December 15, 2022
How does 40% more revenue sound? Good? Research by McKinsey indicates that one very important marketing strategy can drive that kind of profit increase for businesses.
It’s not a series of expensive television ads or hiring an influencer — this tactic is accessible to everyone. It’s personalization, and if you use direct mail, variable data printing technology is the key to helping you execute it.
What Is Variable Data Printing (VDP)?
VDP is a specific kind of print technology that can make massive adjustments to content within a single print job.
How Does Variable Data Print Software Work?
VDP software isn’t just a simple mail merge tool. It uses sophisticated rules to personalize not just the name and address, but also the message — including the graphics and images — that a consumer receives.
With VDP, you’ll be able to tailor your content to something that is far more relevant to each recipient within a single campaign. Your biggest limitation will be the amount of data you have collected, the integrity of your data, and your marketing team’s imagination.
What Kinds of Data Can You Use?
The sky’s the limit with how you can personalize your content according to your data, but here are a few ideas for inspiration:- Your customer’s marital status
- What they’ve purchased in the past
- Where they live
- If they own or rent their home
- The brands they like
- Their age, gender, and other demographic information
- Their interests
- Their job title
- If a particular service is overdue
Just for the sake of example, let’s say your company sold home goods. A busy C-suite executive who owns a small condo and travels frequently will respond to entirely different images and different products than a retired married couple who owns a sprawling suburban home. With VDP, one round of direct mail can be designed to appeal to both customers — for a much better ROI.
Additional Benefits of Variable Data Printing
Besides offering a better return on printed marketing materials, VDP is also a useful tool for other long-term revenue-building strategies.
Tracking
Traditional marketing can sometimes feel like a giant gamble. But VDP can help you stack the deck in your favor over time. For example, if you include an individual QR code or a personalized URL on your printed materials, you’ll be able to pinpoint which customers respond to which deals.
You’ll know if a certain type of campaign leads to a huge bump in sales and which ones failed to hit the mark. Armed with that knowledge, you can make better, more strategic decisions going forward.
Stronger Relationships
Customers today want a deeper, more personal relationship with the businesses they support. VDP allows you to talk to individuals, cater to each of their interests, and thank them for their specific purchases. It allows you to deliver personalized attention at scale.
To put it bluntly, VDP makes it clearer to your customer that you care about keeping them happy and earning their repeat business. Since getting a new customer is five times more expensive than holding on to the ones you already have, getting better relationship-building tools is worth the investment.
Getting a Good Deal on Variable Data Printing
Thanks to our strategic partnerships and years of expertise, we can make it much easier for you to add this powerful capability to your fleet. All you need is great consumer data, and we can get you set up with the hardware, software, and support you need to start seeing results.
Talk to a production print specialist to start the ball rolling!
