This article was authored by Posterboy Printing account manager Daniel Edwards

For a long time, print marketing, was always about large runs. Print production was built around economies of scale that saw the cost per unit going down as the quantity increased. A fixed setup cost for plates or screens, then the cost of consumables was added and the increased quantity would spread that setup cost thinner and thinner across each unit.

Mailouts and letterbox drops were mainstays for marketing teams looking to increase reach, and this meant bulk. Letterheads were standard for official communications and required office supplies for businesses that wanted to look legitimate, and again, the cost per unit would drive customers to order a year’s worth of letterheads rather than a month’s worth. It was all about more. That model is still around, and still relevant, so I routinely encourage my customers to investigate higher quantities to improve the bang for their buck.

The digital revolution

But things have changed. Over the last 15 years or so, print production has made massive technical advances into digital print production. Compared to traditional mechanical print technology, digital print technology has little to no setup, so there is no setup cost to spread across the job. So minimum order quantities are lower, minimum invoices are lower, making short print runs more affordable.

Digital production can do more than just put ink, on paper, there are several finishing technologies that have transferred from mechanical to digital production. Forme cutting has evolved to flatbed trimmers, sport varnish and foiling has evolved into Scodix. It’s not just a simple square cut print that can be done on digital, almost the full range of embellishment finishing is also available in short runs at accessible pricing.

Then there are the trade printers. Those shops scattered about the country turning over enough jobs every day that they are ganging jobs up on a sheet and spreading a single setup cost across multiple jobs. These shops offer print at a price that many retail printers can’t compete with. Their capabilities are limited to a standard range and schedule, but within those guidelines, they are very cost-effective at any size run.

All of this means that today print is very affordable in small runs, so business owners and marketers can start to think about the medium in a different way.

Print is very affordable in small runs, so business owners and marketers can start to think about the medium in a different way.

Dream 100

In his book, “Ultimate Sales Machine” best-selling author and business coach Chet Holmes encourages businesses to make the “Dream 100” list. A list of 100 potential clients that if they acquired just a handful of them, everything would change.

Most small to medium businesses could probably relate to 100 ideal customers rather than an extreme like 10. A tradesman might list 100 property managers, a lawnmower could list the residents of a handful of streets, a cafe could list every business within walking distance.

Holmes is suggesting we change the approach of marketing from casting a wide net to a highly targeted approach, and the modern print industry can support that.

The “Dream 100” is a list of 100 potential clients that if just a handful of them were acquired, everything would change

Geographic targeting

Take the case of a tradesman who wants to service a particular area or even a specific street.

Vehicle signage would be a great place to start. The vehicle is a mobile billboard that is only seen by the very people that you want to target. Anything is available from simple cut vinyl lettering on the door to a full vehicle wrap. Only customers in the geographic area they want to target will be seeing their service and phone number. There is no need for massive reach if you are targeting customers who live on that street.

There is no need for massive reach if you are targeting customers who live on that street.

Then there is the classic letterbox drop. But rather than a postcode wide distribution, a small, focused distribution. It is as simple as sending out the apprentice to do a letterbox drop to the neighbours while on site. One real estate agent told me that he would do short letterbox drops around open homes, twenty-five houses on either side and fifty houses across the street. A refrigerated van business owner would visit the loading dock at shopping centres and slide his card under the windscreen wiper of every van parked in there. Highly targeted, low volume distribution and very easy to execute.

The real estate industry has relied on lawn signs have for decades. Digital flatbed printing makes corflute signs very available. These signs are happy in the rain, and with a bit of care can last for several years.  A happy customer won’t mind if you put one up in the yard for a week or two, all it takes is to ask the question. These are a staple of the construction industry though they cable tie them to fences.I worked with an electrician who put these signs up on the lawn during installations, he told me he would frequently get calls from people who had seen his sign. Low volume, highly targeted.

Low volume, highly targeted.

Custom stickers are small, but a powerful way to get repeat business, particularly if it is something that isn’t used a lot. A gardener will visit a site regularly, but an electrician, or plumber might only come once a year or less. A sticker placed in the right place, like a fuse box window,  during a service call can easily turn into more work. Car mechanics do this routinely, other industries could also benefit. That same air conditioning company had a standard procedure to place business card sized stickers onto the outdoor condenser units when they performed a service. These stickers consistently brought customers in. Some customers would insist that this company had installed the unit, even though the business knew they had only serviced it, after all, who can remember the name of the company that did one job five years ago. But because their sticker is on the unit, the customer is happy to place lucrative order. Low volume, highly targeted.

Customised print

One of the features of digital printing is the ability to produce variable data printing (VPD) at a low cost. VDP is no different from the old print merge, or {F-NAME} in email marketing. Instead of printing one kind 100 times, you print 100 kinds one time each, you see this with invitations or tables settings all the time. Market segmentation is an effective marketing strategy, and it is easy to achieve with today’s print technology in more places than it was 10 years ago. Scodix foiling systems can output VDP, which is not possible at all with mechanical foiling machines.

When it comes to setting up unique artworks, the sky really is the limit. There are sophisticated software systems like Objectif Lune that can do wonderful things. There are also low-cost alternatives.

I work with a mortgage broker who once a month mails out a bunch of Bunnings gift cards for his customers’ birthday. He uses branded envelopes, a form letter on a letterhead, branded gift cards, and a promotional flyer. He has segmented his database into 2 categories, over 40yo, and under 40yo. The over 40’s get a flyer about mortgage refinancing, and the under 40’s get a flyer about car loans. It is a simple customer retention strategy that has worked for him for several years. Low volume, highly targeted.

Online stores

Many modern businesses don’t have a shop front at all, and may never physically interact with their customers at all. They service customers from all over the country, and none of these strategies would be relevant. But there are ways that online sellers can make use of targeted print marketing.

Online retailer JD Williams was working on ways to lower cart abandonment from the website. They had a cart abandonment minimisation strategy in place. For customers who had abandoned their carts, they would send two emails showing the cart contents, and put them on a retargeting banner ads sequence. While their email delivered average performance, they found that customers’ increased use of ad blockers had dampened the impact of their other digital marketing activities by 22 per cent.

They decided to test sending a piece of direct mail as part of the strategy. The control group used their existing strategy, of two follow up emails, and banner ads. The second group was sent two follow up emails, but instead of banner ads, the customer was sent a piece of direct mail. The artwork of the direct mail carried a picture of the items in the customers’ basket, very similar to the artwork in the emails. The group with the direct mail piece had a six per cent higher response rate, eight per cent higher order value, and a 14 per cent lower abandonment rate. So that is a 14 per cent increase in closed transactions and an eight per cent increase in sale size when compared to the digital-only control group achieved through highly targeted print marketing. A purely online retailer used targeted print marketing to low cart abandonment. 

A purely online retailer used targeted print marketing to low cart abandonment. 

Market segmentation and data has become the focus for many marketers, but to achieve an effective level of segmentation to execute a highly targeted low volume print campaign is really quite easy. The examples above don’t need to know if their target is male, female, or likes golf. They just need to know typically one thing. For the tradesman, it is as simple as the address. For JD Williams it was, they had been on the website and filled a cart. Meeting these simple requirements qualifies people as potential customers for targeted marketing. Print production technology has evolved to support exactly this kind of marketing. It is cost-effective to produce 100 flyers or stickers, or it is possible to spend more per unit and produce something unique with greater perceived value.

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter