Variable Data Printing

It’s sweltering hot out there, and it’s swarming with buzzwords! There’s several ways to beat the heat, so check out this list of buzzwords to find out what all of the buzz is about this summer:

1. pURLS (personalized URL) : Use a pURLS to create a one-to-one conversation
2. VDP (Variable data printing) : Personalize the direct mail piece by adding pURLs, variable images and/or variable data based on segments
3. Email Blasts : Embed pURLs into your email blasts
4. Go mobile : (and by that I mean, with smartphones) Connect the direct mail piece with QR codes
5. Landing Pages : Direct your audience to a mobile-optimized landing page
6. Capture Results : Integrate all of this cross-media (pURLs, QR codes, landing pages, direct mail, etc.) cohesively to drive response, conversion and retention!

In today’s sultry business climate, it is more important than ever to examine the way you market to your customers and prospects. How do you communicate with the people and organizations you want, and need, to be in business with? Do you rely on salepeople to reach out via phone and email, or perhaps through a social network or referral? Do you send out one-way informational documents and literature?

In most cases, if you’re doing this, it’s to gain entry to your customer or prospect for a face-to-face meeting or telephone conversation. The reason we want this is so that we can form a dialog with Penelope Prospect or the Carl Client.

But nowadays, it’s very difficult for people to set aside time for these meetings because our responsibilities and job descriptions are ever-increasing. Imagine being able to start this dialog at the earliest of stages of the sales cycle. Imagine having access to invaluable data in regard to your customers and prospects value points. Imagine being able to use this data to segment your messaging, making each communication relevant and targeted to your audience. Imagine creating this messaging across the multiple marketing channels. This is called integrated cross-media marketing, one of the many buzzwords used throughout the marketing industry.

This integrated cross-media marketing world is the world we live in now, so if you are a marketer, business development professional or business owner. The days of traditional mass advertising are over. With shrinking budgets, and the demand for high-value ROI marketing campaigns, it’s more important than ever to implement a strategy that will get you the most bang for your buck. It’s called BUZZWORDS!

In our last post, we discussed the importance of being involved early in the design process when implementing a variable marketing strategy that utilizes personalized digital color printing. Planning up front can save lots of time and money in the long run for your personalized variable printing project. Knowing the strategy, deadlines, budget and complexity can help you determine the best and most cost-effective way to produce the project.

TIP #2: Determine the best, most cost-effective way to produce the project: Offset, digital – or both.

Depending on deadlines, there can be many economical options when implementing personalized digital color printing. If a quick turnaround is required, the project will most likely be best suited on the digital printer. The digital printer allows for getting variable marketing materials out fast in response to the market’s needs. If you have larger quantities and more lead time for the project, offset printing would be most economical. Planning for offset requires more attention to detail.

You can also mix the two options of digital and offset printing. The shells or static images/information can be printed on the offset and temporarily stored. This can then run through the digital press, adding on the variable information/images, allowing you to be flexible in your messaging when responding to your clients and prospects wants and needs out there in the marketplace. When doing this, color consistency could become an issue if not monitored between the multiple mixed pieces.