Sure, the digital age is upon us. We read our newspapers online, pay our bills online and create online photo albums. So why bother printing, especially if you are a business? Because print drives your business. Regardless of your particular niche, print materials are necessary to build brand awareness, attract new customers and create a polished and professional image of your business. Here are a five ways print drives your business. Signage If no one can find you because you lack signage, it’s a problem.  A prominent sign on your door or windows is the number one way to attract passersby. Window cling ...

As the digital age advances, it’s hard to believe that print media is still a worthwhile endeavor. Between PPC ads, corporate blogs and social media strategies, it may be easy to think that online marketing alone is sufficient to grow a business. As effective as online marketing campaigns can be, no business should dismiss print media as part of their overall marketing strategy. Print media is still an important piece of the marketing puzzle. Here is why: •Print is Portable – Even with laptops and smart phones, print media still retains the ultimate portability. It’s available everywhere and to everyone, ...

With digital printing increasing in popularity, options, and new features, it can seem appealing to choose digital printing over offset printing. However, it is important to know exactly which type of printing will be effective for the particular marketing campaign you are creating. Offset printing, or offset lithography, is the most common high volume commercial printing technology. Offset printing creates high-quality images, and can work on a wide variety of surfaces (chipboard, plastic). Offset printing works best for high volume print runs because unit cost goes down as quantity printed goes up. With offset printing there are fixed costs associated pre-press ...

Variable Data Printing, also known as VDP, is a marketing approach that has shown significant results for direct marketers and businesses of varying industries. This method of printing allows the sender to customize each and every document within a single run of digital printing. Customization of these print pieces can fall into various levels; such as static, personalized, versioned, and fully customized. Essentially, the sender can target their messaging to include the specific customer’s name on the document, print different versions of messaging to reach specific groups of people, or print messaging that is very personal and specific to each recipient. The concept ...

Myth: Printed catalogs have been replaced by the internet. Fact: Catalog positively impact purchasing behavior. A printed catalog motivates online customers to visit retail web site more often, stay longer and spend more money. In fact, households receiving catalogs are twice as likely to make an online purchase (Source: comScore case study - USPS). A perfect example of this is Zappos.com, the online seller of shoes (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/business/media/07zappos.html) sends out printed catalogs to their customers. Aaron Magness, director for brand marketing and business development at Zappos.com in Henderson, Nev. states that lapsed customers have responded very well to the catalogs. Credits: MakingPaperFun.com and ...

Myth:  You can't recycle catalogs, magazines and direct mail. Fact: Most recycling programs accept a variety of materials. Most domestic curbside and drop-off recycling programs accept a variety of materials, including catalogs, magazines, and direct mail.  Over the past 10 years, the recovery rate for standard mail and magazines has doubled to approximately 40% (Source: Municipal Sold Waste Generation. Recycling and Disposal in the United States). Credits: MakingPaperFun.com and Printing Impressions (Dec. 2009).

Myth: A "paperless" office has no environmental footprint. Fact: The environmental footprint of information and communication technologies continues to grow rapidly. Going paperless comes with an environmental cost. Computers, data centers, mobile phones and telecommunication networks are projected to be the largest emitters of greenhouse gases by 2020 (McKinsey & Company). It is unreasonable to compare digital and print media without taking the entire lifecycle of each into account. Each format has a rightful place in the scope of sustainable communications. Credits: MakingPaperFun.com and Printing Impressions (Dec. 2009).

As most people have figured out, one of the golden rules of marketing is personalization.  The concept is simple; show that you care and know your audience.   Sounds simple, right?  Extensive research shows that personalized messages and marketing pieces show increased response rates leading to higher returns on investment (ROI).  Variable Data Printing (VDP) allows you to personalize each individual  marketing piece so that your reader receives something that is personal and relevant to their needs and wants.  On-demand VDP technology allows the personalization of just about anything on your marketing piece. This can be graphics, text or images.  The technology ...

Variable Data Printing (VDP) allows marketers to target a highly specified customer base with the use of specialty data and mailing lists.  Business owners can actually imagine "the perfect customer," the one most likely in need of their goods and services, and then systematically target individuals who fall into the target market category according to an almost infinite number of specifications, including income bracket, interests, geographic area, marital status, gender, and many other types of data.  The beauty of VDP is this:  the more data you collect about an individual, by tracking purchasing habits, collecting survey information, email marketing and ...

Variable data printing (VDP) and digital printing technology allows business owners to target customers more specifically with the aid of specialty data and mailing lists.  With VDP, business owners can define a target market based on income, lifestyle choices, interests, marital status, gender, and an almost infinite number of categories.  Business owners are able to actually imagine the "perfect client," the customer most likely in need of their goods and services, and then systematically and specifically target individuals who fit that description in their direct mail marketing campaigns. These highly targeted direct mail marketing campaigns are even more effective when they ...

  OneIMS, a full-service marketing company in Chicago, IL, offers clients an innovative and revolutionary way to expand the success of direct mail campaigns using their Personalized URL solution. Chicago, IL (Vocus/PRWEB ) March 26, 2009 -- Old marketing meets new marketing. OneIMS, a full-service marketing company located in Chicago, offers clients a revolutionary way to get more out of direct mail campaigns by utilizing Variable Data Printing (VDP) and Personalized URLs (PURLs). Research shows that most people depend on the internet and are more likely to respond to a direct mail campaign if the internet is involved. Their solution, 4PURL, is ...

The emergence of variable data print technology has ushered in a new and improved highly personalized form of direct mail marketing.  Marketers can now opt to contact consumers through a cross-media marketing campaign, directing individuals to access a campaign specific website using a personalized URL (PURL).  An example of Personalized URL would be www.JohnSmith.CampaignName.com. Personalized URLs are gaining popularity in direct mail marketing for three main reasons. 1.     Personalized URLs allow marketers to track responses more accurately - Because each personalized URL is unique to the individual, marketers can track and measure the behavior of an individual client based on his activity on the ...