Brilliant Marketers: 3D Printing Needs to Be On Your Radar

As a printing technique it’s been around since the 1980s, but 3D Printing is getting increasingly common because of its numerous benefits.

Factors like customizability, incentives and planning are what can decide the outcome of your marketing campaign. There are several instances where 3D printing made campaigns go viral for big firms like Coca Cola and Nokia. The 3D printing market is getting increasingly valuable and the technology is suitable and profitable for businesses, both small and large.

Moreover, brands are getting interested in 3D printing because of its cost-effective and speedy approach. Its advanced technologies enable all enterprises to enjoy the affordable prices of 3D printing compared to the more expensive traditional methods.

The Rising Trend of 3D printing

The global 3D printing market was worth USD 13.78 billion in 2020, and it is predicted to increase at a 21.0 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2021 to 2028. In 2020, 2.1 million 3D printers were shipped worldwide, with 15.3 million units predicted to be shipped by 2028.

The market is predicted to increase due to strong R&D in three-dimensional printing (3DP) and rising demand for prototype applications from several industrial verticals, including healthcare, automotive, aerospace and the military.

In marketing we have seen giant trend-setting firms like Coca Cola use 3D printing to make mini bottles as part of a campaign in Israel. Other firms like Nokia have also followed this trend by allowing customers to create custom covers for their Lumia smartphone. 

After successful campaigns from the big names, other firms are likely to follow the trend.

The 3D scanning market is significantly smaller, but is also growing at an impressive rate.

Factors Needed to Make Your 3D Campaign Go Viral

There are several factors that should be taken into account to make a campaign go viral. These include customisation, incentives and planning your campaign.

Customisation
3D Printing enables you to make custom made prototypes. You can customise a prototype or product to adapt to various demographics and reach a larger audience.

Incentives
Through social media, you can organize giveaways of your products by making your followers interact with a post and have them share it in their stories. In doing so, a chain reaction will begin where their followers will get to know about your product.

With 3D printing, you can customise the prize by adding a personal touch for the winner like an engraved name or initial.

Planning Your Message
While some viral efforts are unintentional, the majority are well-planned. You can’t guarantee that your content will go viral, but you can plan to make sure that your message is clear.

Make a detailed script for your video or a careful plan for your infographic, so that your audience understands what you’re trying to say. Then, if the campaign goes viral as planned, you’ll be able to reach an even larger audience with your message.

Why You Should Get Involved

3D printing has a lot of benefits. It can remove other burdens so that you can focus on your marketing campaign. For instance, with 3D printing you get to print your prototypes only when needed so you do not need to store different parts. This is most helpful if you have a small business and have access to limited storage facilities.

There is also no need to gather parts from different regions to build your prototype. This reduces the use of transport, thus making 3D printing marketing a sustainable choice.

If you choose to combine 3D printing and audiovisual content, you could show your audience that you aim for sustainability, something that is getting more and more deserved airtime.

Is 3D Printing Ideal for Small Businesses?

3D Printing is ideal for small businesses. As mentioned, you get to save on storage space and print replacement parts only when required. This will save you money and minimise expenses which are essential for a small business to survive and outgrow its competition. As a small business, you might only offer a limited range of products and services targeted at a very specific audience. This is where 3D printing comes into play.

3D printing provides a high level of customizability for your products so you would be able to adjust to specific client requests. Highly customised prototypes can also help attract potential investors. Since a 3D printed prototype is first designed on computer software, clients or investors may initially consult the computerised design and ask you to make any changes before printing. Again, 3D printing proves to be cost-effective for small businesses.

3D printing has democratised the production process, allowing even the smallest company to begin producing goods. A 3D printer can be used to create parts for an existing item or to design and manufacture a whole product. You can also avoid the cost of owning a 3D Printer by making use of a firm offering a variety of 3D Printing services. One such firm is Surface Scan.

Who Can Benefit?

Almost any industry can benefit from 3D printing marketing. Surface Scan delivers 3D printing services to artists, the automotive industry, archaeologists, industrialists and more.

3D printing is a very precise process with low margins of error. This makes 3D printed products very trusted among professionals like engineers. Knowing that a product is trusted by professionals will also gain you the trust of potential clients. In fact, several marketing campaigns use this technique.

For example, a new 3D printed protective helmet would include the words “Trusted by engineers” to strengthen their objective of alluring potential clients. Businesses of any size can benefit from 3D printing campaigns. Make big marketing strides in 2022 by making the leap to 3D printing.

For more information on Brilliant Marketers: 3D Printing Needs to Be On Your Radar talk to Surface Scan