RESOURCES
It can be hard to effectively differentiate your services from the competition, particularly if you’re a small business competing against more prominent companies.
When it comes to selling more complex services like omnichannel marketing, this is especially true. To propel an omnichannel marketing business forward and win new clients, it’s not enough to focus on the technology itself. You need to shine a spotlight on your other differentiators to win the attention of your prospective clients.
One great way to stand out from the crowd and highlight your expertise is to drill down and focus on a particular niche, which is precisely the strategy that has paid off for XMPie customer RPM Digital. It found its place in the omnichannel marketing space and hasn’t been afraid to shout about it.
We sat down with Mille Earl from RPM to discuss how it switched from selling a technical service, easily replicable by anyone with that technology, to selling its expertise, experience, and passion for using omnichannel marketing as a catalyst for change in the non-profit sector.
Non-profits can’t reuse the same marketing strategies as those used by for-profit brands. Whereas for-profits promote a particular service or product for the benefit of the target individual, non-profits focus on persuading people to donate money for the benefit of someone else. It’s a tougher sell since the results are less tangible, and relationship-building is essential.
RPM Digital is a UK-based marketing services provider that has separated its business into two divisions. RPM Print specializes in providing quality digital print and print finishing, and RPM React focuses on delivering personalized multichannel communications.
RPM struggled to sell its omnichannel services until it won its first campaign for the Dorset Wildlife Trust, which wanted to raise awareness of the role that bees play in the pollination of crops.
Since it already had a long relationship with its existing print service provider, the print side was covered. However, RPM captivated the Trust’s attention by explaining how it could extend the value of that print by adding digital channels to the mix.
By delivering print and digital touchpoints together, synchronized with the same dataset, and hyper-personalized to each recipient, RPM could help the Trust to nurture the donor relationship and inspire donors to connect emotionally to the cause of nature conservation.
And since each communication – both print and digital – could be produced and delivered with XMPie marketing automation software, RPM could keep the costs affordable to maximize funds for the Trust’s ecological mission.
“We challenged [the Trust] to think about how they could use, not just automation, but [also] personalization, so the campaign could be much more dynamic and more effective.”- Millie Earl, RPM Digital
After that initial conversation, RPM designed and delivered a nine-month omnichannel campaign that exceeded all expectations and resulted in a 2:1 return on its marketing investment. On top of that, RPM was able to win more jobs off the back of it!
Another ecological charity, an organization called BugLife, was so impressed by the Dorset Wildlife Campaign that they wanted RPM to deliver something similar. That campaign to halt the decline of insects across the globe – NoInsectinction! – just launched.
“A lot of it came down to the results. We’d proven the concept, and BugLife felt more inclined to try something a bit different” – Millie Earl, RPM Digital
Rather than blending in with other businesses that superficially offer the same service or targeting an overly wide range of prospective clients, RPM has found its niche and passion. By clarifying its advantage in the non-profit sector, promoting customer success stories to shine a spotlight on its expertise, and having the right omnichannel technology in its toolbox, RPM are on the right track for starting conversations with prospects and achieving maximum results for its clients.
If you’re starting out with a new omnichannel offering, you too can maximize your impact by focusing on a niche market and making your passion for that segment of the market unmistakable. Make sure to research that industry extensively, highlight your expertise at solving the problems faced by marketers in that industry, and get the right technology so that you can provide omnichannel campaigns efficiently and effectively.
Click here to find out more about XMPie omnichannel marketing automation and how it can deliver for your business.
