AIDAR: The Foundation Of Good Marketing (Part 2)
By: T.J. Tedesco
For: The Binding Edge
Published: Winter, 2000

Last issue, we concentrated on the front half of the AIDAR curve (Awareness, Interest, Decision, Action and Reorder).  However, many post press companies are already well known in their markets and are beyond these early AIDAR stages.  It’s time to move to the cleanup hitters.

Think of awareness and interest as batting in the one and two positions on a baseball team.  If they’re not effective, they’ll pull down the productivity of the middle of the lineup – where the power is.  However, without production from the power hitters, you’ll leave a lot of runners on base.  Today, we’ll focus squarely on decision, action and reorder.

Decision

Once marketplace awareness and interest has been achieved, it’s time for the rubber to meet the road.  In our post press industry, decision is equivalent to quoting.  If quoting activity is real, it often means that someone has conditionally decided to use your services.  At this point, it’s only a matter of matching the right job to your company. 

(It should be noted that quoting activity isn’t always a genuine indication of potential work.  Buyers may quote with a company to keep current suppliers honest or to adhere to corporate policy of getting three bids.  In some cases, buyers will even throw you a quote just to get you to stop asking.)

Before moving from the interest to decision stage of the AIDAR curve, key business influencers want to know: “What’s in it for me?”  Printing companies have their own unique set of post press concerns and their suppliers must offer them effective solutions.  Occasionally, problems with existing vendors force highly motivated buyers to move from awareness directly to the decision stage.  Although they may be tempted to change horses in midstream, most buyers don’t because the associated risk is too great.

Appropriate Marketing Vehicles.  One-size-fits-all marketing activity, such as advertising, published articles, press releases and trade shows don’t create many quoting opportunities.  “One-to-one marketing” means your promotional efforts are squarely focused on each individual recipient.  Although it sounds like an oxymoron, mass-customization is the essence of one-to-one direct marketing.  Post press companies should segment key business influencers into groups and send each group communications that speak to their buying needs.

Post press Example.  An established trade bindery should segment the key business influencers in their marketplace by job function and company type and code them appropriately in their database.  Then, marketing communications should be designed to appeal directly to each segment.  Estimators at large commercial printing companies want fast estimate turnaround times.  Harried customer service representatives and production managers want their lives to be made easier.  Sales representatives want to expand their top line and be able to tell their customers “yes” more often.  Owners want the bottom line to look good.  Web printers want to know about throughput.  Small-format printers don’t want to feel like stepchildren.  Successfully conveying the right messages to the right key business influences at the right companies will lead you to the next step on the AIDAR curve: Action.

Action

As we’ve already discussed, a buyer’s decision to quote jobs with a post press vendor doesn’t necessarily translate to action.  No matter how tough we believe our competition to be, printers have it worse.  Fear of blown delivery dates or poor quality is what usually prevents the writing of purchase orders.  If a post press company can allay the buyer’s fear, they should win a trial job.

Appropriate Marketing Vehicles.  At this late stage of the buying cycle, ask for the order.  You don’t need an expensive sales force cruising the streets, but you should have an organized follow-up plan with assigned individuals pursuing significant quotes.  These follow-up efforts can be made in person, by telephone or even e-mail, but make sure that your people ask for the order.  Provide testimonials, assurances and occasional guarantees that buttress your selling efforts.  Don’t wait for quoting opportunities to convert themselves into orders.  Develop a plan that increases your company’s estimating win/loss rate.

Post press Example.  If you’re a loose-leaf binder manufacturer with a sales force, encourage friendly competition among your sales representatives.  Most revenue-based sales contests favor the old pros and do little to encourage the new ones.  Offer a complimentary round of golf or a weekend getaway to the sales rep that brings in the most new business for a quarter.  This type of inexpensive contest will motivate a sales team without putting rookies at a disadvantage.

Reorder

The fifth and final stage of the buying cycle focuses on developing customer loyalty.  Unlike commercial printers, most trade binderies and finishing companies have a limited population of potential customers.  The trade business is simple.  If you don’t have repeat business, you’re out of business. 

Appropriate Marketing Vehicles.  Most of my consulting clients have implemented “customer nurture” programs.  These programs are marketing systems in which key business influencers at targeted companies receive useful information at regularly scheduled intervals.  The goal is to reinforce buying behavior by continually demonstrating expertise, caring and job safety.   Some communications in a customer nurture program are:

• Purely informational (relevant trade articles written by industry experts)

• Informational and self promoting (published trade articles you wrote)

• News-oriented (equipment installations, new key people on staff)

• Sales-oriented (examples of operations that save money, guaranteed schedules)

• Fun (advertising specialties, postcards)

• Technically interesting “show-me” pieces (self-designed promotional samples that show customers what your company can do.  This category is especially attractive to people from Missouri.)

Post press Example.  A well-planned comprehensive customer nurture program is the most effective marketing tool a post press company has.  All binding, finishing and loose-leaf companies should have customer nurture programs tailored to fit the needs of their marketplace.  Good marketing converts suspects into prospects, prospects into trial customers and trial customers into loyal customers.  Customer nurture programs develop loyalty, which translates into … reorders.

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Many printers consider outsourcing post press services as risky business because they’re placing their good name on the line.  Recognize this simple fact.  Know where your products and services fall on the AIDAR curve and then design your promotional activity appropriately.  Drive your prospects up the AIDAR curve.  After a while, the process will seem as natural as writing an order.

T.J. Tedesco is a “hands-on” marketing, sales, coaching and training consultant to the post press industry. He is the author of Binding, Finishing & Mailing: The Final Word, and Win Top-of-Mind Positioning, both published by GATFPress and available at Amazon.com. T.J. can be reached at (301) 294-9900 or tj@growsales.com.