From White Space to Dollars: Trends in Transpromo
There has been a lot of buzz surrounding TransPromo communication over the years, but what are the market realities? Does TransPromo offer an advertising opportunity, and how is it reaching consumers and generating higher response rates? The webinar entitled From White Space to Dollars: Trends in TransPromo (presented by the Printing Impressions and Target Marketing and sponsored by Canon Solutions America) explores some of the latest insights concerning transaction printing.
To kick off the webinar, moderator and InfoTrends Group Director, Jim Hamilton noted that white-paper-in /full-color-out jobs are the wave of the future. For many years, transactional printers have used pre-printed shells to provide color for invoices, statements, and other transactional documents. This two-step process proved to be cumbersome and labor-intensive because of the warehousing and extensive management required for inventories. On top of that, it limited customers’ abilities to change artwork for special designs and redesigns. Hamilton elaborated, “Transactional printers have long desired a cost-effective color digital printer that could do it all in one step, and inkjet technology provides a solution.”
“Transactional printers have long desired a cost-effective color digital printer that could do it all in one step, and inkjet technology provides a solution.”
JIM HAMILTON, INFOTRENDS
Inkjet technologies can meet a wide range of document needs, including monochrome, light coverage color, full color, and special effects (for example, magnetic ink character recognition (MICR)). The technologies that are available today enable a true white-paper-in / full-color-out workflow that eliminates two-step processes. According to Hamilton, “This truly is a revolution in the production of transactional print.” During the webinar, Hamilton defined the opportunity for TransPromo, discussing how adding TransPromo printing can become an integral part of a company’s cross-media mix because it cuts through the clutter.
The first guest speaker during the webinar was Thomas Harter Jr., CEO of Microdynamics Group (Naperville, Illinois). He supported Hamilton’s comments, noting that in addition to good call-to-action messaging and cross-selling opportunities, it’s important to have marketing buy-in and engaging advertisers to create value. Harter explained, “The technology and the market seem to be connecting today more than they ever have before.” For his financial clients in particular, Harter believes that quality has caught up with marketers’ expectations. With about 25% of customers leveraging color graphics and variable text and about 60% using monochrome variable text, Harter has seen firsthand how using TransPromo (or “onserts”) can add value for clients as well as printing businesses at large.
The next guest speakers were Lori Messina and John DiNozzi, both of Access Direct Systems (Farmingdale, New York). Executive Vice President Messina started off by explaining some of the benefits of implementing a TransPromo program. First and foremost was the benefit of customer engagement. Messina stated, “Bills, invoices, and statements—while not always welcomed by consumers—will often receive more attention and time than any other direct mail pieces that are received.” She further described the benefits of TransPromo in detail, including flexibility, cost savings, and cycle time reduction. Next, Senior Vice President DiNozzi offered some pointers on how to effectively create and implement a TransPromo mail program. He elaborated, “Without the data, it’s virtually impossible to create a TransPromo program.” Once concepts are developed—whether for marketing, cross-selling, and up-selling, or providing effective communications—it’s important to take inventory of the various technology requirements and determine the best method for executing the concepts.
When working with marketers, TransPromo translates into dollars and makes a lot of sense. As the webinar panelists indicated throughout the presentation, TransPromo is a way to drive marketing and customer service messages more effectively. The technologies are readily available to leverage the opportunity, so now is the time to act.