Business Management - Marketing/Sales

In my last article ("Should In-plants Offer VDP and Marketing Services?") I suggested that a better question might be, "Will this increase the value of the in-plant?" The answer, of course, is yes.

EVIDENCE OF how social media is taking the business world by storm is everywhere. Facebook "Like" buttons, Twitter links and invitations to follow RSS feeds seem to grace every Web site.

Topics our readers cared about, including the Washington State Printer and issues with in-plants and their inherent value to their parent organizations. Also, the effect of social media is discussed by our readers from around the country.

In December, University of North Texas Print & Mail Services held its most successful open house to date, bringing 140 people into its in-plant for tours, demonstrations and food. Director Jimmy Friend says he targeted vice presidents, deans and department heads this time.

DWAYNE MAGEE first heard about QR codes at last June's IPMA conference. "It was the most exciting thing I'd seen at a conference in a long time," he recalls. Watching a demonstration of how the two-dimensional barcodes could be scanned with a smart phone and instantly open a specific Web site on the phone's browser gave Magee lots of ideas.

By some estimates, blogging and social networking sites account for about one in every six minutes of the time spent on the Internet. Social networks can be used to spread information about your organization to customers and to enhance customer interaction and brand recognition.

We asked 10 managers how they market their in-plants—without a marketing budget. They offered some excellent ideas.

In-plants have the opportunity to change the scope of their offerings by adding the same kinds of non-print services offered by many commercial operations. These new offerings—often termed cross-media or integrated services—typically involve some type of outgoing marketing offers or other communications to customers or prospects.

Winning 13 In-Print 2010 awards—plus the Best of Show—was a tremendous honor for the Printing Services staff at the University of Oklahoma. To show its gratitude to the customers that ordered those award-winning pieces, the in-plant recently held an awards presentation, during which it presented those customers with duplicate In-Print awards.

The 2010 In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) conference brought close to 100 in-plant managers to New Mexico's largest city. The topics, speakers and enthusiasm were almost as hot as the weather.