Producing print buyer conferences and crossing paths (both literal and virtual) with thousands of print customers on a regular basis gives me insights I wouldn’t have otherwise. For example, what are their biggest concerns and challenges, as professionals who work with the print industry?

Here’s what I’ve come up with.

Their top 5 primary concerns:

1. They struggle to keep current with print technology.
2. There’s often an inability to articulate why print is Green – and a smart media choice.
3. It’s tough to sell their own value “upstream”; that is, to their managers and their managers’ managers.
4. Knowing how to source print strategically is an evergreen concern. It’s connected to point #1.
5. How can they stay relevant and marketable in their careers?

These 5 concerns surface again and again in my discussions with professional print buyers. Of course, they influence what I write as well as our program development for PBI Print & Media Conferences.

With these concerns in mind, I’ve come up with the top 3 challenges that print buyers are facing right now:

1. The ability to bring innovation and creativity to their corporate team members. For this, they need new ideas, new technology information, and new ways to integrate print with digital media, from forward-thinking printers, from industry suppliers – and from one another.
2. Keeping Print alive, vibrant, and a viable component in their media mix – in the minds of their corporate team members. See #1.
3. Job security and growth. Their roles are changing. How much can they control where they advance to, and how they should get there?

I made these points in a presentation to

an audience of paper mill and merchant executives recently. As much as I hate PowerPoint, at least it forces me to focus. I thought they were important enough to share with Tips readers.

Professionals in corporate print buying roles look to the industry – including printers, other buyers, and press and paper manufacturers – to help them develop in their careers while championing the use of print in their organizations.

Our role at PBI is to offer educational and professional guidance to print buyers as well as the industry through content and events. The short list I’ve shared in today’s Tip spells out our mutual challenges. Are you with me?