Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (0)

No “One Size Fits All” for 1:1 Print
February 11, 2008

In this column, I’ve talked a lot about 1:1 printing and how marketers can get more “bang” for their buck by investing more per piece but getting an exponentially greater return. It’s important to recognize, however, that 1:1 printing”(or print personalization) is not a one-size fits all solution. To understand how and where 1:1 fits into your marketing plans, it’s important to understand the full variety of options.

In the next several posts, we’ll look at different ways to categorize 1:1 printing. These categories are summarized from The Industry Measure’s 1:1 print marketing primer, “1:1 (Personalized) Printing: Boosting Profits Through Relevance.”

We’ll start with technology.

Full-color printing using a toner-based press. The use of four-color toner-based presses to produce full-color, production-quality documents like postcards, trifold mailers, newsletters, and so on. In these applications, every element of the job is generated on the fly.

Black-and-white printing. Black-and-white is not as sexy, but it’s less expensive to produce. When combined with high levels of creativity, it can be just as effective. Many nonprofits use black-and-white in fundraising efforts to great success.

“Hybrid” (or multi-process) printing. For higher volumes of documents, marketers may choose to create a static four-color shell, then imprint the personalized marketing pitch in black-and-white using a digital press. This can create a powerful combination of color and personalization and a lower cost per piece than could be produced using a four-color toner-based press.

High-volume four-color. For marketers wanting to produce full-color, personalized documents at very high volumes, high-speed inkjet can do the job. These presses offer 300 dpi, which is sufficient for most marketing applications, even if it’s not photographic quality.  This technology is used for high-volume direct mail, transactional statements with personalized marketing messages (transpromo), and similar applications.

Next time, we’ll look at the variety of applications like 1:1 direct sales applications, personalized URLs, and more.

Posted by Heidi Tolliver Nigro on February 11, 2008 | Comments (0)