DIGITAL ORIGINAL
VDP is Salable, Profitable,
and Easier than You Think
If you aren't selling personalized marketing
materials, it's time to get started. By John Giles
rinters are always looking for the next big thing. Recent
trade shows had printers buzzing about 3D printing, but no
one could identify a market with the pent up demand that
would warrant an investment in the technology. Managed
marketing service is still a major subject among quick printers, but few printers have integrated print and Web-based services
into a marketing plan that can be sold to the masses. Where do
printers have opportunities for increased sales in the coming year?
P
New to You
Variable data continues to be an overlooked product printers have and customers could use if they knew about it.
VDP, or personalization, is used for direct
marketing to provide a personalized message to a specific customer. Almost every
printing company with a digital printer
and an external RIP has the software
already installed to produce one-to-one
marketing pieces that have been personalized with text and graphics. Most businesses have some sort of computerized
customer management software that can
export the data that can be used to make
their marketing pieces more effective.
To take advantage of variable data
opportunities, printers should:
1. Learn Microsoft Excel. Excel is not a
database, but it is used like one. It is the
most common local data storage software
in use today, so printers must know how
to move data between Excel spreadsheets
and other software programs to be successful with VDP services.
2. Learn to use the variable data
features in Adobe InDesign and
QuarkXpress. Both programs have
basic VDP features built in or available as a plug in or xtension. There
are also a number of third party
software vendors who have even
more powerful, feature-rich VDP
applications that run even faster.
3. Create your own marketing
pieces using personalization. Cus-
22
tomers may understand what you are
talking about, but you need to show
them. Adding VDP to your own marketing plan lets you gain experience and
provides examples to your customers.
4. Tell your customers about it. It will
be rare if a customer walks in the door
or calls asking about VDP services. Print
shops have to get their salespeople in front
of prospects to explain the benefits of oneto-one messaging. Offer small, easy-to-use
VDP projects to help customers see how it
improves their marketing results.
5. Sell it to the right person. Not everyone buys marketing support. Your best
prospect for VDP is someone who is
already doing marketing and advertising.
The prospect already has a sales staff that
is used to finding and following up on
leads. The sales cycle is too long if you
have to convince the customer that they
need to advertise their services.
Look for customers who already do
mailings and advertise in the newspaper
QUICK PRINTING / January 2014
and local media. They have a budget for
advertising and marketing. One example
of a good prospect is a company that uses
the US Postal Service's Every Door Direct
Mail program. The service has gotten
small businesses familiar with the power
of direct mail, and personalization can
take it a step further.
Training & Selling
The biggest investment that printing
companies will have for selling VDP is
time and training. A good source for
learning how to use Excel and other
database software programs is YouTube.
Microsoft, Adobe, and InDesign use YouTube to provide free video training on
how to use their software. YouTube even
includes videos that explain why VDP
and personalization are important in a
company's marketing plan.
Another advantage to selling VDP and
personalization is that it isn't a commodity that can be sold over the Internet.
There is less pricing pressure and prospects need the printer's expertise. It also
opens other selling opportunities. The
same customers purchase other marketing materials such as posters, signs and
banners, printed marketing collateral,
and other marketing-related printing. It
is always easier to sell something to someone who is already buying from you.
Don't wait for the next big thing. Learn
how to use the variable data printing
power you already have and start selling
the services. You'll find more opportunities and better margins selling VDP
than business cards, envelopes, and letterhead. ◗◗
John Giles is a consultant and technology director for CPrint International.
He is the author of "12 Secrets for Digital Success" and "The DTP PriceList".
Contact him at 954-224-1942 or john@
cprint.org. You can also find John on
Twitter at @JohnG247 and LinkedIn.
Read his blog at MyPRINTResource.
com/blogs/john-giles. Order John's books
from Crouser & Associates (MyPRINTResource.com/10004688).
w w w. M y P R I N T R e s o u r c e . c o m