Getting personal

Getting personal: variable-data printing makes customized messaging fast, easy and effective


Every prospect and every customer has a distinctive combination of preferences, interests and demands that make them unique. Savvy marketers know that the closer you come to addressing these unique needs in your marketing communications, the greater the likelihood that you will convert prospects into customers.

One way to accomplish this type of highly targeted marketing is with variable-data printing.

Variable-data printing (VDP) takes information from a database and uses it to change elements such as text, graphics and images from one printed piece to the next without stopping or slowing down the printing process. VDP enables the mass customization of documents via digital print technology, as opposed to the mass-production of a single document using offset lithography. So instead of producing 10,000 copies of a single document that delivers the same message to 10,000 customers, variable data printing can print 10,000 unique documents with customized messages for each customer.

Imagine a greeting card with an image of your name written in icing on the top of a birthday cake. Now imagine that you're going to create thousands of these personalized cards, each with a different prospect's name on the cake -- and they're printed in the same amount of time as a standard piece with static messaging. That's variable-data printing in its simplest form.

In addition to direct mail pieces, variable-data printing can be used in brochures, newsletters, Web sites, emails, CD-ROMs, DVDs and streaming video.

Let's suppose that you not only want to deliver customized messages to recipients, you want to drive prospects to their own personal Web pages to get information specific to their needs and to encourage them to reveal their buying preferences. This is possible with personal URLs or "PURLs." An offshoot of variable-data printing, PURLs are domain names containing the recipient's first and last name and are dynamically created right from your prospect list. They can include personal images and text specific to individual needs and preferences.

The functionality of PURLs to track customer behavior offers value in sales conversion, relationship management, service levels, new business opportunities and models, control testing and real-time analytics. They are a great resource for surveys, customer acquisition, fund raising, political campaigns and recruitment. For example, you can use PURLs to pre-populate an order form with the person's details to help increase the likelihood they will purchase from you. PURLs can also track interest by individual by allowing you to see who is viewing your message and for how long. If the individual does not make a purchase immediately, you have the power to continue the dialogue and convert the prospect into a happy customer.

The returns for variable-data printing and PURLs vary depending on content and the relevancy of that content, but the technique presents an effective tool for increasing return on investment on marketing campaigns. By individualizing the message and effectively tracking customer behavior, marketers can print and distribute fewer pieces while realizing better results.