Printing Tips & Advice ↓

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.

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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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Personalized printing with variable data and personal URLs is getting more and more popular, especially since the prices are coming down and the quality is going up.

As a result, we thought it would make for a good post today to recap an article that was in the DM News not too long ago called “Get Personal With Print Marketing”.

Four experts were asked for their advice on how to take advantage of personalized print marketing. What follows is a quick summary of all four.

1. John Foley’s Takeaway

Maintain a customized print conversation with your customers. Mr. Foley talks about integrated marketing and how effective it can be to set up a campaign that includes a personalized mailer, personal URLs and then a follow up mailer based on how they answered certain questions on the PURL.

2. Chris Ryan’s Takeaway

The right trigger techniques make for highly effective personalization programs. Mr. Ryan talks about using time-sensitive “trigger” mailings that coincide with specific periods in a person’s life. For example, sending home-related coupons to new homeowners, or sending an investment-related mailer to a newly retired couple.

3. John Berger’s Takeaway

Successful personalization relies on information used responsibly by marketers. Mr. Berger stresses the importance of marketers protecting the privacy of their customers. He says you want to use the information you collect on them to personalize your offers, but not so much so that the customer feels their privacy has been violated.

4. Anna Chagnon’s Takeaway

More marketers are integrating software with production workflow systems. Ms. Chagnon points out how variable data software makes personalization easier. You create one template if you wish for your mailers and all your campaigns are fueled by this one shell. She also mentions the growing popularity of Web-to-print storefronts.

5. Ballantine’s Takeaway

We think certain industries are prime candidates for personalized variable data printing and should definitely consider creating a test campaign if budgets allow. These industries – to name a few – include retail, hospitality and auto.

These types of industries generally collect a great deal of information about their customers and can thus personalize their mailings with pinpoint accuracy. And they also thrive on customer relationship-building…which relevant offers help cultivate.

We have one retail client that holds regular events with various “themes”. We send out weekly variable data self-mailers for them and the images on the mail piece correspond with the event that the customer attended.

The mailings are wildly successful for them.

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If you would like to talk to us about variable data digital printing or personal URLs, please email Ryan Cote: ryan (at) ballantine.com.