Printing Tips & Advice ↓

Here’s a quick tip that will save you money on your small, expensive test mailings. The downside is, it can be hard to coordinate, but it’s worth the effort.

If you want to test a format that is very expensive to produce in small test quantities, find out if one of your vendors is running that particular format in a large quantity for another client. And then, with that client’s permission, run your test piece as a plate change off their larger run.

By doing this, your vendor can split the savings between you and the other client.

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Hi Everyone — We had a meeting recently with a solar power client of ours and I think the general scope of the project we were discussing will make for an idea-generating blog post.

As you can probably guess from the blog post title, the project we were discussing was for a personal URL, or PURL as it’s commonly referred to.

They want to use it for their lead generation efforts which, from OUR experience, is the best application for a PURL. Use it to generate leads and gather data…and then use the campaign data to follow up with a 2nd, more focused effort.

So what is a personal URL’s best friend? Digital printing.

By the end of the meeting we concluded we would send out a PURL and then mail out an oversized, personalized digital postcard to those that visited the PURL but didn’t respond. With the reporting a PURL gives you, and the ease and flexibility of digital printing, it’s a very strong combination.

This one-two punch can be achieved using email too and it would give your PURL campaign a very inexpensive boost in response. But with a digitally printed postcard you’re dealing with a lot less competition for your prospect’s attention versus their email inbox.

So if you’re going to do a PURL campaign, consider incorporating digital printing. Because lower print quantities are ideal for digital presses, there’s no pressure to meet high minimums.

Can We Help?

If you want to bounce ideas around with us, or if you want us to send you PURL pricing, please send an email to Ryan Cote.

We recently quoted a postcard project for a new client. Like we do on every project, we made sure the piece was running on the press at the most efficient size. In doing so, we realized that if they shaved just 1/8″ off the height, it would save them $1,200.

And this was on a small mailing of only 84,000 postcards.

Always make sure your print vendor is checking this for you. Or make it a habit of asking your print vendor during the artwork design stage, “Is this size we’re designing at the most press efficient size?”

So why would shaving off an 1/8″ make such a big difference?

It’s all because of how the artwork lays out on the sheets or rolls of paper. You want to utilize the paper dimensions the best you can and prevent waste. The less paper you waste, and the better fit the artwork is on the paper when it’s being printed, the more money you save.

If you have any questions pertaining to this blog post, please email Matt: matt (at) ballantine.com.

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