Beware of the trap of variable data printing

Beware of the trap of variable data printing

according to relevant statistics, the number of pages circulating on the global Internet has exceeded 50billion so far, and the Internet is seizing considerable absolute print volume and relative share from the traditional publishing and communication field. Although Internet has gradually evolved into the center of "one-to-one communication", the development of personalized communication based on Internet is not yet clear, and its impact on the traditional communication media market is unknown. Therefore, printing communication is still a highly tangible method of "one-to-one communication", especially in business promotion activities. At present, the printing of most business letters is inseparable from the purpose of selling products and developing markets. Not surprisingly, in the past few years, statistics show that the domestic direct mail industry has continued to grow rapidly. Through digital printing, people gradually find that the value of personalization is not achieved by a large number of direct mail letters produced by traditional offset printing. Although many people understand and accept the concept and value of personalized marketing, the domestic personalized communication industry is still in its gestation period. Recently, insiders learned that most domestic professional marketing agencies and commercial printing companies still failed to make significant profits from personalized communication on paper media

invest in variable data printing for personalized or customized marketing. Don't be misled by the marketing plan provided by the non professional representatives of some digital printing equipment or software suppliers. In addition to considering whether to choose appropriate digital printing equipment and related software for personalized business letter printing, or "outsource" variable data printing to digital printing service providers such as those appearing in this magazine, you also need to adopt new production methods, new workflow processes and new marketing ideas And you need to thoroughly understand how to improve the effectiveness of variable data printing! Below we list some key points, hoping to provide some help for friends who are ready to engage in personalized marketing

key points to improve the effect of variable data printing (VDP)

1 Accurate customer database: successful VDP promotion activities need excellent marketing personnel and accurate marketing database. Both are indispensable. Only using advanced printing hardware and software technology must not immediately turn you into a marketing or advertising genius. What do you need to know to make personalized business letters play an excellent marketing role. "A skillful woman cannot make bricks without straw", which is clear and contains the customer database that can provide the parameters required by the target audience for the flame retardant test of UL94, Hai (high current arc ignition test) of ul746, HWI (circle ignition test) and CTI (relative electric trace index test), which is the primary condition for effective VDP action. The timely updating and daily maintenance of the customer database is an indispensable part of the long-term personalized marketing plan. In computer terminology, there is a cloud: garbage in, garbage out - meaning "garbage in, garbage out". Imagine that when a large number of wrong data are generated but there are many mistakes and omissions, marketers will only comprehensively start the automatic process of "garbage out". In addition, when using a specific database for the first time, don't forget to sample and check whether the data is true and accurate, and correct the problems found in time

2. The recipient sees his name is nothing more: the traditional formulaic direct mail letter can no longer produce any outstanding effect, and the customer has become numb to the envelope or letter with their name printed by inkjet. Business letter advertisements must be able to stimulate the audience's brain in a moment and get their attention at least instantly, otherwise the mail will be destroyed or recycled directly. Some advertisers print the name of each customer on a program that is worthless to them, rather than providing personalized proposals for each reader. Result: even if we see our name, it may not bring us any special feeling

3. Send the content that the recipient cares about: whether the audience pays attention to the content of the business letter is directly related to the personal benefits he actually obtains from the business letter. Therefore, when sending personalized business letters, marketers should ensure that the same content should be sent to the corresponding audience, or that different audiences should receive the content they care about. According to the survey results and analysis, select the specific things that the recipient is concerned about and interested in, and put the relevant product pictures prominently on the email. If you choose the right one, the picture will win the attention of customers, which means that the direct mail has achieved initial success. To show customers what they love, you must know what is really important to everyone in the database. Marketers' mining of database content and clever application in business letters will directly affect the final effect of personalized business letters

4. First observe the data, consult, and then design the sales plan: the best VDP business The plan is to give priority to the overall audience of the database source, rather than local groups (such as potential buyers), and require marketers to first observe the existing database and ask, "what can we provide for what they need? How can we let them know the advantages of our products and services!" On the contrary, first understand the product and then ask, "how can I find a buyer?" If there is no individual with unique and obvious characteristics in a specific database, you will not be able to provide a unique scheme for that individual. If you only have an address, maybe you can still use the data in the library to make the mail more valuable. Just think, "how can I use this information to make readers' lives easier?" For example, you can use the postal code to print the map of the reader's location or provide the dealer information that will be the first to start the construction of Maozhan refining and chemical base

5. The content should be simple and clear: the content should be designed to make it easy for the recipient to understand, and make the purchase tendency. The relevant steps of ordering products should also be simple. Most people browse the publications with a relaxed and casual attitude, and will not remember the contents of the publications with a nervous state of mind. In order to leave a comprehensive and deep impression on the audience, the most taboo in commercial letter advertising design is that the information is complex and the theme is unclear

people's memory and concentration are limited, and it is impossible to remember too many things in a short time, but they need regular presentation or reminder to remember things. The operational principles of advertising marketing and marketing are the same. The advertising content is not expensive, and it is best to show one or two key points each time. Prefer to provide information with different focuses by stages through multiple emails, and do not express multiple information in one letter, which will make the recipient afraid and lose interest in reading. In addition, if marketers can design some content that readers are willing to stick on the wall or put on their desks for long-term reference or appreciation (such as traditional Chinese fine brushwork with unique technology and strong artistic color, or triangular desk calendar with intellectual content, of course, with advertising nature), the period of attention of the audience can be extended

6. Titles that attract audiences: good titles can increase readers' feedback rate by 2100% In the modern society of information flooding, people are selective to obtain the information they need. According to the statistical survey, when ordinary people browse popular business magazines, the average time they stay on each advertising page will not exceed ten seconds! In fact, the average time that every information stays in people's eyes becomes shorter and shorter, and the information must be attractive enough to make readers' eyes stay longer. The general habit of readers is to look at the text and picture of the title first to decide whether to continue browsing the content. The comprehensive layout design of headline text and main illustrations, which are eye-catching and attractive and can attract readers' attention or resonance, will further improve readers' reading rate and response rate, and greatly enhance the effect of personalized marketing

7. Timeliness and sending frequency of information: "just in time (JIT)" refers to providing customers with relevant information and products when they need them. If marketers can grasp the time period when customers need products and "timely" send the market information they need, customers will often make no hesitation and decide to order the promoted products or services. Information comes too early, and the time is not yet ripe. Customers will not act easily, but will shelve and gradually forget the information. The information comes too late, and the purchase decision or behavior is a foregone conclusion, which cannot be changed! Most of the time, marketers may not be able to accurately judge the customer's demand cycle for products, so they can only rely on sending relevant promotional emails frequently or regularly to constantly remind customers that they expect to catch up with the pace of customer procurement through multiple deliveries, so as to increase the success rate of advertising and marketing

8. Adopt multi wave progressive communication: professionals in the advertising and communication industry are well aware that short-term marketing and advertising promotion investment may not bring immediate and obvious returns. The purchase of many products or services requires a certain brewing cycle to complete, and customers often need a period of visual interaction and image communication to accept a new product or service provider. Unless the content of advertisements and products can stimulate or resonate with the audience, the occasional or one-time advertising and promotion behavior usually can only leave a vague impression on the audience - a deep impression usually requires multiple and progressive regular displays to cultivate. Therefore, just relying on a personalized email is not enough to completely impress customers and promote purchasing behavior. It also requires an additional twoorthree or more rounds of regular, targeted and step-by-step follow-up business letter promotions to turn customers' purchase desire into practical action. Similarly, in the planning process of advertising, long-term, thorough, coherent, relevant and targeted advertising and recovery plans are the guarantee of advertising investment return

9. Clearly mark the deadline: Modern urbanites are busy, every minute counts, and there is always something they can't finish. Most people are used to not doing things in a hurry, and arrange the order of things according to certain rules. In addition to dealing with things according to their importance, most people tend to sort by the deadline that must be completed. The longer the deadline, the later it is usually dealt with. To improve the customer feedback rate, marketers must try to create pressure on customers to respond, such as setting a deadline for feedback readers to get gifts, and never wait in the distant future. The deadline is far from the creativity of sending information. In addition, the shorter the birth time of a start-up company, the better. It should not be valid throughout the year or for life, so as to prevent the recipient from forgetting the feedback or placing it in the non priority! In order to clearly reflect the concept of time, the business letter should clearly indicate when the customer must feed back the customer's purchase decision to the advertiser, and state what must be completed before the deadline

10. Incentives to stimulate immediate response: according to statistics, business letter advertisements with actual incentives can increase the feedback rate by up to 300%. Generally, the recipient's response to the marketer's letter or its advertising content has a brewing period, which may not necessarily have an immediate response. If marketers and advertisers measure the effectiveness of business letter advertising with the final customer feedback rate, and