Maintenance is a common concept to all aspects of our life, including our business life. We must be diligent in maintaining the health and welfare of our bodies, our minds and families or they will not function as designed. We must also be diligent in maintaining our financial being, tweaking, updating and making wise choices. The same is true in our businesses.
In retail businesses, management must maintain a careful watch on sales and inventory to ensure that the supply and demand of a product does not result in unwanted, unsold inventory and excessive overhead costs. They consider the actions and activities of the competition to maintain their position in the market. Through careful maintenance of their investments in personnel, products and marketing, they succeed or fail.
In the world of manufacturing (and paper production), maintenance is a critical and integral part of the production process. Through diligent and often daily monitoring of equipment and processes, management is able to avoid unnecessary delays or prolonged unscheduled interruptions in the production process. Maintenance can also mean the replacement or updating of those equipment or processes to gain the competitive edge.
Marketing and advertising programs and strategies must also be "maintained" as the market or technology impacts the effectiveness of the current program. The evolution of marketing from word of mouth to today's real time exposure via social media and media has made it necessary for marketing departments to reconsider their strategies on a more frequent and inclusive basis. Handbills still employed by some small business are not necessarily a very cost effective way to reach prospective clients. I often wonder at the wisdom and effectiveness of the small yard care providers who drive through neighborhoods like mine tossing Ziploc bags containing their flyer and several small stones onto each driveway. Do they really get enough business to justify the expense of time, effort and gas expended to get their name in front of people? I guess the answer to that question depends on the result and your perspective.
Maintaining an effective marketing program requires careful consideration of the medium chosen to make one's company or name known to their specific target market/clients. It is unlikely that a distributor of equipment or chemicals for the pulp and paper industry would spend the time and money to develop and acquire one the coveted Super Bowl commercials. On the other hand, I would not expect to see the Coca-Cola or Pepsi advertising in one of the several publications in our industry.
So what is my point?
To reach your prospects and clients in the pulp and paper industry, and to use your marketing/advertising dollars wisely, you should carefully consider all options for reaching the widest audience possible. Times have changed, and the vehicles for reaching that audience have also changed; we at Paperitalo Publications are proud to be a part of that changing world. We are reaching worldwide audiences through our online publications (Nip Impressions and PaperMoney), our Internet radio program (Pulp & Paper Radio International) which airs each Monday morning, our various newsletter and our presence on various social media sites including LinkedIn and Facebook. Our goal is provide you with alternatives to reaching your prospects and clients and keeping your name top of mind when they have a need for your products and services.
We look forward to hearing from you to discuss how we may help you. But don't be surprised if you hear from us first. We are working to maintain our growing influence in dissemination of information to your marketplace.
Contact:
Donna Schmid
Director of Sales
770-778-9698
Donna.Schmid@taii.com
