stuck in the rut of traditional printing methods. But when we got asked some basic questions about how web to print compared against traditional processes we got that sinking feeling in our guts. That is when we knew we had our work cut out for us.

While some would view it as frustrating we really enjoyed dealing with web to print on an absolutely non-superficial level. Now our audience here was real sharp in terms of identifying a sales pitch. They wanted us to showcase tangible benefits of web to print barring any marketing gimmicks. So that is exactly what we did. We showcased the following benefits:

Online Presence

Internet has bridged the gap between buyers and sellers. An online print store can see an influx of new business opportunities. More importantly it can bring global opportunities right at your doorstep. You just need to open the door and greet them! Online presence also means 24x7 operation of your business.

Reduced Costs

This is a dream for every printer – to reduce his costs and improve profit margins. Since web to print automates your prepress processes you save on resources and time. Under automated prepress, your customers use the predesigned templates and personalize them or create their own designs using the online designer studio. This saves you the back and forth and reduces your expenses of design revisions.

Reduced Wastage

Since all the designing takes place online there is no need to use paper. All the proofreading changes and design corrections are done in a PDF file. This eliminates the role of paper in the process and reduces your cost of wastage.

Predesigned Templates

You have 1500+ ready to use designs available as templates. These templates are further divided into categories. Your end users can simply pick the template that they like and personalize it. Your designing team need not be personally present there and create designs for the client.

Branding Control

Corporates are a high profile customer segment for printing industry. They are very sensitive to their brand identities. In web to print they can secure their logos and brand images in their print products. They can also undertake localized marketing but centrally control the brand identities.

Convenience

The online ordering system makes it extremely convenient for your end users to place print orders with you. They do not have to come to your office physically or even be in the same city as you. They can simply access your online print store, select a design, personalize it, and place their order. As for the payment they can directly pay online and get their orders shipped to their choice of location.

Early Bird Benefits

Technology has penetrated all the major industries and printing is no exception to it. One way or another, technology is going to creep into the printing industry and change the way things are done. It’s better to embrace a change rather than be forced by the market to adopt a change. This way you can take complete advantage of the early adopter benefits.

And now our hard work seems to be paying off. We are sensing a subtle shift in the printing industry with more and more printers wanting to know about web to print technology and web to print storefronts like OnPrintShop. It’s just a matter of time before web to print takes the print industry by a storm.