03.10.2016
The 11th annual Dscoop (Digital Solutions Cooperative) conference will be held in San Antonio on April 14-16. Dscoop is the largest digital users group in the country and is made up of HP graphic technology customers. This year’s conference will be a vibrant environment providing digital printers with many learning opportunities, from conference sessions to peer networking to the exhibit floor. A key topic of discussion will be innovative ways to promote print and marketing services businesses in today’s omnichannel world.
“Conventional marketing approaches have limited effectiveness these days,” said Mike Duggal, conference chair and CEO of Duggal Visual Solutions. “Companies achieve the best results when they use multiple communications channels in a strategic and integrated manner. Dscoop Diamond Partner MindFireInc will be at the conference to share some unique ways they are promoting their business leveraging social media. While many companies struggle with how to monetize their social media presence, MindFireInc has some interesting answers that can be applied to any business for immediate effect.”
MindFireInc uses social media in conjunction with email, direct mail and other outbound channels to generate leads and nurture customers and prospects. “Buying decisions don’t happen in isolation,” explained Dave Rosendahl, MindFireInc co-founder. “Buyers are influenced by or getting buy-in from others, and they are also influenced by the frequency with which they come across your name. To leverage that, we create a halo effect around our direct marketing efforts by presenting content to prospects as well finding other people in those organizations and putting impressions in front of them.”
Rosendahl points out that this is easier than it may sound. The company has found its biggest success using email addresses to find relevant prospects on Facebook and LinkedIn. “Some people scoff at Facebook as a B2B lead generator,” he said. “But business people – even senior executives – commonly browse Facebook as well as LinkedIn. By exporting our contacts database out of Salesforce into the Facebook and LinkedIn advertising platforms, we are able to identify and target prospects, primarily based on email address. It narrows the audience for Facebook or LinkedIn ads, keeping costs in line, and puts our relevant content in front of not only contacts from our lists, but also others in the same company who may be influencing the buying decision.”
The key to self-promotion, according to Rosendahl, is to stay top of mind. “By using this method in conjunction with other channels of communication, prospects feel like they are seeing MindFireInc everywhere and are more likely to respond when they receive a direct mail piece, see us at an event like Dscoop or get a call from a sales rep. It also generates calls into us when our message reaches someone at a critical juncture,” he added.
“You don’t have to be a software or hardware vendor to make this work for you,” Rosendahl concludes. “This approach works for any company and increases the value and effectiveness of the overall marketing strategy. It shortens the sales cycle and gets you to people you couldn’t have reached before.”
MindFireInc will be just one of the 80+ partners participating in the solutions showcase at Dscoop San Antonio this year. To learn more innovative ways to promote your own business and learn from all of this year’s partners, be sure to register for the Dscoop conference at dscoopsanantonio.org.
dscoop.org
