meaningless. “Ensure you include reviews of your business – 93% of consumers read an online review before buying – and link back to your website through digital and print PR, social media, email marketing, and above-the-line advertising. This way, the brand awareness is increased, the investment is maximised, and hopefully traffic will increase.” Wilson has worked in B2B and consumer marketing for over 20 years, including for a number of print and packaging companies. In that time, she has seen countless examples of how marketing can help to build a reputation, engage with the right audiences, or lead to sales. This even includes, in a slightly meta moment, the positive impact of being included in a feature article for a trade magazine. Wilson explains: “For example, a feature placed in a trade magazine led directly to a new client win. A product review in a national newspaper led to it selling out within hours. A strategic marketing programme with expansion as the goal led to a successful launch in North America. When marketing objectives are identified in line with wider business objectives, they can create strategic and effective campaigns that make massive impacts on that business and its journey.” Live events are also highlighted by Wilson as an important part of marketing, allowing businesses to make authentic connections and build memorable relationships. “As well as providing the opportunity to meet potential clients,” she says, “they offer the platform to demonstrate products and services in real time and can lead to excellent data collection opportunities that can then be used in ongoing marketing.” But she makes clear that attending an event alone is not enough and should never be treated in isolation. As she puts it: “Events have a wealth of PR opportunities around them that will maximise the investment before, during, and after the event itself. There will be press offices to engage with, media partners to target, filming and interview opportunities at the event, and a wealth of content that can be created for social media channels and websites.” Ruthlessly Useful Established in 2014, Think B2B Marketing has become a partner to a number of major players in the print and packaging space including BOBST, Esko, and Parkside. For Think B2B’s managing director, Jo Stephenson, her message on marketing plans is clear and unequivocal: “It’s no longer optional. “The days of printing being a legacy industry, surviving on word-of-mouth and referrals, are fading fast. The print sector is more sophisticated, more diversified, and more competitive than ever. Without a clear marketing plan, you’re invisible to new prospects and forgettable to existing ones.” Stephenson posits that this plan does not need to be a 50-page deck and can instead be a simple roadmap outlining your goals for the next year. “But importantly,” she stresses, “it has to exist. If you’re not actively shaping how the market sees you, you’re leaving your reputation to chance.” The minimum requirements for this plan, in Stephenson’s view, are a clear value proposition defining what makes you different and relevant, as well as an audience definition, channel strategy, content plan, and measurement framework. Stephenson explains these elements in 71 www.printmonthly.co.uk July / August 2025 - Issue 355 MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS If you’re not actively shaping how the market sees you, you’re leaving your reputation to chance ► Think B2B Marketing managing director, Jo Stephenson
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