Your corporation has decided it’s time to start a new marketing campaign, but you don’t want the usual generic postcard or letter. You need something personal, something that will catch the eye of your customers and keep them interested in what you have to offer. It’s time to try Variable Data Printing (VDP)!
3 Tips for Using Variable Data Printing
Variable Data Printing allows each piece—letter, postcard, self-mailer, etc.—to be customized for each recipient, while still being printed as part of one large print job. Here are some tips to help facilitate a smooth marketing campaign using Variable Data Printing.
1. Start Thinking Variable
It will help to keep variable data in mind from beginning to end of the process. If the piece is a letter it may seem obvious to start it with “Dear First Name,” but why stop there? Once you decide to include variable data in one place on your piece you should see if there are other places on the piece where variable data would be beneficial.
2. Be Creative
When designing a piece that will include variable data, try not to start with a generic piece and just put each recipient’s first name in block letters at the top. While this might grab the attention of your recipients, it’s not as impressive as incorporating their first name into the design. You can also swap images based on criteria such as age or gender, use your branch address that’s local to each recipient, or even use an entirely different letter for some recipients. The possibilities are endless! For example, the postcard below contains the recipient’s first name as part of the fishbowl.
3. Use Good Data
When incorporating variable data into a piece it is extremely important to use good data. Variable data print jobs all must have a data file. This file is where the personalized information to be used on the piece for each recipient is found. If the data backing the campaign is bad, you risk defeating the advantages of using variable data. The data needs to be up to date and complete. It also needs to contain all fields that will be needed to populate the piece, along with any criteria for using those fields. For instance, if an offered loan rate will change per recipient based on FICO score, then each recipient’s FICO score must be included in the data file, as well as criteria for determining the offered rate that each FICO score range will receive.
In Closing…
In conclusion, three tips for completing a successful variable data piece are: Think Variable Throughout The Process, Be Creative With The Variable Data, and Use Good Data. LKCS can help you every step of the way including Data, Design, Print, and Mail. If you’ve never used Variable Data Printing in your marketing then it’s time to start today.
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