E31: How to Do Print Marketing Right for Your Business | Jessica Embree
Today’s market is overloaded with digital ads and AI-generated content, but print is making a comeback— only if you use it the right way.
In this episode, Jessica Embree from Tulip Media Group shares how small businesses can combine print and digital strategies to build credibility, attract customers, and increase sales.
We’ll break down why print still works, the biggest mistakes businesses make with their marketing, and how to track ROI on print materials. Plus, Jessica reveals how her team helped clients double their sales without adding more salespeople.
If you want to stand out from the competition and create marketing that actually converts, this episode is for you!
===========================
P.S. When you are ready, here are a few ways I can help…
Get Your FREE Marketing Domination Checklist: https://www.seangarner.co/
FREE Marketing Assessment | Discover what's wrong with your marketing & get a FREE customized plan to fix it: https://www.seangarner.co/marketingreport
Schedule A Call to Build, Fill and Optimize Your Sales Funnel For More Leads: https://www.seangarner.co/
===========================
Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast HERE:📱
➡︎YT: https://www.youtube.com/seangarner
➡︎Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-domination
===========================
Sean Garner is a marketing consultant and Certified StoryBrand guide dedicated to helping small business owners grow and dominate their industries. He created the Marketing Domination podcast to teach people how to combine storytelling with strategic marketing to help businesses connect with customers and stand out online.
As Creative Director at Tulip Media Group, Jessica has over eight years of experience transforming businesses' brand identities into compelling narratives, ensuring clear and consistent marketing messaging that stands out in competitive markets.
Jessica leads both print and digital marketing campaigns, blending traditional and digital approaches to create easy, effective, and results-driven strategies tailored for small businesses and agencies.
Co-author of the Amazon bestseller "Double Sales / Zero Salespeople," Jessica shares actionable insights on optimizing sales and marketing into a unified strategy, offering proven methods for business growth without additional sales staff.
===========================
Let’s Connect!
Website: https://www.seangarner.co/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanagarner/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seangarner/
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/sean.garner.927/
Twitter: https://x.com/coachseang
——————————————————————————————————————————
EPISODE 31 TRANSCRIPTION
Introduction
Sean Garner [00:00]: Is print marketing dead, or are you just doing it wrong for your small business? That is the question our guest today is going to help us answer. Jessica Embree from Tulip Media Group is here today to share how small business owners can leverage print material, combine it with digital, better connect with their customers, reach new people, grow their audience, and dominate their industry. Let's get into it and welcome to Marketing Domination.
Sean Garner [00:30]: Well, Jessica, thank you so much for taking the time to come here on the Marketing Domination podcast and share your expertise with our audience.
Jessica Embree [00:39]: Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited.
Sean Garner [00:42]: One of the things I find interesting is you've got a great, captivating headline, and it made me want to know more. You are the Creative Director at Tulip Media, and your LinkedIn headline caught my attention because it said, "Print isn't dead. You're just not doing it right."
Coming from the digital marketing world, where everything is so digital now, tell us about that. What is the real state of print media compared to people's perception? And how are people messing it up?
Jessica Embree [01:19]: It's a very common misconception that print is dead, but it's not. It's surviving and thriving, especially in the digital realm we're living in today.
With all the AI-generated content, people are getting inundated with so much noise. Print is a great way to cut through that noise, stand out, and build credibility. The reason why print is so successful is because it's tangible. You're receiving it, holding it, and consuming that content differently than you would with digital.
So when people come to us saying, "I want to stand out. I want to give valuable content to my readers," print is a great way to do that. There are many ways to use print—postcards, magazines (which is what Tulip Media specializes in), newsletters.
That's why we love print so much—because it's different. That’s also why you see big companies like Wealthsimple and Costco still using it successfully.
Why Print Still Works in a Digital World
Sean Garner [02:15]: Okay. So tell me this—let's say I'm a local plumber or I’ve got a local service-based business. What would print look like for them? I guess my default thought would be mailers or something like that. But one of the things I think is interesting is magazines. Would a local service business benefit from creating something like that? And how could they leverage print material?
Jessica Embree [02:42]: There are a couple of different ways. They could have their own postcards, like you said, but they could also be part of a local magazine in their community. There are always a lot of those. And it’s not just about having an ad in a magazine—maybe you’re putting an article in there.
So there are different ways to be present in the print realm, and it depends on your business and the goal you’re trying to achieve. We both come from a StoryBrand background, and we always ask, What’s your main goal? What are you trying to achieve? What’s the pain point of your readers? So it's about agitating that and putting that into your messaging.
Sean Garner [03:14]: So once you create this, how would you recommend businesses go about distributing it? Is it already kind of done because it’s an established piece of print, or is this about creating something new? How do they make sure the right audience actually sees it? Because, yeah, we can go to a print shop and create something, but how do we ensure it actually gets in front of people?
Jessica Embree [03:37]: That’s where print sometimes falls short. Businesses create a beautiful piece of print marketing, but they send it to the wrong people or they’re not sending it the right way.
At Tulip, we always encourage our client partners to provide us with their current mailing list of customers—download their full CRM and send that out. But we also ask for demographics: How old are they? Do they own a business? How many employees do they have?
We’re able to pull this data for them, so it becomes both a lead generation tool and a retention tool. It’s kind of like a drip campaign at the end of the day.
How Local Businesses Can Leverage Print
Sean Garner [04:10]: Yeah. And so in the print versus digital world, right? In digital, it's really easy to track conversions and ROI on ad spend and stuff like that—click-throughs and all of the things. Since you can't directly do that with print—or maybe you can, and we’re about to learn—how do you typically educate businesses or encourage them as they're going through this to actually know if this is working for their business?
Jessica Embree [04:35]: And that's also a very common question—how do you extend your print online? There are a lot of different ways you can do that. There are quizzes, bit.ly’s, URLs, and QR codes to get those analytics. There are special phone numbers that you just have for the magazine so you can start to see that ROI. Offers, coupons—we’ve seen everything here at Tulip. Yes, it’s not as easy to measure as digital, but I find with print—and we see this again and again with our clients—they get more anecdotal stories from their community when they send out that magazine.
An insurance agency we work with in Wisconsin, every time they send out their magazine, the CEO will send us an email saying, "I was just at the coffee shop, and someone said, ‘Hey, I’ve seen you in a magazine before.’" It’s stories like that, and that’s the brand awareness you’re looking for. Print allows you to hit every part of the buyer’s journey, whether it’s brand awareness or closing that sale, because of the different ways you can integrate it.
Sean Garner [05:42]: So if we are doing this print material, how are some ways that we can leverage it and kind of marry it with the digital stuff we’re doing? That way, it’s not siloed—like, "This is my print campaign, and this is my digital campaign"—but instead, how do you recommend small business owners merge those two strategies so they’re leveraging their market fully?
Measuring ROI: Can Print Be Tracked?
Jessica Embree [06:04]: An example of that is we have a lot of customers who have special PDF downloads exclusive to their magazine readers. So at the end of their article, they have that call to action saying, "Free download here," and they're directed to a landing page specifically for that.
Another great example is we work with a firetruck manufacturer that sells million-dollar fire trucks all over North America. This is a very niche audience, and digital doesn't always work for them. Fire chiefs are very busy, so we identified that in their buyer’s journey and story brand messaging, the best point of contact for them is before they need to write an RFP.
So we're creating content around RFP (Request for Proposal) creation, putting that in the magazine, and sending it to fire chiefs all over North America. We also include engaging content, like recipes, because fire chiefs spend long hours at the station and sometimes need to cook.
We've received emails from this client saying they've sold million-dollar products using this newsletter because it’s so niche, so on target with the content, and it addresses their problem—creating RFPs.
Sean Garner [07:20]: That's awesome. If you don't mind me asking, are you allowed to say what the manufacturer is? I was a firefighter for about six years, so I was wondering if that’s something I saw in the firehouse before.
Jessica Embree [07:24]: Yeah, it's MetalFab Trucks.
Sean Garner [07:28]: Do you need a fire truck?
Merging Print with Digital for Maximum Impact
Sean Garner [07:50]: The book is Double Sales, Zero Salespeople: Optimize Your Sales and Marketing into One Business Development Strategy That Works. That sounds amazing. So give us some insight. I think, especially from my world as an agency owner, there almost seems to be a disconnect, like, "No, that's your problem," between sales and marketing.
Marketing will generate the leads, and if they don’t convert, the sales team says it’s marketing’s fault. Then the sales team says, "Well, it’s because marketing is generating bad leads for us." So how should those two things work together? And also, how do you increase sales without adding salespeople? I want to know that.
Jessica Embree [08:31]: So there are two parts to that question. Sean, back in 2018, we realized we had a problem at Tulip. Our cost of acquisition was $40,000 per client.
So we woke up and thought, "What are we doing? We need to change everything." Overnight, we changed our website messaging, started using that pull strategy of agitating the problem and addressing what our consumers were looking for. We started doing Google Ads, SEO with keywords that people were actively searching for, and blogging.
Within three months, that $40,000 cost of acquisition dropped to $4,000. We saw an immediate shift just by changing our messaging, running Google Ads, and using print media.
The biggest change we made was how we approached our sales process. We had been relying on cold calling and trade shows, talking to people who didn’t even think they needed a magazine. Instead, we started focusing on the people who were raising their hands and saying, "This is the problem I have."
We created a machine that made it easy, quick, and effective for customers to buy from us. Double Sales, Zero Salespeople details how we went from a $40,000 cost of acquisition to $4,000. It also outlines how local businesses can use these strategies to automate their sales team.
You're right—there’s often a disconnect between marketing and sales. They’re not always communicating effectively. When marketing passes a lead to sales, sometimes sales says something completely different, confusing the customer. That communication needs to be strengthened to ensure a seamless experience.
Sean Garner [10:18]: Yeah, that's great. With that, how do you see AI and all the new technology impacting marketing for local business owners? Is it pushing more people toward this strategy, or is it disrupting things in a different way?
Fixing Common Marketing Mistakes
Jessica Embree [10:44]: I think when it comes to AI, you have to look at it as an assistant. You can't run away from it at this point in our lives. You have to see it as an efficiency builder or a tool. We've used it to automate invoices, emails, and even Photoshop photos. There are so many different applications for your business. When local business owners look at their business and ask, "What can I do to make my time more efficient, not only for myself but for my clients?"—they should look at daily tasks and ask, "Can I automate this? Can I use AI?" That's the strategy we follow with our clients as well.
Sean Garner [11:29]: With what you guys do at Tulip, what’s your process? Because this sounds cool, but I guess two things—what’s the process, and how do I know if it’s for me? This sounds like, if I am a local med spa, how do I know if this is for me? And if it is, what’s the process you guys use to make this all happen? How much do I need to do? Do I need to create the graphics and write the copy? What does that look like?
Jessica Embree [12:02]: For our print side, it’s a turnkey solution. You get graphic designers, ghostwriters, proofers, and project managers. We handle the mailing and can even pull the mailing list for you if needed. We offer different sizes of programs—four pages, 16 pages, etc.
For our digital side, we take a strategic approach. When we talk to a client, we ask about their pain points, goals, and what they are trying to achieve. We conduct an SEO keyword strategy to see what people are searching for online so we can use that in their blogs or Google Ads. We do a website messaging exercise because if their storefront isn't ready, all their other marketing efforts—Google Ads, blogging, email newsletters—won't convert. Website messaging is crucial.
Depending on the local business, the strategy varies. It all comes down to what your goals are and what you're trying to achieve.
Sean Garner [13:10]: Yeah. It sounds like you work with a wide variety of clients—from local businesses to fire truck manufacturers to large enterprises. Even though everyone is dealing with the same problems, just at different levels, what are some major holes you see? What mistakes are businesses making where you're thinking, "My gosh, guys, if you would just fix this, things would be so much better"?
Jessica Embree [13:42]: Two things—they're always missing a call to action in every single piece of marketing, and they use industry jargon that their consumers don’t understand.
I do it all the time. I even caught myself doing it earlier when I said "RFP" without explaining it. Listeners may not know what that is—I should have said "request for proposal." It's what I call the curse of knowledge. When you've been in business for so long, you start using terminology that confuses consumers.
We work with a lot of insurance agencies, and they'll be talking to me, and I’m like, "John, I have no idea what you're talking about right now."
Sean Garner [14:22]: You're super excited about it, but I have no idea what you just said.
Jessica Embree [14:25]: Exactly. Sometimes we have to go down to a third-grade speaking level. Insurance agents are great—they provide protection for your assets, your home, and your peace of mind. That’s the type of messaging that resonates with consumers. But when they start talking about very technical insurance policies, people get lost, frustrated, and tune out. So we have to be very mindful of the words we use.
How to Get Started with Print & Digital Marketing
Sean Garner [14:56]: Do you find lots of pushback with that? Like when you're working with the insurance agent, it's their puppy, right? They love it so much. But they end up suffocating the thing because they're squeezing it so tight, thinking, "No, but I have to use this word because it makes me sound more intelligent." Do you have lots of pushback with clients, or when you explain it to them and show it, do they have that aha moment?
Jessica Embree [15:03]: There's usually no pushback. A great example of that—when we were talking to an insurance agency one time, we said, "You need to stop using the word commercial insurance. Just use business insurance." They asked why. Commercial insurance and business insurance are the same thing. I said, "Because business insurance is searched ten times more online." When you back it up with data like that, they get it.
Sean Garner [15:43]: That's good. Since you brought it up—yes, definitely in the story brand world, and also marrying that with SEO, I think it's powerful. Sometimes people only focus on the keyword, but when they try to use the keyword, it doesn’t sound clear. Just because somebody is searching for it doesn’t mean it will convert with the call to action like you spoke about. So you have to balance those two things out.
So tell me this, Ms. Jessica, this sounds awesome. I want to do a magazine. I want help with my print material. You guys also help with digital strategies. How should people get connected if they want to learn more and see if this is the right fit for them?
Jessica Embree [16:30]: You can connect with me at tulipmediagroup.com—that’s our website. Or you can follow me on LinkedIn, send me a message, and I’m happy to connect and talk about anything marketing.
Sean Garner [16:40]: Love it. Well, Ms. Jessica, thank you so much for the opportunity to connect with you today. Guys, go check it out—tulipmediagroup.com. You might be the cover of your own magazine one day.
Jessica Embree [16:53]: Exactly. Thank you so much.
