In the world of print and design, attracting and retaining new customers is a crucial aspect of running a successful business. While consistently engaging new customers is undoubtedly important, adding customers that place multiple orders offers a variety of benefits. Along with providing some stability for your revenue stream, these clients help reduce your marketing costs, save you setup time, and can be a good source of referrals. Over time, multiple-order clients can also provide opportunities for you to expand your product range and expertise.
Directing your energies to attracting and keeping clients who place multiple orders can be an excellent shortcut to growing your business. In this blog post, we'll explore several market niches that typically require multiple orders of several types of print products.
Private Gyms
Private gyms are a great niche for print shops. Gyms often offer branded gear such as T-shirts, bags, leggings, workout equipment, exercise bands – even branded dumbbells. They also need signage like window, door, and floor graphics, along with sponsored or inspirational banners, posters, and safety signage. They also frequently offer decals or stickers for patrons to apply to gear, water bottles, or personal devices.
Pro Tips: Roland DG’s VersaSTUDIO BN2-20 or BN-20 desktop printer/cutter can produce
many of the products gyms need, printing either on vinyl, or, for T-shirts, on heat transfer vinyl (HTV). Direct print
applications, such as printing a logo on a protein shake bottle, are a great fit for the VersaUV LEF2 series benchtop UV printers or the VersaOBJECT MO-240 direct-to-object printer. When
the LEF2 is combined with the new Graphic Transfer System (GTS), you can provide an effective solution for transferring durable, vibrant UV graphics to irregularly shaped objects like dumbbells and other types of exercise equipment.
Nonprofit Organizations
In addition to their branding needs, nonprofit groups typically conduct fundraising activities and are regularly in need of event signage like flags, banners, and small directional signs. In addition, they promote their events with T-shirts, banners, posters, stickers, and decals. Nonprofits also offer promotional products, like pens or golf balls, along with trinkets like charms or holiday ornaments.
Pro Tips: Custom apparel is easy to produce with a VersaSTUDIO BN20D direct-to-film system or the VersaSTUDIO BY-20 desktop direct-to-film printer, while the VersaSTUDIO BN2-20 or BN20 desktop printer/cutter easily handles banners, posters and decals. Direct-to-object printers like the VersaOBJECT CO Series 30-inch hybrid UV printer or the LEF2 Series UV benchtop UV printers can print full-color logos and designs directly on promotional products up to 7.87 inches high. For customizing metal items like commemorative medals or charms, the VersaSTUDIO MPX-90S metal impact printer offers precise, durable, and detailed imprints.
Religious Organizations
Similar to the print needs of nonprofit groups, religious organizations often use custom apparel as part of their branding.
They also frequently host fundraisers and other events, requiring banners, posters, wayfinding signage, and decals. Other products they may need include wall graphics for meeting rooms, window and door graphics to identify their
facility and welcome worshippers, and vehicle graphics for a van or other vehicles. Personalized keepsakes, books or bookmarks are other possible applications for these groups.
Pro Tips: Wall, window, door and vehicle graphics can be printed and cut on a VersaSTUDIO BN2-20 or BN-20 desktop printer/cutter. The same
device can also be used for posters, banners, wayfinding signage and decals. You can use HTV with your BN2 or BN-20 to
produce custom apparel or use the VersaSTUDIO BN-20D direct-to-film system or the VersaSTUDIO BY-20 desktop direct-to-film printer. In addition to printing directly on items like ornaments or dreidles, VersaUV LEF2 Series benchtop UV printers or the VersaSTUDIO BD-8 desktop UV flatbed printer can personalize books or notebooks with worshippers’ names.
Sports Teams
Connecting with team parents or coaches can be a steady source of income for print shops as the seasons move from one
sport to another. Often, we’ll see the same parents coming to us for basketball, then football, then
volleyball projects. Each team needs practice jerseys, sports bags, and perhaps printed gear such as baseballs, hockey pucks, or frisbees. Teams also ask for lawn signs, team and sponsor banners, and posters. Print products for fans are also part
of the deal, with requests for head cutouts of players, fan T-shirts, hats, posters, and decals. Before you know
it, the next season rolls around and the orders start again.
Pro Tips: Use a TrueVIS SG3-300 30-inch printer/cutter to quickly and easily print and cut banners, posters, decals and head cut-outs on vinyl. Add the use of heat transfer vinyl (HTV) to create custom apparel. UV printers like the VersaUV LEF2 Series UV benchtop flatbed printers can print onto objects under 7.87” diameter or height, including small balls and hockey pucks. You can also create eye-catching foil designs on a variety of sports objects like frisbees and hockey pucks using the DGSHAPE LD-300 laser decorator.
Local Bands or Musicians
These days, local bands are working hard to be seen as well as heard. To do so, they need stickers, T-shirts, posters, banners, and promotional products. Some bands want event signage, backdrops, and step-and-repeat displays, and a logoed decal for the drum kit. They may also need packaging for their CDs, sales of which can help smaller bands get noticed.
Pro Tips: Standing out is easy with the colorful printed products from a VersaSTUDIO BN2-20 or BN-20 desktop printer/cutter. Use it to print on HTV to create branded apparel and print on
regular or specialty vinyl, such as Roland’s ESM-HOLO Holographic Prism Film, for colorful
decals, posters, banners and event signage. The VersaUV LEF2 Series benchtop UV printers can print directly on
promotional products and, with the optional Rotary
Rack, directly on cylindrical objects such as drinkware and drumsticks.
Conclusion
While attracting new customers is essential, the value of finding customers who place multiple orders is undeniable.
They provide financial stability, build trust and loyalty for your company, reduce your marketing costs, and offer you
opportunities for product line growth and improvement. Attracting customers in these five niche markets where multiple
orders are more common can help your business thrive in today’s competitive market.
Want to learn more? Contact a Roland DGA expert here.
