Jaco Möller, Business Development Manager: Workspace at Canon South Africa.

New ways of working are still front and centre for most companies, but the approach has now moved on from reactive to strategic. Solutions that have served them well in the past may no longer be fit for purpose and, as a result, many realise that they must continue to re-evaluate their requirements to keep pace with the evolving demands of the hybrid world. As organisations increasingly look to their technology providers for guidance on how to adapt, partners have an opportunity to highlight the variety of options available in this shifting landscape, such as taking creative print in-house.

Seizing the in-house print opportunity

One particular point of consideration for businesses is digital fatigue. The pandemic wasn’t wholly responsible for this, but it didn’t help. With people confined to their homes, they were forced to rely solely on technology to work and connect with others.

Now, customers are logging off and opting out, tired of looking at a screen for every aspect of their lives. The evidence is there, an overconcentrated landscape is causing rising e-mail opt-out rates and ad blocking. This, coupled with diminishing consumer trust in such platforms, means digital campaigns can now lack impact. This presents a real challenge from a communications perspective as e-mail and digital campaigns are no longer delivering the response or conversion rates that they used to.

This dilemma is causing businesses to interrogate their communication needs and explore beyond digital avenues. One solution is to improve the quality of printed output, which can offer a point of differentiation by cutting through digital noise, increasing engagement rates and demonstrating creative flair.

However, with security being an ongoing concern for many businesses, not all are keen to outsource this kind of activity. This opens the door for the channel to respond with a creative solution and promote the benefits of incorporating a more versatile solution into their technology mix. By mobilising print alongside digital, partners are equipping customers with the right tools to continue with meaningful, varied and relevant communication. Not only that, in-house printing can also help speed up processes, enhance agility and keeps costs down.

The opportunity is clear: organisations can be unsure where to start with bringing creative print in-house and they look to their technology providers for consultancy. Those that can offer devices which deliver exceptional quality, while meeting the need for secure information management, could take advantage at a crucial time when businesses are making decisions about the ways in which they communicate.