It’s all About ME!
Personalized Mail Campaigns With Variable Data Printing

            Have you ever thought the world should revolve around YOU?  Have you ever wanted to be an eight-year-old child again and jump up and down screaming, “Me, me, me!”  Chances are you have (whether you truly want to admit it or not) and chances are your customers want to feel that way, too.  Fortunately, a revolution has come to the printing industry that may enable you to do just that.

            Variable Data Printing (commonly referred to as “vdp”) is a term used to describe a marketing approach that has shown significant results for retailers, direct marketers and not-for-profit organizations.  This method of printing allows customization on each and every document within a run of digital printing.  There are four different levels of customization available:

1. static or “one size fits all” messaging, where all pieces are printed with the same message;
2. personalized messaging, where each customer’s name and address appear on the document, but the message remains the same;
3. versioned messaging, where different versions of the message are created to appeal to different groups, perhaps based on gender, geographic location, previous order history, or other attributes; and
4. fully customized or “one-to-one” messaging, where each document’s content is directly aimed to be relevant to an individual recipient. 

            The most important step in developing a successful vdp campaign is to have a database with fields that are accurate and critical to the message being sent and can deliver the response desired.  The more accurate the data, the more success you will have with your campaign.  Data may be acquired from your existing customer list, or from a data list management company, like DirectMail.com.  Our company prides itself on the accuracy of  the lists we provide, by cleansing, parsing, mining, modeling and continually updating our lists with specialized software. 

            Next, your document will need to be created by a graphic designer aware of the variable data that will be incorporated into the piece.  Again, vdp allows you to have as many variable fields as necessary for a successful campaign.  Not only text, but graphics can vary from customer to customer.  Additionally, with the technology available through digital printing, the variable information can be printed on both sides of a document in full color, not just black and white.  DirectMail.com offers a selection of pre-designed, full-color templates online that contain variable fields that you may customize for your special needs.  If you need additional options, you may contact us for a more personal piece designed by our staff of graphic artists.

            The benefits of variable data printing have not yet been fully realized.  Studies have indicated that the return on investment (roi) for a variable data printing campaign range from 20 to 40 percent response rates, up from only two percent from impersonal mass mailings.1  Although the up-front costs will be higher for a vdp campaign, it is obvious to see that the ensuing response rates result in a much more successful campaign.  Selecting a marketing piece based on price alone, or the thought that “I want more for less” might seem appealing at first, but in the long run, will cost much more because it will return much less.  Another benefit is that you do not need to be burdened with “long print runs” and the incurrence of costly set-up fees; vdp produced on digital presses allows for short-run jobs or “print on demand”, without the expense of set-up fees associated with offset printing.  You might not want to send out 10,000, 5,000 or even 2,500 postcards at one time, or even have the data to support such a mailing.  With digital printing technology, your vdp campaign can be for just the customers you want to reach or the customized list you select.  Another value of a vdp campaign is the ability to track responses with variable source coding, thus giving you the ability to update your customer profiles and more fully manage your relationship with them.

            The demand for personalized marketing has arrived.  With constant advances in technology, variable data printing will continue to grow at an astonishing rate.  The success rate of vdp mailings versus static mailings will not go unnoticed for much longer. 
Just imagine the response you will get if you treat your customer as if it’s “all about them!”

1Michael Miley, “PennWell”, http://ep.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?
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