Duke Printing and One to One Marketing in Cleveland, Ohio

One to one marketing features many of the same accepted standards of personalization popularized by the Internet. With one to one marketing, you can address your customers and prospects by nickname, customize content and swap out images that fit their preferences and life-style orientation. In this way, you can create a more relevant, lasting experience that will build greater affinity for your products and services. You can also effectively segment your market for higher targeted response and follow up using one to one marketing.

What type of results can I expect from one to one marketing?
What are the key advantages of one to one marketing?
What special knowledge or skills do I need to conduct one to one marketing?
Why is digital technology essential to one to one marketing?
Do I need to change the way I design my mail piece for variable one to one marketing?
What do I need to look for in a one to one marketing service provider?
What other requirements should my MSP have?
Do I need to learn any special skills to prepare my files for one to one marketing?
What exactly is meant by variable data?
Will my one to one marketing campaign deliver immediate results?
What other factors will influence my success at one to one marketing?

What type of results can I expect from one to one marketing?

Personalized one to one marketing allows you to strengthen your relationship with customers and increase recognition for your company’s brand and products. You will generally experience a 2 to 5x increase or lift in response rates when comparing a one to one marketing program to more traditional (static) direct mailing campaign. Still higher response rates can be achieved if your one to one marketing campaign is complemented by a personalized URL (click here for more info on PURL's).

What are the key advantages of one to one marketing?

Among the many advantages of one to one marketing, the most important is realizing better response rates. Since one to one marketing is unique, using it will still have a certain “wow” appeal that will tend to project you as a progressive company. Taking the time to create a more relevant offer to your customer using personalization will engender strong affinity for your products and services.

What special knowledge or skills do I need to conduct one to one marketing?

Essentially there are none. It is important though that you make your first impression with one to one marketing a lasting one. Begin now to set an internal process for developing the most accurate and complete database of customers and prospects that you possibly can. Think about how you want to speak to your audience through your one to one marketing—nickname, credential suffixes, professional salutations—then begin capturing that information. An organized database is the most important criteria you will need to meet to be successful at one to one marketing.

Why is digital technology essential to one to one marketing?

Some levels of personalization can be accomplished on a traditional offset printing press, but, by and large, the digital press is extraordinarily more capable of producing one to one marketing projects. It essentially operates on the principle of “one-off” production in which the print requirements and data are built one print image or profile at a time. Therefore, each piece within a mailing or print run can be unique unto itself. That’s the power of personalization.

Although the digital press has unique qualities that lend itself well to personalization, it can achieve those capabilities without ever compromising speed or quality. You get the best of all worlds. Your files can be presorted in time for the most cost-effective mailing. The quantities that the digital press can produce are limitless. Remember, the technology alone cannot deliver results. It is the successful blend of technology and data.

Do I need to change the way I design my mail piece for variable one to one marketing?

Generally, you can adhere to the same strong principles of creative design that you always have been accustomed. You’ll never have to sacrifice your creative flare using digital technology. There are a wide variety of papers, coatings, and prefinished products that can actually expand your creativity. The color print quality will be superb.

However, when using one to one marketing it is important to assess the length of each piece of data that will be imported and lay out the piece accordingly. The data field should be able to accommodate the longest entry. If not, your data could wrap or fragment causing your design to suffer. Your MSP data specialist will be able to help you troubleshoot this from ever happening. There are a few other peculiarities that can be prevented by early involvement of your marketing services provider.

What do I need to look for in a one to one marketing service provider?

Choosing a reliable and experienced provider is important for effectively executing a one to one marketing campaign. It is your marketing provider’s ability to integrate the data with the technology that will determine the success of your project and ultimately get you higher response rates. As a leader in digital print for nearly a decade, we will manage, manipulate and map all of your data needs for high-end results.

What other requirements should my MSP have?

Besides identifying a print provider with digital technology, be sure to source your marketing applications from a company who has experience in mapping your data and targeting your message in the most cost-effective and efficient manner. We have more than 25 years of experience in data management, mailing and fulfillment. No matter how good your creative is, if your message can’t be successfully delivered to the right source in a cost-effective manner your efforts may fall on deaf ears.

Do I need to learn any special skills to prepare my files for one to one marketing?

Thank you for asking, but not really. It is important with the help of your provider to consider how you intend to track results, segment your lists and locate and provide adequate space to accept data for personalization. The earlier in the one to one marketing process that you can discuss this with your marketing service provider the better off you will be. Your data files can be received in virtually any format including Excel, Access or Comma Delimited. Any images should be provided in .eps or .tif format.

What exactly is meant by variable data?

Variable data is the process of changing key information from one document to the next, within a single print run, to create a personalized message. Variable data can take the form of a name, address, text or image. Here are the various types of variable data.

Mail merging is used to print and match a different name and address to each piece in a mailing.
Versioning is used to send a different message to a select group of individuals based on certain known attributes.
Customizing is used to communicate by addressing the unique interest of a specific individual.
Personalizing uses words and text to establish a more intimate relationship that encourages greater affinity with your company.

Will my one to one marketing campaign deliver immediate results?

You undoubtedly will see remarkable improvement from one to one marketing over static direct mailings. Remember, though, the ultimate rewards from one to one marketing may take some time to develop. It takes commitment to the process. Select an experienced provider who you can trust and continue to evaluate the performance of each campaign. With a few tweaks, your one to one marketing campaign will yield outstanding results.

What other factors will influence my success at one to one marketing?

Like all effective communication, you will need to make sure that your message includes the following:

A strong offer
Strong creative
Good timing and appropriate frequency
Relevancy of your message
A strong mailing list

A serious shortcoming in any one of these areas can negatively impact the outcome from your one to one marketing campaign. Personalizing your message alone will not drive success. Pay strict attention to detail and address all of the factors that make for outstanding communications. In no time at all, your marketing will be elevated to great heights.