Variable Data Printing: A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

DESPITE THE tough competitive environment of the past few years, there are still many printers who haven’t seized on new ways to increase their profitability and profits. Studies have shown that print service providers who offer value-added services such as fulfillment, design/creative, digital asset management and/or full color personalized mailing are still in the minority.

Change is afoot, however, and for good reason. According to Ralf Schlozer, associate director at Info­Trends/CAP Ventures, a digital print and document technology analyst, 23.6 percent of all digital print jobs currently contain variable data. He predicts that the growth of variable data printing (VDP) will be driven by further price declines in the cost of digital color pages.

Savvy printers get it. When they realize they can offer their direct mail and marketing customers a service that can increase response rates by 36 percent, increase the value of an average order by 24.5 percent, improve response time by 33.9 percent, improve customer retention/repeat orders by 47.6 percent, and improve overall revenue and profit by 31.6 percent, the business benefits of VDP become clear.

One EFI customer in particular, Mississippi-based Graphic Printers, credits VDP with increasing profits by more than 30 percent. Burned out on running a commodity business and ready to close shop and retire, the owner learned about VDP at Connect, EFI’s user conference, and subsequently offered the value-added service to his customers.

“It really did rejuvenate us,” he says of VDP. “What we are doing now is definitely not a commodity.”

Go Beyond Bland

Today, VDP provides personalization opportunities that are light years beyond the bland, unsophisticated direct mail of the past. Printers can dynamically assemble four-color images, charts, text and other objects to create attractive, highly customized documents that increase the readability and the response rates of direct mail and many other forms of communication.

The good news is that to start providing VDP services you don’t have to offer the most complex and sophisticated customization projects. You can begin with smaller-scale projects and build up as your success leads to more business requests for personalized printing. For those who are ready to experiment with this new value-added service opportunity, here is a “recipe for success” to help you get started.

The Recipe

The Right Customer: First, identify a customer who will partner with you as you move into this new arena. Are you already working with a customer who uses direct mail? They are most likely to be receptive to the idea of a marketing program that uses variable data for personalized printing to more effectively communicate with their customers. They are also likely to have a usable database of information about those customers, and will be open to exploring new technology for increasing customer communication and response rates. The best prospects are customers who have a product or service with a substantial value and considerable profit margin.

Define Success: Once you’ve identified your partner, the two of you should define success. Success may be gauged by reaching a target response rate or specific return on investment over a period of time. It can be measured in terms of more sales or larger sales. Success may also be defined in comparison with results from other marketing programs.

Measure Success: To measure the effect of personalization in a direct mail campaign, you will need a response mechanism:

• How will the customers and prospects respond in such a way that you will know what generated those responses?

• Will you simply measure sales records or perhaps an increase in telephone or Internet inquiries?

• How will you report the response data?

• Over what period of time will you collect data?

You will need to specify program length and the frequency of the reports to be sure you’ve captured all relevant responses.

Execute the Campaign: Rather than attempting a complex customization project approaching true 1:1 marketing, start with a piece that has only a few variables. You could start with the very simplest type of variable data application and offer two versions of a document. Versioning is as simple as changing a graphic, a headline or a signature, depending on a single bit of information like a geographic region or the recipient’s gender. Or, for something just a little more complex, you can swap graphics and pieces of variable text depending on several demographic data points and therefore make the content more relevant.

So what’s the bottom line of relevant personalized marketing through VDP? More value to every page printed. More value to your customers, who get increased response rates and more profits; and more value to you as a print service provider with increased revenues and profits. Everyone wins. IPG

Develop your expertise with variable data printing by starting with smaller-scale projects. Build up to more sophisticated programs as your success leads to more business requests for personalized printing.

For a complimentary copy of EFI’s variable data printing guide, “The ABC’s of VDP,” visit:

www.efi.com/promo/vdp

Steps to VDP Success

Here are the nine steps to a successful variable data printing project:

1. Create the design with the placement of the variable content in mind. There are many document layout applications, ranging from simple to sophisticated; use the one that best meets your requirements. As you design the piece, consider which elements will be varied. Will images be swapped depending on demographic information? Is there space to place the text pertinent to the recipient?

2. Create and collect the assets, such as photos and graphics, that you will need for each variation of the demographics. Be sure the photos and graphics will fit the space allotted and are of the right resolution.

3. Create a database of recipient information. This type of information should be readily available from the customer.

4. Define the “rules” that will determine how the various images and data are combined with the document design by your document authoring application.

5. Merge the data and graphic assets into the document design to create a different version for each pet owner using a VDP application. Whether you call them VDP tools or document authoring tools, there are lots of choices available. And because these software packages also range from basic to complex, use the one that gives you the abilities you need now and those you will want in the near future.

6. Proof your project by printing test copies of the final layout on the digital device you are using.

7. Now you’re ready to print. Today’s digital printers are designed to run fast, but not every digital device can run at full rated speed when handling graphically intense documents such as variable data jobs. Make sure your digital device can download and RIP all the common elements only once. The result is a sleek and efficient file that will let your printer run at rated speeds for maximum efficiency and lowest cost.

8. Apply the required finishing steps such as folding, stitching and inserting, and deposit your project in the mail.

9. Wait! You’re not done yet. The final step is to measure your results, analyze the data, compare the costs and results to the original campaign, and calculate the ROI on the VDP program.

Kathy Wilson is director of server product strategy and marketing at EFI, a leader in digital imaging and print management solutions. EFI is committed to providing the industry with an open VDP solution tailored for customer needs and has developed a range of cost-effective, robust, high-performance VDP solutions that are easy to apply.