VistaPrint has flourished on an international scale in large part due to its simple business plan. It aims to be a leading online supplier of high-quality graphic design services and customized printed products to small businesses and consumers.
The plan is working as more than 10 million small businesses and consumers have used VistaPrint for printed products ranging from business cards and brochures to letterhead.
While its marketing plan sounds simple, executing it on such a scale is anything but. VistaPrint receives an average of more than 22,000 orders per day, ships to customers in more than 120 countries, and employs more than 1,000 people worldwide.
"The biggest challenge facing printers is differentiating their product so they are not competing solely on price," said Trynka Shineman, who joined VistaPrint in 2004, and is responsible for customer retention and growing the lifetime value of its customer base.
Are you wondering how much of your total budget should be devoted to marketing? VistaPrint's advertising spending in a recent quarter was $14.7 million, or 20 percent of revenue. "Companies should spend on marketing where marketing has proven to be effective and try to allocate an additional budget for ongoing testing," advised Ms. Shineman.
Similarly, while deciding on a precise amount of time to maximize your marketing efforts will forever be a subject of debate, Ms. Shineman offered the following: "The time spent on marketing should be relative to the company's size and the success of its marketing programs. As with budget, the more time and energy you focus on testing and improving your marketing campaigns, the better the results."
The most successful printers know who their target customer is and what they want. The ability to regularly find such niches, provide superior service while developing new ones, and invest in the latest technology will almost always serve as a recipe for success
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