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The days of static messages being mass mailed to untested lists are rapidly coming to a close. The mass communications theories of the 60’s are being replaced with the personalization technology of the 21st Century. Savvy marketers are enjoying the benefits of parsing data to version messages and illustrative materials for these segmented prospects. This clever tactic insures that the right person now gets the best pitch with the right offers, in a specific time whether in print or on-line. It requires that data is collected, cleaned, massaged and deployed.
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Personalized URLs in combination with direct mail or email campaigns have emerged as a valuable marketing tool. A Personalized URL (PURL) is a web page or microsite that is tailored to an individual visitor. A common example of a PURL is a web page with a URL such as www.retailstore.com/johnsmith, where “John Smith” is a target prospect or customer who receives a direct-mail or email communications that encourages him to visit the web page. For each recipient within the campaign, the web address is unique and personalized to the recipient. The content of the web page (PURL) should also be tailored to each recipient through the use of variable fields allowing pages to be linked to a database that contains information about each potential visitor.

PURLs are a stark contrast to a GURL, or generic URL, which is more common in direct mail and email campaigns. For example www.phonecompany.com/SummerSavings where PhoneCompany is offering the same call to action to everyone who receives a campaign offering discounts to new customers during a certain time period (I think I’ve received 3 this week!) If the offer is compelling and the design is effective, a GURL can work pretty well. But a variety of research (PODi.org, Aberdeen, Jupiter) tells us that personalization offers a significant lift over generic campaigns, but personalization comes at a price.
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It’s ruffled quite a few feathers—the coverage of the Borrell Associates report “Direct Mail Doomed, Long Live Email.” According to the report, direct mail has begun a precipitous decline from which it will never fully recover. Borrell is projecting a 39% decline for direct mail over the next five years, from $49.7 billion in annual ad spending in 2008 to $29.8 billion by the end of 2013.

I understand the point here, and certainly, such trends are ominous. But I learned something by cutting my teeth in industry analysis and research by working with TrendWatch GA / The Industry Measure from its inception. That is that all of these reports are snapshots in time, and they must be looked at that way.
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Way back in September ’08, I talked about a study that InfoTrends conducted entitled “Trans Meets Promo… Is It More Than Market Hype?” and I said that I would be posting some high-level results from that study on The Digital Nirvana. Well… that didn’t exactly happen in 2008. However, since everyone is putting on their soothsayer hats to proclaim what they think will happen in the next 12 months, I thought I would present some of our study’s results and give some insight into what the world can expect for TransPromo in 2009.

To give a general overview of the study, InfoTrends surveyed consumers, transaction document owners, direct marketers, and print service providers about the use of direct mail, transaction documents, e-Presentment, and TransPromo. While the primary focus of this study was related to TransPromo, there were a number of direct marketing-related questions asked as well. There were also a number of interviews and case studies conducted of companies that have successfully implemented TransPromo applications. Below are some intriguing results from the study.

• - Consumer respondents spend an average of two to three minutes each reviewing statements; 20% of consumers spend five minutes or more.
• - Consumer respondents still prefer to receive bills via the mail; 44% of respondents prefer mail with an additional 18% preferring to receive transaction documents via mail and Internet .
• - 68% of direct marketer respondents who include promotional messages in transactional documents are printing at least some of those messages directly on the statement.
• - 54.4% of document owner respondents produce less than 100,000 bills or statements per month.
• - Print service provider respondents expressed that the average number of unique addresses included in transaction print jobs is 36,000, and the median is 3,000.

Consumers spend a significant amount of time reviewing their statements, which can be capitalized upon by implementing TransPromo onto statements. Direct Marketers are clearly taking advantage of statement viewership by placing promotional messages directly on statements, which can also be viewed through e-Presentment.  There is also a significant opportunity for print service providers to take advantage of mid-market TransPromo opportunties, as many are well-equipped to handle these volumes.

InfoTrends is formulating a road map for trends in TransPromo we expect to be prominent for 2009. Our road map is based on our own primary research, past trends, current & future vendor and service provider initiatives, and a little bit of guesswork on our part. While the actual road map document provides much deeper insight, here are a few trends that we see occurring this year:

• - 2009 will bring with it a greater understanding and acceptance of TransPromo, fueled by better education and deeper penetration.
• - Vendors and service providers will focus increased efforts on sales force education for TransPromo in order to be better equipped to sell clients and prospects on the value that TransPromo can bring to their organizations.
• - Interest in mid-market TransPromo applications will lead to increased competition between both TransPromo statement print providers and software providers positioning themselves to enable mid-market TransPromo applications.

Overall, TransPromo is definitely poised to become more conspicuous in 2009. We are well aware of the potential of TransPromo here at InfoTrends. Aside from our TransPromo study and the third annual U.S. TransPromo Summit.

So what do you think about TransPromo? Will Trans Meet Promo in 2009? Please comment and let us know.

Bryan Yeager is a Senior Research Analyst in the Production Workflow and Customized Communications Services group at InfoTrends.

There is a lot of hype surrounding Personalized URLs these days, but what’s the reality behind the hype? Do these applications deliver on the promise? “Personalized URLs: Beyond the Hype,” the fourth in Heidi Tolliver-Nigro’s Marketer’s Primer Series, addresses this question.

Personalized URL applications have a wide variety of uses, including sales prospecting, customer surveying, event registrations, information dissemination, and obtaining customer and user feedback. But while these applications have generated a lot of success, they have generated a lot of disappointment, too—primarily because of a lack of realistic expectations.

This reports provides a no-nonsense look at the role of personalized URLs and 1:1 printing in increasing the effectiveness of companies’ marketing programs. It looks at key application categories, “best in class” case studies, lessons learned over time, and best practices for optimizing their use.

The report’s author argues that one of the reasons that many personalized URL applications have struggled is that personalized URLs (including PURLs, RURLs, and other -URLs) need to be seen as merely a vehicle for response. These campaigns must adhere to the best practices for all 1:1 (personalized) printing campaigns rather than relying on the personalized URL, itself, as the primary motivator of response.

The report includes analysis of nearly a decade of personalized URL case studies from around the industry, with a list of best practices drawn from common denominators among the most successful programs.  Notable were the use of multiple media to reinforce the message and the utilization of additional elements, such as over-sized postcards or lumpy mail, to drive response—even more than we tend to see in non-personalized URL 1:1 (personalization) programs.

For more information on this and the other Marketer’s Primer Series Reports, visit the Digital Printing Reports website. Other reports in the series include “Digital Printing: Transforming Business and Marketing Models,” “1:1 (Personalized Printing): Boosting Profits Through Relevance,” and “Web-to-Print: Transforming Document Management and Marketing Models.”

Have you ever noticed how everyone these days is pushing the green angle to their business? There is a reason for it. To some extent, it’s because it’s just the thing to do and it’s an excuse to get another press release out there. But it’s also because there are customers who really do care about their social responsibility. If you can’t hook them on features, benefits, or price, try green! This is yet another angle that might get their attention.

Recently, on The Inspired Economist blog, I wrote:

When I look at my email inbox, it seems that double-digit percentages of incoming emails now have something to do with green. Manufacturers, retailers, service providers — they are all finding green angles to their company announcements. . .

This leads me to wonder—what’s YOUR green twist? Marketing studies repeatedly confirm that consumers are looking to buy from companies that care about the environment. At a corporate or business level, are you looking for ways to let your customers and prospects know about your commitment to green? If not, you should be.

This post was inspired, in part, by the tagline used by St. John Associates in an industry discussion group on LinkedIn.  I was impressed that the company used this platform to promote its commitment to environmental sustainability to anyone reading the posts — and it promoted, not recycled paper and FSI certification (as we see so often), but the company’s accomplishments in wind power and carbon credits. Every time someone opened one of these posts, there it was. Interesting use of real estate! Kudos.

What are YOU doing to position your company for green?

Read the original Inspired Economist post.

Read all of my “Greening Print Marketing” posts.

“In a difficult economy like this marketing budgets are tight. The only projects that get funded are the ones that can prove strong ROI. That’s why you need a way to prove to clients that your solutions will deliver.”

This quote came from a November 18 press release from Caslon & Company promoting a PODi Webinar, “Promoting the Value of Your Solution.” The seminar is designed to promote Caslon & Company’s Value Calculators, a tool for determining ROI projections from 1:1 printing jobs, which I think is a terrific idea.

But the thing that struck me in reading this was the spate of discussions I’ve had recently in which it’s become clear that proving value for a 1:1 printing campaign is the all-important first step, but it’s not enough by itself. Even the most successful 1:1 applications — in which the results are measured and recorded — are often not repeated. This is something that has proven to be extremely frustrating even for the most proactive 1:1 printing / marketing solutions providers.

Recently, I’ve been posting this question in various areas of LinkedIn. Here are some of the interesting and insightful reasons that have been shared with me.

• Clients do not follow up and verify results.

(Which leads to the question: Are printers following up to find out why clients may not be repeating? If it’s a matter of too much time and effort, are these printers letting their customers mistakenly think that repeat applications take the same time commitment as the initial deployment—and if so . . . why?

• Despite the results, the projects just take too long and are too time-consuming. Marketers like the results but just don’t want to put that much work in again.
• The sales cycle is so long that, once a project is completed, the original marketing team or individual at the company who spearheaded the project has moved on and the printer’s salesperson must start from scratch.

And thanks to Peter Wann, industry consultant, for bringing up this very overlooked but critical disconnect in the process:

• Clients may track response rates, but they don’t track conversion rates. If the client isn’t tracking the conversion rate, the results may not be tracking back to the original campaign.

This insight is particularly thought-provoking and may be one of the dark underbellies of the 1:1 (personalized) printing sales process. As with all challenges facing this marketplace, the solutions won’t be simple or easy, but they start with acknowledgement of the problem, followed by frank and open discussion.

Have your insights or experience to share? Comment on this post or log into my profile on LinkedIn and click on the Answers link and share them!

I’m used to looking at the case studies from digital press and personalization software suppliers for the marketing effectiveness of 1:1 printing, but as “green” continues to gather steam as a hot marketing angle, I’m starting to rethink how I position this information.

This morning, I repositioned a case study from AutoNation and DME that many in this industry may already be familiar with.

In this study, DME overhauled its 1:1 printing workflow to enable AutoNation to eliminate its need to inventory and warehouse pre-printed offset shells that were subsequently personalized using black-and-white overprinting. Using XMPie’s PersonalEffect software, DME changed its workflow so that each campaign is single project, even though each campaign involves multiple brands and dealers. The business rules for composing the individualized offers are programmed independent of the design. All elements become data-driven variable objects instead of static fields. Thus, instead of using pre-printed stock, AutoNation’s campaigns are now printed, as needed, using plain, unprinted paper. The results were impressive. Responses to its direct mail pieces went up 35%. Revenues were up 65%.

But in this environment — so hot for green — these may not end up being the most compelling results. Consider the “green” impact of this switch. AutoNation no longer must warehouse pre-printed stock for different dealerships and brands.

Consequently, it also saves …

• the carbon footprint and resources used to pre-print each set of shells
• the carbon footprint and cost of warehousing those shells
• the fuel costs of transporting them.

Click here for the permanent archive containing the full article.

Is digital printing a production technology? Or a marketing strategy? “Digital Printing: Transforming Business and Marketing Models,” part of Heidi Tolliver-Nigro’s Marketer’s Primer Series, argues for the latter. It presents digital production not as technology in the domain of print buyers and production managers but as the foundation of a comprehensive strategy for changing the way marketers look at document management and marketing.

This report is broken down into five sections.

Section 1: What digital printing is, along with its benefits and drawbacks from a marketing perspective. Examines traditional “sticking points,” including binding and finishing and the availability of substrates. How these characteristics drive key marketing applications.

Section 2: A closer look at each of these applications. Each discussion includes a series of short case studies in each of eight marketing classifications that provide key insights into how these applications are used in the real world.

Section 3: New ways of evaluating cost critical to digital printing success, including cost per piece, cost per lead, and ROI. Hypotheticals are used to drive the points home.

Section 4: Five “critical success factors” that enable marketers to take maximum advantage of digital printing technology. Includes key insights into helping marketers choose the right service provider.

Section 5: Final conclusions and additional resources as a next step.

The goal of the report is for marketers to be left with the understanding that the importance of digital printing has nothing to do with the technology—its costs, its output capabilities, or the applications it can produce, although many of them are discussed. It’s about transforming how they think about marketing.

The important thing is not digital printing technology itself, but the way it can be combined with other technologies (particularly databases, email, wireless, and the Internet) to create broader solutions that make a real difference in how business market their products, as well as how they communicate with customers on a short-term and long-term basis and present their brands.

The information is presented both from the perspective of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), as well as large corporate marketers.

Single-user versions of the report can be purchased from the What They Think store, as well as from the Digital Printing Reports website. Licensed versions for internal and external distribution can be purchased from Research and Markets and Market Research, as well as from the Digital Printing Reports website.

“Digital Printing: Transforming Business and Marketing Models” is part of Heidi Tolliver-Nigro’s Marketer’s Primer Series, which also includes “1:1 (Personalized) Printing: Boosting Profits Through Relevance” and “Web-to-Print: Transforming Document Management and Marketing Models.” All three primers are designed both as authoritative primers for marketers and as internal training tools for printers.

My colleagues at InfoTrends have been extremely busy over the past few months conducting an extensive study on the North American TransPromo market. InfoTrends Group Director Barb Pellow, Associate Consultant Cary Sherburne, and fellow Senior Research Analyst Matt Swain have put together “Trans Meets Promo… Is It More Than Market Hype?” Some of the study results were previewed at our annual TransPromo Summit in New York City last month.

The study builds upon prior InfoTrends research on the future of mail and transaction documents, as well as the future of commercial printing, and also includes comprehensive survey data on the TransPromo market from consumers, document owners, direct marketers, and print service providers. From the press release:

While the North American market for TransPromo communications printed in full digital color stood at 1.7 billion impressions in 2007, InfoTrends projects this number to reach an astounding 12.8 billion by 2012, for a CAGR of 68%. Also compelling is the fact that 63% of document owners surveyed stated that they currently add marketing messages to statements or are planning to within the next 36 months.

This growth is not surprising.  TransPromo provides a cost-effective way to communicate educational and promotional messages to customers. TransPromo documents leverage opt-in relationships and incorporate relevant and compelling promotional or educational messages in the white space of transactional documents. By leveraging TransPromo communications, document owners can reduce the number of mailings that must be sent, which translates to substantial savings in terms of postage and printing costs.

Just as document owners continue to embrace the TransPromo opportunity, an increasing number of print service providers are implementing TransPromo in their offerings. One factor that is catalyzing this change is the availability of affordable high-speed inkjet devices with lower running costs. For print service providers with 20+ employees, nearly 60% are considering the purchase of one or more of these devices within the next two years, with 14% stating that they would consider such a purchase within the year. In addition, software providers are starting to introduce easier to use solutions that are enabling mid-market print service providers to add this valuable offering to their portfolios.

The study is rich in fresh information about the TransPromo market, but also significantly covers the direct mail market. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing some of the results of our study to spark more discussion on these growing markets. In the meantime, if you’re interested in purchasing the full study results, please contact Matt Swain at 781-616-2100 ext. 204, or via email: .

Bryan Yeager is a Senior Research Analyst in the Production Workflow and Customized Communications Services group at InfoTrends.

According to an article I recently read by InfoTrends, 63% of customers prefer promotional pieces over purely transactional documents. For this reason, “incorporating promotional messaging in transaction documents can both boost the appeal of a transactional document and generate a higher read rate for the marketing message.”

When I read this, I had to stop and think about that again. Putting a promotional message on a transactional document can “generate a higher read rate for the marketing message.” On the surface, this makes sense. Use something people like more (promotional messages) to boost readership of something people like less (transactional documents).

But as usual, I had to re-think it in a contrarian way. You are hitching the more desirable (the marketing message) to the less desirable (the transactional document). In some ways, you could argue that, by doing so, it’s like putting flat tires on a sports car. Of course, you could argue the other way, too, and that’s what is being done here. Bills have nearly a 100% open rate. You can’t say that about most direct mail, even highly personalized direct mail. By attaching the marketing message to the transactional document, you are increasing the chance of eyeball exposure.

I guess what struck me was its over-simplicity. As analysts and consultants, we are prone to blithe and pithy statements that make great pull quotes. But we need to be careful not to over-simplify.

I mean, another way to put this is that, if you’re talking about transpromo credit card statements, for example, and if credit card statements irritate people (which they do), you’re hoping that your marketing message catches the coattails of something that people fundamentally don’t like and that irritates them. Those marketing messages better be cheap to add!

It’s just another way to look at it. I’ll be available for tomato throwing later

As InfoTrends’ TransPromo Summit nears, I thought I would cover an interesting application of TransPromo, and pose some thoughts and questions about TransPromo implementation. Last month, AdAge had a feature about a start-up advertising and marketing technology company called Sojern (full article available here). Sojern plays in the airline industry space, which has been hurting lately due to rising costs that have directly affected fliers in many ways. Most would think that many companies would be shying away from the airline market until conditions improve.

However, Sojern has taken a novel approach to marketing to airline industry consumers through the use of TransPromo, but not necessarily in the same way we often talk about TransPromo. This application isn’t a newly redesigned statement or bill, and it doesn’t require an Automated Document Factory to produce. Instead, Sojern is implementing targeted, customizable advertising on the printed boarding passes for major airlines including Delta (the first to launch the implementation), American, Continental, Northwest, United and US Airways. These boarding passes are printed by consumers on their desktop printers just as they normally are, and the ads are formatted to aesthetically please both on the Web and in print. The consumer can also turn off the ads if they so choose, and will be able to further-customize their experience in the future.

I got to experience Sojern at work first-hand when my friend was printing out his boarding passes for a Delta flight to Tampa, Florida a few days ago. The boarding pass included a 5-day weather outlook for the Tampa area with three different “Destination Highlights” underneath each day. Surrounding the weather and Destination Highlights were regular Web-based advertisements. Some ads were nationwide advertisements from bookstore chains and event ticket resellers, while others were targeted to the destination, including nature parks and botanical gardens located near Tampa. All of them printed out clearly on the monochrome laser printer at home, and would probably look even better in color.

This type of application is effective on a number of different levels. There is information included other than solid advertisements within the boarding pass (in this case, weather), which adds some value to the pass other than just being a new advertising platform. More importantly, because passengers cannot print their boarding passes until 24-36 hours before their flight, information like weather is very timely and therefore more relevant to the passenger. Targeting based on destination also adds value to the boarding pass, especially as smaller, more localized advertisers take advantage of Sojern’s services. This delivery model requires no investment in print technology at all, other than making sure the page looks right when printed on a home computer (usually done through a stylesheet). Sojern also says that it has developed tools for advertisers to track online views, print impressions, and ad clickthroughs to determine the effectiveness of a campaign.

Giving control to the user to turn on or off the advertising is also an important factor in Sojern’s application, as consumers are consistently wary about the use of personal information for targeted advertising. On the same token, consumers who find Sojern’s technology valuable will soon be able to customize what type of content they receive on their boarding passes (another value-add). An implementation like Sojern’s for airlines could also be implemented for tickets to sporting events and concerts that are printed online (in fact, this may already be the case), as well as other forms of online transactions.

This brings me to my final thoughts and questions: where will real TransPromo innovation and implementation come from? Will it come from transactional statement printers who are starting to offer TransPromo as an option to more and more clients? Will it come from the marketing or design departments of corporations who want to revamp and add value to their statements? Will it come from the solution developers/vendors who enable companies to design and execute TransPromo statements? Or will it come from start-ups like Sojern who offer a whole new approach to TransPromo? Tell me what you think.

Bryan Yeager is a Senior Research Analyst in the Production Workflow and Customized Communications Services group at InfoTrends.

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council has established a new thought leadership initiative the organization is calling “Precision Promotion: Timely, Targeted and Trackable.”

According to the CMO Council:

The “Precision Promotion” program is designed to help the CMO Council’s 3,000-plus members in 52 countries develop New Routes to Revenue™ at a time when companies are increasingly challenged by growing economic pressures and senior management’s mandate for top-line growth. The study will build on other CMO Council programs already delivering on the New Routes to Revenue™ theme; these include “Business Gain from How You Retain,” “Driving the Bottom Line from the Front Line” and “The Power of Personalization.”

Precision Promotion can be found online at http://precisionpromotion.org/