In the world of print there are certain types of businesses that drive the majority of volume and ad agencies are one of those business types. So it’s not a surprise that with such a high amount of print being done they often find themselves needing to secure a new print partner for a number of reasons.

In this article we’re going to focus on ad agencies, go into more detail about why you may be looking for a new print partner and what you should look for when choosing that new printing company.

Reasons Ad Agencies Look for a New Print Partner

Most ad agencies already have a print partner, so why would they be looking? Here we’re listing out the primary reasons agencies will seek out a new printing company to work with.

Relationship is Fading

A big reason that agencies look for a new printing partner is that the relationship just isn’t what it used to be. You aren’t getting the attention or care that you once received.

Change in Leadership on the Agency Side

Many times new print partners are secured when the main print buyers at an agency change. New directors or managers like to get their own resources in place and don’t like to use what the last person did.

Prices are too High

Over time the cost of print can creep up and by finding a new print company you can get them to agree to lower prices if you commit to switching to working with them.

Quality Has Decreased

Over time a long term print company can sometimes take you for granted and let their quality slip. This will drive away ad agencies and have them looking for a new print company.

Turnaround Time Has Gotten Longer

You’ll find in the beginning of a working relationship, print companies will turn jobs around very quickly, but sometimes that time gets to be longer and longer, even getting to the point where due dates get missed. If this starts happening it’s time to switch.

The Workload is Too High for the Current Print Partner

As an agency grows they have more work that needs to get done and what once was a manageable amount of work has become too much for your current printer. In this case you may need to find a new one or get another.

Things to Look for from a Print Company

If you start seeking out a new print partner then there are things that you need to look for to make a decision. It actually doesn’t take that much effort to quickly vet a printer to see if they are someone you want to talk to at all.

Online Reviews

Check the online reviews for each print company you are considering. Look to see if they have mostly positive or negative reviews and if any of them have more negative than positive ones you may want to skip them.

The articles they share

Look at the content they publish as blogs on their website. Here you can get a good understanding of what they value and what they focus on as a print company.

Social media content

Similar to the blogs, look at their social media content to see what they focus on. You’re hoping to find that they at a minimum do post online, which shows they put in effort, but secondarily you want to find them posting highly relevant content.

Things to Ask a Prospective Print Partner

You can’t choose a new print company without talking to them. We’ve listed here the items that you actually need to ask a print company when considering them as a partner in your workflow.

References

When talking to a prospective print company you should ask for references. This will give you a chance to check in with a current customer to get their perspective on working with the printer.

Average Turnaround

Asking them how long it takes on average to get work done and back to you. You’ll likely need to give them some type of average quote to use as the basis for a turnaround ballpark figure.

Cost & Pricing

Again you may need to have an average order when getting these numbers, but asking for pricing figures to know if the print company is more expensive, the same as your current printer or if they are lower.

By checking in on all of the items we’ve shared here with you today you’ll be at an advantage in finding a high quality print partner for your ad agency. If you are looking for a new print company try us out by following all of the steps we’ve listed here today.