Page 3 – The YGS Group

Efficiencies in Marketing, Print Automation

“Print is dying.” That’s something we’ve been getting used to hearing alongside the proliferation of digital information retrieval. But the truth is not that print is dying; it’s that print is adapting. Furthermore, printed material is still viable and effective in many spaces, such as news and advertising. Much of this can be attributed to print technology, particularly automation, which is helping the industry stay widely relevant by increasing efficiencies within. This allows print to continue as a distinctive marketing and communication medium.

Consider that in the United States, 80 percent of households read or browse their advertising mail, and 96 percent of news is still read in print. Automation is what provides the time and cost efficiencies necessary for keeping these media thriving. From 2010 to 2016, the number of online print orders through service providers’ websites increased from 15 percent to 28 percent, according to statistics presented by Aleyant.

We are amid the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, and print—with assistance from a growing marketing automation landscape—is along for the ride. By 2019, the global marketing automation market is anticipated to reach $5.5 billion from $3.65 billion in 2014. That’s a compound annual growth rate of 8.55 percent, with North America leading this growth in terms of market size.

It’s now necessary to utilize automation, especially when it comes to your company’s next print job. And there are ways your company can see for itself how automation increases efficiency. Consider the following metrics when measuring the efficiency of your next print job:

Per unit costs. How much money and resources are going into your project?
Cycle and response time. How much time is automation saving you? How much faster are you receiving feedback?
Backlog. Are you prioritizing the right projects at the right time?
Per unit full-time equivalents (FTEs). Are employees being utilized appropriately and necessarily?
Per unit equipment utilization. How well is your equipment contributing to efficient automation?

Print is enjoying a renaissance. What we once assumed was a dying market is actually growing, with help from the rise of marketing automation. The stats are there to back it up, but if you need more proof, measure your own company’s potential benefit of utilizing automation for print. You may just be left dying to start your next job.

See what The YGS Group’s Marketing Automation Portal (MAP) team can do for you at theygsgroup.com/foryou/map.

Print, Forestry, and the Impact of Paper

In 2017, print remains a viable and valuable context for the delivery of your message or promotion. As a strategically planned pairing to your digital content marketing, print collateral and publications will serve as the now-novel piece that you place in your audiences’ hands, and it may just be the disruptive marketing tactic that stands out notably from the digital information landscape.

Print has taken a hit in popularity over the past several decades, but let’s face it, the weight of popularity is not always anchored in truth.

As you’re contemplating the use of print—not as a one or the other solution, but as an ingredient in a calculated, strategically directed content plan—let’s just look at a few facts:

There are 20% more trees in the United States today than on Earth Day 40 years ago.
According to the Data and Marketing Association (DMA)

The North American Paper Industry plants 1.7 million trees per day—more than it cuts.
According to the Data and Marketing Association (DMA)

More than 51 million tons of paper were recovered from recycling in 2015—enough to fill the Empire State Building 124 times.
According to the American Forest & Paper Association

Globally, only 17% of cut forest trees are used by the paper industry.
According to the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI)

In an age of maximized convenience and information demanded instantaneously, print is viewed as clunky or cumbersome. But measure this thinking against the engagement factor. Are you engaging your readership, and for how long?

Print is 59% more engaging for users than online articles.
According to a survey conducted by Ball State University

There is a place and time for reading in print, and there are audiences who will remain connected and interested longer when they are holding a physical, dimensional piece in-hand. Content strategy is a recipe that outlines how your information and messaging will be parsed out across platforms and channels, in long and short form, delivered as written, live, and recorded concepts; all done in a way that best supports the way your desired audience consumes information. You’ll want to approach your ground-up strategy in an inclusive manner, welcoming all participants first, before eliminating or scaling those deemed ineffective content assets for your unique audience. And if you’re still uncertain about how your print orders are impacting the environment …

“To address climate change, we must use more wood, not less. Using wood sends signals to the marketplace to grow more trees.”
— Dr. Patrick Moore, Greenpeace co-founder

The Key to Creating an Optimal Client Experience

Tina Enck, account director, spoke to us about the unique role of account management at The YGS Group, as well as the nuances of great account management.

What role does the YGS Marketing Services Account Manager play in the client service support of an organization/company?
The role of account management at YGS is quite unique to our industry, mainly because we offer such a diverse portfolio of services. The Marketing Services Account Manager (MSAM) must be well-versed in all our services to be able to react quickly to a myriad of client requests.

What is the primary benefit to the customer in having a Marketing Services Account Manager as part of the client service equation?
The MSAM functions as a conduit between the customer and our services. When a client works with YGS on multiple services (design, digital, editorial, etc.), an MSAM is introduced to help streamline communication. While it is not always possible for all conversations to funnel through the MSAM, the customer can be assured that this role will have a high level of understanding regarding the many moving parts and pieces of their account. In short, the MSAM will know how to get all the answers a client needs.

What is the primary benefit to the internal team(s) in having an MSAM as part of the client service equation, and how does this improve the customer’s experience?
For many of the same reasons the MSAM benefits the customer, the position also benefits internal teams. The MSAM is the keeper of all production schedules, and because of the frequency of contact with the client, that relationship affords the person in this role a deeper knowledge of their likes, dislikes, hot buttons, etc. This information is often critical to finding solutions that satisfy both the client and internal teams.

What are some important characteristics to ensure an optimal client experience?
A critical component in the success of the client’s experience is the MSAM’s ability to successfully educate the client about our processes and workflow. When the customer gains a full understanding of what goes into every step of our process and why we do things the way we do them, they begin to develop trust and view us as a partner in their success. Other important elements of an optimal client experience include timely response to inquiries and having the vision to look ahead to ward off potential project pitfalls that are often only seen by the MSAM, who has a 30,000-foot view of the entire workflow.

Motivating Your Sales Team

True leaders are always looking for new ways to motivate their teams. Whether it be at a mom-and-pop pizza shop or a Fortune 500 company, businesses can thrive when everybody is on board. There are always goals to be met, and without proper guidance and incentive, the target line can inevitably float out of reach, especially in the field of sales.

The YGS Group’s top sales professionals are led and motivated by an esteemed group of real leaders. Those leaders have paved the way for their teams to shatter goals and keep driving toward success. How do they do it? Allow their advice to lend you—and ultimately your sales team—a helping hand.

“Sometimes, just creating excitement with a fun contest that the team enjoys participating in can work just as well. You’ve got to know what incentives motivate your team. For some, it may be time off. For others, it may be all about the money. Sometimes a fun team activity or event, such as lunch out, can be a great motivator, as well.” — Jenny Kintner, Group Manager, Content Sales & Licensing

“To motivate you must first establish trust with your team. From there, provide clear goals and expectations and let them be the salespeople they are. Never micromanage or force everyone to conform to a specific style.” — Susan Welter, Vice President, Media Sales & Events

“Competition is always a big motivator. It can involve incentives or simply showcase achievements. Most sales people have a competitive nature, and the competitive drive of a salesperson is a key motivator. I can’t motivate a person, but I can provide clear goals and helpful tools to get there.” — Erica Montgomery, Executive Vice President

Knowing your team, their quirks, and the personalities within can help you build a cohesive, successful sales team. They can be motivated in several ways, but having that two-way trust is paramount to keeping the motivation flowing. Sales can be sink-or-swim, so to hit your team’s undoubtedly tough goals, take it from the experts at YGS. Believe in your team, clarify goals to set your salespeople up for success, and don’t be afraid to have a little fun!

What Do You Wish You Knew Before Entering Marketing?

Entering a new career field should be exciting, provided you truly believe in the direction you’re going. Making the transition onto a new path can feel daunting, with the uncertainties of what lies ahead. On top of that, you may not understand going into it, how much you really don’t know in that given field, and the marketing arena is certainly a field where there is a lot to know.

Luckily, most thriving workplaces have those standout team members who offer guidance when it’s needed most. Regardless of their position or their method of delivery in guiding, it’s these leaders that set the tone for the department, and establish the way the teams will innovate, work, and grow together in their respective roles.

The YGS Marketing Services Department has those leaders, and they are imperative to the department’s success, as well as the overall success of the company in growing to meet the changing needs of the clients. They’ve collectively spent decades adjusting and adapting to the ever-changing state of the marketing landscape.

Their indispensable insights:

“There is a lot more psychology behind it than business, for sure…in the end, marketing is just trying to get people to respond and react to some form of communication stimulus. To me, that’s cool because I never went into marketing for the business side of it; I went into marketing for the creative, communications side of it. The folks that get into it have to have a good balance of the business mind and that people, communications, psychology mind to really be well-rounded in what they bring to the marketing world.”
— Jack Davidson, Vice President of Marketing Services

“One thing that’s changed drastically since I graduated college is the role of social media in the workplace. For me, it’s been a lot of on-the-job-training, where I see some more recent grads are entering the workforce having had specific courses in social media marketing. I think it’s important for us to merge our knowledge and skillsets to ensure our social media practices are effectively targeting the correct audiences.”
— Kali Eskew, Marketing Account Manager

“Being in the world of marketing automation means that my brain looks at each project as a workflow. The workflow is made up of tiny boxes that proceed from one to the next until you get to the end goal. It all makes perfect sense in my head, but I didn’t realize that many people don’t think like that. I now better understand how to bring these workflows to life by educating our customers in the process.”
— Amy LaPorte, Director of Marketing Automation

“I wish I had a better understanding of how fast this industry changes. You need to continuously reinvent and educate yourself on how fast technology is changing. It’s like having two jobs. I would never change my career, but it’s like changing careers/skillsets every three years or so.”
— Serena Spiezio, Creative Director

Learning the dynamics of marketing can be as challenging as any field out there. The nuances of modern-day marketing transcend any one person’s knowledge, and to think otherwise would be myopic, however, with solid leadership comes cohesive teamwork and synergy to get the work done.

See what marketing experts at YGS can offer you and your business.

Beyond the Goggles and Games

Beyond the goggles and games, what is there to know about virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) that applies to business?

At first glance, virtual and augmented reality user experiences may appear to be limited to the gaming industry. However, VR and AR technologies go well beyond games, and should be seen as a viable and beneficial tool in real-world business usages.

Consider this: CNBC reported that virtual reality could be a trillion-dollar industry by 2035, citing research by Citi that showed VR and AR will have a major impact in both the consumer and enterprise markets. Citi’s analysts forecast that the sector could be worth approximately $692 billion by 2025, with uses across numerous industries.

Before delving too deeply into these promising technologies, let’s clarify the difference between VR and AR:

Virtual reality is a fully artificial environment that is created with software and presented to the user in such a way that the user accepts it, and interacts within it, as a real environment. Augmented reality is the integration of digital information with the user’s environment in real time. It relies on a blend of the user’s existing environment with an overlay of new information, presented in a way that allows both to be equally accepted.

Where VR primarily impacts two of the five senses—sight and sound—AR enhances what we see, hear, feel, and smell, and incorporates more sophisticated efforts involving such approaches as wrap-around display screens, actual rooms augmented with wearable computers, and haptics devices that let the user feel the display images.

Haptics is the science of applying touch (tactile) sensation and control as part of a user’s interaction with computer applications. The word derives from the Greek haptein meaning “to fasten.” By using special devices or data gloves, haptics technology offers an additional dimension to a virtual reality or 3-D environment, and is essential to the immersiveness of those environments.

Although this might appear to be new technology, it really isn’t; it just continues to be refined. One of the first commercial applications of AR technology was the yellow ‘first down’ line that began to appear in football games in the late 1990s. Google glass and heads-up displays in car windshields are prominent AR products that have been introduced into the consumer market. More than a year ago, The New York Times distributed 1 million Google cardboard headsets with a Sunday edition of the newspaper, CNN broadcast a presidential debate in VR, and The Washington Post released a 360-degree interactive that takes users to the surface of Mars. This included native advertising. The feedback stemming from those has been described as more visceral and emotional, with VR bringing the users closer to the events.

Let’s think of VR in more practical terms: If your organization owns/hosts an annual trade show, consider how immersive virtual experiences could allow decision-makers, who are potential exhibitors, to move around and interact in the space of a vast convention center’s floor plan to select exhibit space without ever leaving their desk chair. Or consider new construction underway in other countries—the progress viewable from where potential lessees sit in their own location worldwide. Manufacturing, transportation, logistics planning, medicine and healthcare, pharmaceutical, science, architecture, engineering, natural gas and energy, construction, travel and tourism, international relations, and hospitality—these are just a few fields where the uses of VR and AR are either at-hand or are already in use. The possibilities are virtually limitless. How can your company benefit?

Specialty Graphics: Representing Your Brand in a Big Way

Branding and marketing successfully for business can be a large task, and the YGS Group’s Specialty Graphics production department takes that literally. From covering buses to buildings, these large-scale projects are truly state-of-the-art. Add that on top of the smaller, more storefront-oriented signage and everything in between, and visual marketing options for clients can be seemingly endless.

After the acquisition of a few talented associates and a unique collection of printing equipment from The Hershey Co.—including five full-color, large-scale inkjet printers—the Specialty Graphics team has produced a variety of sumptuous branding and marketing materials for clients.

During the department’s first 15 months, the Specialty Graphics team has grown to create such spectacles as associate locker wrappings complete with corporate branding, LED backlight metal signs with a remote-control dimmer, and even ceiling tiles for an entire meeting room, upon which a full blue sky and clouds were printed.

There is almost no limit to what YGS Specialty Graphics can do. The vast list of options includes signs, banners, flags, posters, vehicle wraps, wall graphics, elevator doors, windows, wallpaper, and street graphics, among virtually any other medium the team could dream up.

Size is no boundary, either. In one pass, graphics as wide as 60 inches and as long as 300 feet can be produced. If that isn’t big enough, multiple pieces can be assembled to meet almost any large-scale client request.

Printing and finishing options are, again, expansive. Without even mentioning all of the paper types available—perhaps too many to name—four ink types (UC curable, latex, eco-solvent, and aqueous ink) are at a client’s disposal. Finishing options include custom digital, laser cutting, engraving, and custom fabrication, just to name a few.

Of course, these artful projects don’t come without challenges, but Specialty Graphics Vice President Bob Quirk says his team overcomes these with “the gathering of internal creativity and relative experience.”

“The wide range of exposure that many YGS associates have encountered in various related industries and market segments,” Quirk says, “has helped pull all the pieces together.”

The confidence shown in the team certainly holds the door open for more creative opportunities moving forward. With the current configuration in place, they continue to engage in new opportunities. To grow even further, process improvement is also being evaluated and refined, especially in regards to estimating and scheduling functions. On the mechanical side, equipment improvements may be in store as well, but this all depends on the opportunities for internal business and strategic growth.

“In the future, I see us bridging into printing on a variety of fabrics for a variety of applications,” Quirk says. “I see us branching out to printing on new rigid materials, as well as presenting what we print with motion provided by mechanical devices and electronics. I also envision providing solutions with ways to project and display graphics digitally or using a combination of all the above.”

YGS Specialty Graphics strives to fulfill any company’s graphics request with a technologically advanced, fully customizable, and most importantly, rewarding experience. “These products provide a tremendous way to promote your brand and/or message,” Quirk says. “Go big or go bigger with color, light, and motion.”

Answer these questions before requesting your next specialty print job from the YGS Group.

To App or Not to App: Mobile Sites vs. Apps

It’s time to go mobile! But is it time to splurge for that app your business has been dreaming up? While mobile applications are trendy, they may not be what’s best for your users. It’s time to weigh the pros of mobile optimized websites and mobile applications to see which will offer your business the most benefits.

Since most businesses already have a website, taking the steps to become mobile optimized might be the way to go, especially if the current website is highly content-based. Here are a few benefits of mobile optimized websites to take into consideration:

Cost effective. This option will give you the most “bang for your buck.” In most cases, it will take much less time and resources to set a website up for mobile usage. It will also save on maintenance time, since all updates are done in one place as opposed to the separate apps for multiple operating systems.
Lower access barrier. Unlike an app, the user does not need to download anything to be able to view the content on a website. Mobile websites are available to anyone who has a mobile device with an internet connection.
Accessibility. Internet browsers have the ability to assist users that have impairments. For example, a browser will be able to read content aloud to users that have visual impairments. While apps may offer similar options, it is much easier to implement and maintain browser-based accessibility.
Searchability. Mobile websites provide higher visibility to organic search results than apps. In addition, someone who is browsing will be more likely to click on a link than download an app to view the content.
Easy updates. On the development side, the source code for a website is the one place to make all updates — even the ones for mobile. Unlike apps, there is no need to maintain multiple versions of operating systems (iOS, Android, Windows, etc.). In addition, while a mobile application requires users to update their device to reflect changes, mobile websites do not require updates by the users. Any updates are done on the development side and can be done frequently without the users even knowing.

Mobile apps offer users the ability to access content quickly and easily with the push of a button. They are especially useful in instances where they are intent to be utility-based (i.e. cameras, calculators, games, etc.). Here are a few of the other benefits a mobile application can offer:

Alerts. Most mobile devices offer an option for the user to receive “push notifications” from apps they use. By setting up these alerts, you can entice users back to your app with reminders or promotions. For example, a news app might send out a notification for new articles.
Offline content. Apps offer users the opportunity to continue usage without the need for an internet connection. This means there is no need for users to hunt for a Wi-Fi signal or use their allotted monthly data.
Hardware integration. If your business wants to take advantage of built-in characteristics of a device, an app is the way to go. Since apps have more access to the hardware of a device, this offers the ability to use existing features (i.e. Instagram uses an integrated camera and can save the images right to the device you are using). In this instance, a website wouldn’t offer the capabilities needed to perform the task efficiently.

If your business is on the fence, start with optimizing your website for mobile usage. This will give you the opportunity to see how your audience responds and if an app would be more beneficial.

It is always a good idea to voice your ideas and concerns to a digital marketing expert before making the final decision. This person will be able to help you decide whether a mobile app or a mobile optimized website is the right option for your business.

The YGS Group has a digital marketing team that is happy to help you make your decision. Submit your inquiries here.