From emails and social media ads to video campaigns and television commercials, businesses are constantly reaching consumers in the digital world. However, traditional marketing tactics still reign true, and businesses are seeing the advantage of personalization in print marketing to create meaningful connections with their audience.
Digital printing presses have emerged as a powerful ally to implement personalization at scale. More than your average office printer, digital printing presses are built with advanced software and integrate easily with data management systems, revolutionizing the way personalized marketing materials are created and produced. Now, marketers can personalize content with more precision, speed, and consistent quality.
In this blog, we’ll explore how digital printing presses are changing the game of personalization for marketers and examine how your business can leverage this technology to expand your customer reach and loyalty.
Why Personalization is Important
Marketing has changed dramatically in the past few years. Especially with a focus on data-driven campaigns and the use of AI technology, marketing is more targeted than ever before. The goal is to reach the right audience at the right time with the right message, and personalization helps marketers do just that.
Aligning a campaign with an audience’s values, preferences or needs significantly increases their chance of purchasing from the brand. That’s why personalized experiences are critical to modern marketers and their organizations. Brands can increase customer loyalty, drive engagement, and boost ROI by crafting hyper-relevant campaigns, and leverage leading technology to enhance their output.
How the Digital Printing Press Make Personalization a Breeze
Otherwise known as an industrial or production printer, the digital printing press is often used by large organizations to print marketing materials. Printing presses have come a long way, and digital ones allow businesses to customize their prints on-demand with speed. Their advanced technology integrations enable marketers to leverage data sitting in their CRMs and test different visual elements without slowing down productivity. Here’s how digital printing presses help marketers personalize their campaigns:
1. Variable Data Printing (VDP)
With VDP, each printed material can be customized with unique text, images, or other variable elements without slowing down production. Digital presses seamlessly integrate with data management systems, allowing for efficient merging of customer data with print files to produce highly personalized and relevant marketing materials. This means customers can receive tailored messages from their favorite brands that speak to their interests, shopping behaviour, or demographics.
2. Print-on-Demand (POD) Capability
With digital presses, marketers can print personalized materials in small quantities as needed because digital presses allow for on-demand printing, eliminating the need for large print runs and storage of pre-printed materials. This flexibility not only reduces waste and production costs, it allows for timely and targeted campaigns tailored to specific customer segments or even individual customer.
3. Quick Turnaround Time
When a new trend or seasonal demands emerge, marketers need to respond quickly and effectively. Digital presses offer faster production speeds and shorter setup times compared to offset printing. Personalized materials can be produced and delivered within tight deadlines, allowing marketers to respond quickly to market trends, events, or customer needs. This agility is crucial in fast-changing industries.
4. Cost-Effectiveness
With new technology comes even greater advantages. By eliminating the need for costly printing plates used in offset printing, digital printing has considerably decreased setup expenses, making it more affordable for marketers to create personalized campaigns with smaller budgets while generating a high return on investment (ROI).
5. Variable Imaging Capabilities
One of the biggest advantages of the digital printing press is its ability to develop more than just personalized text. Elements such as images, graphics, or backgrounds can be dynamically changed based on customer data, resulting in visually compelling and attention-grabbing personalized designs. This is an especially powerful feature to capture engagement through meaningful visuals.
6. Quality and Color Consistency
When relying on digital printing, quality and color consistency are critical to maintain production costs and campaign effectiveness. High-quality printing and precise color matching capabilities ensure that personalized materials maintain the same level of quality and consistency as traditional offset printing. Marketers can feel good knowing that either one print or 1,000 prints will develop with the same integrity.
7. Testing and Optimization
Any strong marketing campaign considers the different headlines, calls to action, and offers that may impact its effectiveness. With digital printing presses, marketers can conduct A/B testing and refine personalized campaigns based on real-time results. Marketers can easily create multiple versions of personalized materials, test their effectiveness, and make data-driven optimizations to maximize campaign performance and ROI. Not only will marketers see better results, but consumers will get more relevant content.
8. Integration with Digital Technologies
The most effective way to craft personalized campaigns is by leveraging consumer data. Digital print presses are equipped with integration capabilities, accessing critical databases including data analytics, marketing automation platforms, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. This integration allows marketers to leverage customer insights, automate personalized campaigns, and track the impact of their personalized marketing efforts.
Digital printing presses have made personalization in marketing easier with VDP capabilities, print-on-demand flexibility, quick turnaround times, cost-effectiveness, variable imaging options, consistent quality, testing and optimization capabilities, and integration with digital technologies. These advancements empower marketers to create and execute personalized campaigns that drive engagement, conversions, and customer loyalty.
Personalized Printing in the Real World
When you think marketing, you might think about television commercials, social media, search ads, and your local radio. But, traditional methods including billboards, flyers, catalogues, and coupons are just as relevant and used by many organizations. This is where the digital printing press thrives. Organizations might leverage personalized printing for their marketing efforts, including:
1. Mail Campaigns
Direct mail campaigns are a popular method for organizations that have an existing customer database, and digital printing presses are the preferred tool to craft personalized materials. Using VDP technology, a digital printing press can leverage stored customer information including names, purchase history, and demographics to inform the print file in real-time. The result is a postcard, flyer, or catalogue tailored to the end-user.
2. Company Events
2. Company EventsEvery company wants to leave an impression on attendees, and that starts with providing value to each guest. Digital printing presses can help craft customized event materials such as invitations marked with the recipient’s name, name tags, agendas, and thank-you notes after the event has passed. With access to event registration data, the digital printing press enables you to personalize and improve the experience for each attendee.
3. Healthcare Communications
Hospitals and health care clinics are not exempt from marketing. Health brochures and flyers, or even treatment plans, are distributed to patients seeking specific medical advice. Digital printing presses are equipped with strict security systems, enabling them to integrate securely with digital health files and print personalized communication materials. When a patient comes in and receives a treatment plan based on their condition, with their name on it, they are more likely to leave satisfied and engage with the healthcare team.
4. Education Institutions
Higher education institutions like universities and colleges face increasing competition, and personalization helps close the gap. With a digital printing press schools can leverage their stored applicant information to craft tailored acceptance letters, program brochures, and campus tour packages. This enables schools to connect with prospective students on a deeper level, gaining their attention and program enrollment.
5. Retail Promos
Retail stores are notorious for using digital prints to promote seasonal sales, clearouts, and new product arrivals. Digital printing technology helps businesses in this industry generate customized promotional materials based on a customers location, buying behaviour, or customer lifespan. For example, region specific flyers for outerwear might be used for customers in colder climates or long-term loyalty members might be mailed exclusive discounts for a new product line. These advanced capabilities help retailers cut costs of mass printing and improve the effectiveness of their campaigns.
Final Thoughts
Marketers have discovered that the key to standing out is not to make more noise, but to craft personalized messages and deliver them to the right people at the right time. Digital printing technology has given marketers a tool to leverage vast amounts of customer information, create tailored content, and stay resilient as your audience and business scales.
It’s now faster, more cost-effective, and impactful to utilize digital printing presses in any large company’s marketing strategy. From variable data printing to on-demand printing and variable imaging capabilities, digital printing presses are expanding the expectations of what’s possible in print marketing. If you’re ready to leverage the power of a digital printing press and take your marketing to the next level, contact the team at Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office to learn more.
About Atlantic, Tomorrow’s Office
Atlantic is an award-winning office technology and IT solutions company providing Imaging Products, IT Support, Document Management, Cybersecurity and Managed Services to small and large companies in the New York City metropolitan area, and the Greater Philadelphia and Delaware Valley. For the latest industry trends and technology insights visit ATO’s main Blog page.
