Meet Dan, Head of eCommerce and Marketing at instantprint. From first point of contact to receiving their print, understanding every stage of our clients' journeys is essential to ensure we're communicating the right thing at the right time. That's where Dan comes in. Leading both the eCommerce and Marketing teams, Dan looks holistically at the customer journey through different lenses and sets out a strategy to optimise overall experience.
This week, we shone the spotlight on Dan to find out the role he plays in your print, what his day-to-day tasks look like and his favourite print products.
How long have you worked at instantprint and how has your role progressed/what have you learnt?
I’ve worked at instantprint for almost a year now; it feels like I’ve been here for both 10 minutes and 10 years at the same time! After 10 years with my previous employer, I was feeling a little apprehensive about starting over somewhere else, but joining the instantprint team was honestly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The environment and culture here is one that really aligns with me personally – having a truly customer-centric approach and a deep understanding that, if we make our customers successful then guess what, that makes us successful.
The main thing I learnt… “Print is dead” is an absolute myth! I was a customer of instantprint before I became an employee and I always thought I was one of a dying few who used it in their marketing arsenal – how wrong I was. Print is bigger than ever and is increasingly becoming the number one option both online and offline clients use for brand awareness activity. Both local and national clients are reporting better rates of success than ever before as we leave the pandemic behind us and get back to normal.
What does your average day look like?
First things first – coffee. Anyone who knows me knows that I run my body on a lean mixture of 2 parts coffee to 1 part blood. I’ll grab a coffee to go in the car and listen to an audiobook on the way to work.
When I arrive at work it’s always a case of doing an initial power hour of analysis for the previous 24 hours and beyond to see what worked and what needs more attention. This usually sets the focus for the day and helps informs discussions in meetings.
For the rest of the day, I’ll then be working with the eCommerce and Marketing teams to provide oversight and course correction on longer-term projects and working with the teams or individuals on development sessions.
How does your role fit into the customer’s journey?
I understand that the customer journey, in a holistic sense, starts with the very first interaction a customer has and finishes at the very last. The very last being the very last interaction… ever. That’s a huge span of time for our audience and we consider the user journey through different lenses.
I am responsible for setting out the vision and supporting all teams across the brand in developing their strategy and plans for how we can realise that.
I am completely aligned with the business when I say that every department plays a pivotal role in the user journey – the dispatch team applying the label to the parcel is just as important as how the creative team shoots the product in photography. I report on and analyse all touch points and work with teams to optimise the overall experience.
What makes you proud about working at instantprint?
There are two main things that make me proud to say I work at instantprint. Firstly, it is the level of devotion that our team has to the client’s success. As I said before, we exist to make our clients successful – we know that when our clients are successful this makes instantprint successful and this motivates us to provide the best quality products at the best turnarounds the industry has to offer.
Secondly, instantprint’s mammoth effort to lead the entire industry into a more sustainable future is unignorable. As a manufacturing business, you would be forgiven for thinking we had a terrible carbon footprint but we’ve been carbon neutral for the last 2 years running. We’re targeting ourselves with Net Zero by 2030 – that’s 20 years before even the British government has targeted and we’ve already made huge strides.
Tell us your favourite memory of working at instantprint!
My favourite memory has to be in my first week, the company's annual sports day event took place and I was paired up with Craig from my team for the “Egg Toss” – you have to through an egg to each other over an increasing distance until one team has the biggest gap and an unbroken egg – luckily, I didn’t end up with egg on my face… the same can’t be said for Craig though hahaha!
What’s your favourite print product and why?
It’s got to be the good old flyer, hasn’t it? It’s the most versatile product in a marketer’s arsenal and easily the most cost-effective from an ROI perspective. Get a flyer right and the ROI vs things like paid advertising is night and day.
What’s your favourite project that you’ve worked on so far?
It has to be working with the other teams around the business to bring on board the Salesforce CRM. This CRM has allowed us to build relationships with clients that were unimaginable before and the feedback from the start has been amazing on both sides. We’re able to deliver world-class client support and personalised experiences that mean much stronger and more prosperous relationships.
Tell us about your downtime hobbies or a random fact about yourself
I am never without a DIY project. I’m currently building a campervan from a panel van that I can use to go away and spend time with my fiancé and toy poodle in! Maybe when this project is finished, I’ll spend some time enjoying the product of the project itself rather than starting a new one…
