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Pick Your Applications: Varieties of 1:1 Print
February 14, 2008

Just as there are different types of automobiles optimized for different types of drivers and different types of need, 1:1 printing applications have been optimized for different types of marketing. If you are doing a lead generation campaign, you can find specialists in these applications who have optimized and streamlined the process for maximum cost effectiveness and impact. The same with transpromo, direct selling, and others.

Let’s look at the primary application types for which strategies and track records have been developed. These categorized are summarized from our 1:1 printing primer “1:1 (Personalized) Printing: Boosting Profits Through Relevance.”

Lead Generation: Even if the marketer does not have its own in-house database, techniques refined by 1:1 printing specialists can boost response rates even out of basic mailing lists by using specialized software and creative design techniques that can turn these lists into powerful—even relevant—marketing documents.

Loyalty Programs: Like chocolate and peanut butter, loyalty programs and personalization just go together. Customers sign up for loyalty programs, agreeing to give their name, address, and personal information and allow marketers to track their purchasing behavior in exchange for rewards for their loyal business. By virtue of the fact that recipients are choosing to sign up for these programs, they are more likely to respond, making the return on investment for 1:1 printing that much greater.

Fundraising: Like loyalty programs, pitches are made based on the recipient’s relationship to the organization. If the nonprofit is a college or university, for example, the recipient might receive a letter encouraging him or her, not just to make a generic donation, but to donate to the specific department and support past professors.

Direct Sales: Marketers use the power of databases to speak directly to each recipient on an individual basis based on demographics, past purchase habits, and more. In these applications, marketers use either purchased lists or their own databases to motivate the recipient to respond to a generic offer or to create personalized offers based on what is known of the individuals from that database.

Personalized Urls (PURLs): In these applications, marketers print a personalized URL on each mailer (www.janesfurniture/bobsmith), encouraging recipients to log in to take a survey or view information, often in exchange for some kind of incentive, such as a chance to win a prize. Once logged in, respondents’ movements can be tracked and their responses measured in near real time.

Transactional: Many marketers think of transactional applications as being only for huge marketers and large corporations. And yet, any bill, statement, or invoice is a personalized document, regardless whether it’s a credit card statement or an update on a customer’s rewards points from your natural foods store.

Transpromotional: If you add marketing messages to transactional documents, they become hybrid transactional and promotional documents, or “transpromo” documents. Examples might include credit card statements with relevant offers based on the recipient’s purchase history or special rewards or offers based on a card member’s use of a club card at a grocery or retail store.

Any of these sparking ideas? Think about it. You might be surprised how the ideas begin to percolate.

Posted by Heidi Tolliver Nigro on February 14, 2008 | Comments (0)