In life as well as in business, our ultimate desire as human beings is to identify, define, and solve problems. The textbook definition of a problem is any situation that brings about a gap between your current circumstances and a desired outcome. In your personal life, you might desire health, happiness, and satisfaction, and from a business perspective, efficiency, customer satisfaction, and overall profitability may be the overriding objectives.
The print marketing industry is currently facing myriad challenges brought about by rapidly advancing technologies such as artificial intelligence, rising inflation, shifting customer preferences, changing regulatory landscapes, etc. To survive and thrive under these conditions, creative problem-solving initiatives must be a part of your strategy. Making use of creative, out-of-the-box might be easier said than done, but it is a sure way to gain a competitive advantage in today’s business climate. Traditional methods are not going to cut it anymore.
In this post, we will explore some of the ways you can incorporate innovative print marketing techniques to come up with powerful solutions at every step of the problem-solving process.
Let’s dive right in.
Evaluate the Context
The marketing industry is an incredibly complex one, where different parts of the system need to work in synergy with one another for a goal to be well achieved. For example, marketing executives will relate to the intricacies of integrated marketing or variable data printing, but the fundamentals remain constant across industries. In a print project management scenario, this will involve evaluating a wide array of elements as you gather the information you need to understand what your situation is and identify any potential kind of obstacles.
Traditionally, you could get all the data you need by consulting business documents, systems, shareholders, and so on, but you need to go a step further. Remember, this is all about creative problem-solving. So, do not be afraid to consult newer methods of information gathering and consult nontraditional data sources such as social media.
You’d be surprised at how much valuable information people will provide you with if you approach them in the nonformal, open arenas provided by platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, and so on. Whether they are clients, potential clients, or even simply interested parties, you can seek out honest critiques and suggestions that will help you grasp critical aspects of your situation.
Analyze the Roots of the Issue
Root causes are the factors lying underneath the surface that lead to whatever problems your company might be facing. Here are numerous approaches and techniques that have been traditionally used to identify them, such as Root Cause Analysis, The Fishbone Diagram, the 5 Whys, the Pareto Chart, and more. They are essential because they will prevent you from wasting time and resources dealing with the symptoms of the issue rather than addressing what is causing them.
How can we tackle this undertaking in new and innovative ways? A good approach to consider will be to open your organization to input from new sources you wouldn’t previously think of. Do not hesitate to utilize new tools such as AI to help you identify areas that have problems and show you how they are impeding your progress. Keep in mind that you will have to ask yourself and your team tough questions if you want useful answers.
Set Down the Problem Statement
A useful problem statement should be concise, clear, and understandable. This is an essential tool in creative problem-solving Formulating a problem statement is the most important step toward solving it because you cannot expect to get the right answer if you’re asking the wrong questions to begin with. Your ability to deploy your creativity while solving business problems might be the decisive factor for your enterprise. When print project planning or working on any similar project, the S.M.A.R.T. module has been the traditional approach, which entailed setting goals that were:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
This approach was designed to provide answers to critical queries such as: What is the problem? Which parties are affected by it? How are they affected? What is the end state we desire? The challenge facing managers and business analysts today is working out novel approaches to help answer these questions and formulate effective S.M.A.R.T. objectives.
A good suggestion to explore is finding out why people do not choose your products or services. Traditionally, it would have been difficult to create channels of direct access to consumers who chose your competitors or simply were not attracted to your offers. Today, you can easily get in touch with them if you go about it with tact and intelligence. The internet is the most convenient avenue for this. Even though you will need to be careful to separate the wheat from the chaff here, it will ultimately be worth your while.
Validate the Problem
Before you set out to implement a solution, you need to be sure that the problem you’ve formulated is real and worth solving. Focus groups, surveys, prototyping, and carrying out interviews are all valid approaches here, but you need to go a few steps further. Try and take a long-term view of things. We often find ourselves troubleshooting problems immediately facing us while neglecting the long game, and countless companies have gone under because of this.
The rapid changes and advancements we are currently witnessing in technology and consumer behaviors are not going to slow down any time soon and will probably continue accelerating. Is your business model future-proof? You need to dig deep and consult widely to anticipate and predict the problems of the future even as you deal with those presently facing you, and that’s where strong creative problem-solving skills will serve you well.
Final Thoughts
Different industries will inevitably face different challenges, but the thread of similarity that is universal is that true problems will never have obvious, simple solutions – they wouldn’t be classified as problems if they did. Ayn Rand put it best when she said that there are no contradictions – when you encounter one, check your premises. When problem-solving for business, this is perfectly true.
PDC Graphics has been a prominent figure in the print marketing industry for decades and has the skills, passion, and dedication required to help you achieve your goals. In a world that is changing and evolving faster than many can keep up with, you can rely on PDC to be a reliable partner as you face the future. Contact us today. You won’t regret it!
