Add Value...Differentiate Yourself!

Historically, in-plants have played a leading role in the adoption of digital print technologies.

In its “2010 Emerging Markets Study,” InfoTrends surveyed more than 110 in-plants and 199 print-for-pay establishments to understand where they were on the adoption of digital print technologies. In-plants lead the traditional printing market in adopting digital print solutions and are heavily invested in digital black-and-white and color capabilities. The challenge is that that they have lagged behind in the adoption of value-added software solutions.

Figure 1: Which of the following types of imaging hardware does your company own?

Just like the entire print-for-pay market, in-plants are in the midst of a radical transformation. The use of digital technologies, including the Internet and new media, has triggered this transformation while also accelerating the change.

Digital technologies and demands from users are forcing in-plants to adjust their service portfolios. To be successful in today’s market, in-plant printers can no longer depend on placing ink and toner on paper—today’s market is all about adding value to the overall communications process. User departments want value-added documents that are more personalized or relevant, more secure, and more impactful. They want options relative to the media channels that they are using to deliver information. They are demanding marketing communications that engage customers in a dialogue and generate an improved return on investment (ROI).

InfoTrends recently completed a multi-client study, entitled “The Cross-Media Direct Marketing Opportunity,” that surveyed more than 450 marketers to understand communications and their future direction. Marketers clearly understand that relevancy can prevent customer defection, improve customer satisfaction, increase customer spending, and reduce marketing costs. More than 39% of marketing campaigns were segmented (one-to-few), while 21% were highly personalized (one-to-one). What this means is that over 60% of marketing campaigns are targeted.

Figure 2: What percentage of your marketing campaigns fit into the following categories?

Data-driven personalization and customization are essential as businesses seek to establish meaningful relationships with prospective and current customers. Successful in-plants must work with end-user departments on a combination of segmentation and data accumulation. Savvy providers are building their skills or establishing external partnerships, working with IT or developing database skills to help synthesize customer data into key target segments. Marketers need assistance with data-driven programs, and this creates an opportunity for in-plants.

In-plants also need to understand new media channels. In InfoTrends’ Cross-Media study, marketers were asked about the number of media channels they were using to get their messages out. Marketers reported utilizing multiple media types in direct marketing campaigns as a regular course of business.

The key message is that in-plants are missing a major opportunity if they do not have a strategy for participating in more than just print as part of the overall value-add.

Figure 3: On average, how many different types of media does your company use for a typical direct marketing campaign?

During 2011, successful in-plants must re-evaluate the concept of value-add to the organization. The effective application of digital color combined with software solutions will be critical. In-plants must continue to deliver the high quality and turnaround times that their clients have come to expect. In addition, they must adjust to the changing environment that values cross-media and targeted messages over the historic preferences for craft and quality.

In-plants need to start down the path toward becoming cross-media and marketing service providers. Being competitive with external providers and participating in the more lucrative marketing value chain requires an array of services. These services are integral to the marketing process and range from campaign inception to program execution. In-plants must also forge partnerships with marketing departments to define and deliver programs that generate measurable ROI for their organizations.