With the heavy focus on digital channels, some marketing pros mistakenly believe that print collateral is no longer relevant. To the contrary, the ease and precise personalization provided by variable data printing actually makes print collateral more relevant than ever.
However, since not all the printing services Chicago companies rely on offer this capability, it may not be familiar to everyone.
According to industry research group Smithers Pira, variable data printing is on the rise. They predict the industry will print 853,097 million sheets in 2017. That’s up from 656,756 million sheets in 2012.
With the emphasis on personalized marketing that has given rise to detailed target personas and ever smaller and more tightly defined market segments, variable print printing makes perfect sense. There are five key reasons that variable data printing should be an important part of your marketing strategy.
1. Promotes Your Brand
With print collateral, every element of your brand is under your control. From the exact Pantone value of every color to the size and placement of your brand elements on the page, you have the power to ensure consistency.
You’re not at the mercy of each user’s variable monitor settings. You don’t have to shoehorn your logo into a certain size or shape to match a promoted ad space. From beginning to end, you are in control of the way the piece represents and promotes your brand.
2. Customizable
When people see a personally addressed piece of mail, they tend to open it. When a brochure speaks to exactly the person’s life situation, they feel connected to the product or brand depicted in it.
3. Targeted Yet Inexpensive
Variable data printing is cost effective, especially when you factor in the impressive impact it has. You can start with a standard piece and customize it with information that speaks directly to your individual target’s interests.
4. Staying Power
Almost everybody uses a spam filter that deletes junk mail sight unseen from the inbox. Paid ads barely even register on people as they browse the Internet nowadays, because we are all so inundated with ads, promotions and come-ons whenever we go online.
A beautifully designed piece of print collateral has staying power in this electronic world. People hold on to it to refer back to when they need information. They read it and they handle it on average multiple times before they file it.
Research shows that most people have difficulty with organizing and managing paper. They hold onto paper for a long time. They move it into various piles on their desks.
While many people strive to achieve this goal, it’s a rare person who touches a paper only once before filing or disposing of it. Each time your target prospect handles that piece of print collateral, you have another opportunity to convert them to a customer. That’s something you don’t often achieve with digital marketing, even with the most sophisticated remarketing techniques.
5. Physical Presence
Online ads are fleeting. They show up on a search screen and then they’re gone. Even if a target visits your website on purpose, when they leave you lose their mindshare.
Print collateral is always there. It sits on the desk or the kitchen table or in a basket waiting to be sorted. Even if they aren’t consciously thinking about your brand, prospects will catch a glimpse of your print collateral multiple times each day. This helps to keep your brand top of mind until the prospect is ready to buy.
Personalized information such as the person’s name or their hometown or job title makes it even harder to dispose of the print collateral easily. After all, your company went to all the trouble of creating this letter or brochure just for them. It has value that makes it hard for people to simply toss the item in the trash.
There are so many ways to personalize your print collateral using variable data printing. The more personal the result, the more impact the print collateral will have.
