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Below is a preview of one of the many sessions taking place at the 2010 ON DEMAND Conference & Expo. Visit the Conference-at-a-Glance to see all of the sessions available.
Making it Personal: Variable Data Printing for Fun & Profit
By: Kevin Beatson
In his 1737 Poor Richard’s Almanack, Ben Franklin printed an adage that was already 100 years old at the time, but is still true today. Franklin wrote that a penny saved “is twopence clear.” Today we say, “A penny saved is a penny earned.”
To put that in even more modern and specific terms, an organization’s profits can be enhanced both by increasing revenue as well as by decreasing costs. Fortunately, Variable Data Printing can do both!
As jobs move from print-to-inventory to smaller, just-in-time runs via print-on-demand, costs are reduced. Enterprises cut down on waste due to overprinting or changing regulations. In addition, jobs can be personalized for one-to-one marketing, resulting in more effective, more compelling collateral, ideally leading to increased sales and higher earnings.
The key to a successful personalization campaign are the five A’s: Accurate, Appropriate, Attractive, Attention and Action.
Accurate: There is another expression in the computer industry, “garbage in, garbage out.” If your variable data is inaccurate, you run the risk of alienating your audience more than if you had just delivered a static document. Scrub your list with computer and manual methods to be safe.
Appropriate: Make sure the content you’re delivering is appropriate, based on as much information as you can gather. Some recipients might be taken aback by too much personalization. “How did that hybrid car dealer know that I drive a red Hummer? Is Big Brother watching?”
Attractive: It’s becoming easier and easier to produce variable data jobs, much in the same way the original Macintosh made it easier for end users to become desktop publishers. But you need a designer’s eye to make sure any variable photographs and text will be of a high enough quality. Anything less reflects negatively on your print center’s capabilities.
Attention: Personalization offers the chance to really grab someone’s attention. With it, we can create dynamic pieces with unique images and content based on powerful rules. Personalization in 2010 is not about inserting a user’s name after “Dear”!
Action: A call to action is always important in any piece of collateral, but with personalized documents, a specific call to action can be customized. For example, at ON DEMAND 2009, Rochester Software Associates, Inc. printed personalized newsletters on the show floor, with the correct sales rep’s contact information, based on each attendee’s information, such as location, printer vendor and products of interest.
As organizations look to save pennies, and more, they would be wise to follow Benjamin Franklin’s advice and save money by not overprinting, and increase revenue through more effective, more personal documents.
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Making it Personal: Variable Data Printing for Fun & Profit
Speaker: Donna Wagner, Print Production Manager, Great American Insurance Company
Speaker: Kevin Beatson, Vice President, Rochester Software Associates, Inc.
April 21, 2010 | 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm
Learn how Great American Insurance Company leveraged the power of Web-to-Print and integrated variable data personalization to create custom marketing materials, helping the In-plant deliver higher value to both internal and external customers.
• Learn about the decision making process in determining which solution is best.
• Understand corporate concerns (confidentiality, branding, compliance) before they become expensive afterthoughts.
• Determine the tasks and man-hours involved in rolling out a successful W2P and VDP implementation.
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Want to learn more: Visit the Conference-at-a-Glance to see all of the sessions available.
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