When's the last time you really examined your marketing conversion rates?
For many print and packaging businesses, particularly those SMEs that find an ever-diminishing about of time for marketing activity, the answer might be uncomfortable.
Despite investing significant time and resources into marketing activities, many in-house teams – including those with the Managing Director wearing this as one of their many hats – find themselves stuck in a cycle of creating content that generates views, but few qualified leads.
The core issue often isn’t the quality of your products or services – it’s how technical excellence is being communicated to potential customers. All too often, we write for ourselves instead of our targets.
Our experience working with print and packaging businesses at Think B2B Marketing reveals a common challenge: bridging the gap between technical expertise and compelling commercial messaging.
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The common disconnect manifests in several ways. Marketing materials become overly technical, focusing on specifications and capabilities without translating these into tangible business benefits. Or conversely, they become too generic in an attempt to appeal to everyone, losing the precise value proposition that makes your offering unique. It’s a delicate tightrope to walk.
Take, for example, a flexible packaging manufacturer whose marketing centres entirely around their advanced press capabilities. While impressive from an engineering standpoint, this approach doesn’t necessarily directly address what their target audience – largely food and beverage brands – actually care about: shelf–life extension, waste reduction, great shelf standout, supply chain efficiencies, and sustainable materials use.
The information is there, but the audience still needs to connect the dots on their own, and that leaves room for doubt. Their marketing spoke the language of print technicians when it needed to speak the language of brand owners and procurement teams. The consequences? Lower engagement rates, fewer qualified leads, and marketing investment that doesn’t deliver the expected return. In today’s competitive market, where UK packaging businesses are competing not just domestically but globally, this misalignment can significantly impact growth potential.
It’s just one of countless examples where partnering with an experienced team of industry-specific marketing professionals brings exceptional value. Often, in-house marketing teams (or business leaders handling marketing themselves) are too close to their own products and services.
When you’re immersed in the technical excellence of what you do every day, it becomes much more challenging to step back and view it through the lens of your customers’ needs.
The shift from technical capabilities to customer-centric messaging is just the beginning. Effective B2B marketing in print and packaging requires a deep understanding of how your prospects move through the buying journey – from initial awareness through consideration to final decision. It’s about creating the right content, for the right audience, at exactly the right moment.
This complex juggling act is where many in-house marketing teams find themselves stretched thin. Even the most capable marketers can struggle to maintain meaningful engagement at every stage of the sales funnel while handling their day-to-day responsibilities. After all, different stages of the buyer journey demand different approaches – what works for awareness won’t necessarily drive conversion.
This is where Think B2B Marketing makes the difference.
We don’t just provide an extra set of hands; we become a seamless extension of your existing team, complementing your in-house expertise with our specialist industry knowledge. Our team brings decades of combined print and packaging experience, allowing us to hit the ground running without the lengthy learning curves typically associated with generic marketing support.
When you partner with Think B2B Marketing, you’re not just getting marketing support – you’re gaining a team that understands both the unique dynamics of the print and packaging industry AND the psychology of B2B buying decisions. We know how to guide potential customers through each stage of their journey, creating targeted campaigns that nurture leads at every touchpoint until they’re ready to convert.
Over the past decade, at Think B2B Marketing (previously PHD Marketing), we have developed that rare combination of industry expertise and marketing prowess that turns technical capabilities into persuasive commercial messages that resonate with your target audience. In an increasingly competitive market, where standing out requires more than just technical excellence, having the right marketing partner in your corner makes all the difference when it comes to reaching the decision-makers that count, and converting prospects into customers.
Let’s start a conversation about how Think B2B Marketing can help you build a conversion-focused strategy that delivers measurable results for your business.
