Are You Talking to Me?
That’s the fundamental question consumers ask when they receive marketing materials. No one has time for irrelevant information, and you have only a few seconds to convince them that yours is worth reading.
Fueling this trend is inexpensive new media that bombards people with an unprecedented volume of information. The average person now receives an estimated 3,000 messages per day. Can you blame anyone for establishing a filtering system that includes spam controls, registering for “do not call” lists and making quick use of the wastebasket?
Direct Mail Cuts Through the Clutter
Despite all the hype about new media driving business today, multiple studies indicate that people of all ages and backgrounds enjoy receiving mail. Even more importantly, they respond to it.
An annual study by direct marketing solutions firm Abacus indicates that 51 percent of consumers prefer mail order to the Web. The numbers jump even higher when there is no prior business relationship, as the study’s contact-preference statistics point out.
Independent studies conducted by both Canada Post and the U.S. Postal Service support these findings. For example, 63 percent of Canadians say they read mail as soon as they receive it and 57 percent look forward to what’s in the mailbox.
More Personalization Means More ROI
Personalization at every level counts, but higher levels of personalization definitely improve results. A 2004 study by research and marketing consulting firm Interquest reported that highly customized direct mail campaigns utilizing color and variable data produced response rates 5.6 times higher than basic mail-merge campaigns.
That helped inspire more marketers to adapt the variable data model, enabled by today’s 4-color digital printing advancements, which allows the personalization of text and graphics for each piece in a print campaign. Although unit costs are higher than for higher volume static printing, the return on investment from more targeted, customized messaging is greater than traditional approaches.
Finding the Data
You probably have more than you think. Like we said, all personalization helps, and you can begin by using basic and easily sourced data while you begin to collect information to build a more sophisticated database. There are also a number of tools with varying levels of sophistication and associated costs that let you integrate database content into the page production workflow.
Start by keeping the personalization simple and develop a plan to work your way up. You can use online surveys or append socio-economic data, population clusters and other information available at relatively low costs through providers such as Transcontinental Database Marketing Services. The real takeaway message is to form a plan that includes what you want to achieve and how you plan to get there.
Transcontinental Offers a Wide Range of Solutions
Transcontinental has the capabilities to help you turn your direct marketing ideas into results. Whether you’re just getting your personalization initiatives off the ground or are trying to refine an existing program, we can help you handle every challenge. We offer a complete range of services including strategic counseling, secure database management and processing, world-class photography, pre-press design and layout, distribution and fulfillment and, of course, printing and personalization.
Learn More Facts About Direct Marketing and Personalization
To help you better understand both the issues and potential of today’s print personalization solutions, Transcontinental published an informative white paper, Breaking Through the Marketing Clutter for Greater Response and ROI. Written from a marketer’s perspective, the white paper covers important topics including:
- Drivers of personalized communications
- Print personalization technology overview
- Levels of print personalization and corresponding results
- Understanding total costs versus unit costs
- Personalization case histories
- And much more
Download a complimentary copy today. To find out how Transcontinental can provide the direct marketing and print personalization solutions that are right for you, please contact us today.
