Versioned Printing
A Smart Way to Target Buyers
During the past six years manufacturers of variable imaging presses have worked diligently to promote the concept of 'Personalization.'
'Personalized' marketing pieces cleverly incorporate the prospective buyer's name, and other key data, in direct marketing pieces. The Premise: 'personalized' marketing pieces generate greater response than generic marketing materials.
'Personalization' has both fans and detractors, and the final chapter on this technology hasn't been written. But the fact is, for a variety of reasons, 'personalization' hasn't fully caught on yet.
Recently Riverside conducted interviews with industry leaders to gauge their interest in 'Personalization.' We contacted senior marketing officers of major Chicago-area corporations and advertising agencies active in the Chicago Association of Direct Marketing (CADM). The feedback: the technology is interesting, but buyers haven't found practical applications. The reasons: too expensive; difficulty building and maintaining up-to-date databases; no impact in B2B marketing; and too expensive.
Alternatives
'Versioned' Printing is a cost-effective alternative to 'Personalization.' 'Versioned' Printing replaces generic brochures and direct mail pieces with targeted marketing materials. For example, assume you're marketing one product to several distinct industry segments. Rather than print a large run of generic direct mail pieces, you design and print smaller quantities of several distinct 'versions' - each targeted to a specific market segment. Consequently, health care executives receive marketing communications with images and slight text variations that speak specifically to the health care industry. Manufacturing executives receive a slightly different piece, targeted to manufacturing.
'Versioned' Printing delivers the marketing impact of 'Personalization,' at a fraction of the cost, particularly in B2B marketing. From a production standpoint, 'Versioned' Printing enables you to replace a single long-run print job with multiple short-runs, and substantially reduce paper waste. So, you end-up with a much more effective (targeted) marketing piece, at a fraction of the cost of 'Personalization,' and make a contribution to your corporate 'Green' initiative.