Variable Data Printing, or VDP, allows a brand to personalize its marketing campaign; turning an average and generic campaign into a campaign that’s targeted and includes specific and relevant messages to a small portion of your target audience.  This campaign will be one that meets a brand’s marketing goals and gets results.  The question is, how do you use VDP to transform your campaign?

Variable Data Printing allows a brand to do more than just “add a name” in place of a generic “Greetings!”.  Using database information you can segment your audience into subgroups with similar interests and buying habits and from there use VDP to create specific deals and offers for certain segments of your audience.

This way, you are not wasting your time and resources on marketing material that a majority of your audience wouldn’t be interested in.  Additionally, as we discussed yesterday, by reducing the number of mailers sent out you’re also reducing your brand’s environmental footprint. VDP allows you to use information about your customer to ensure the marketing message you’re communicating is worth their time and your resources.

A company that does an extraordinary job of using a combination of database management and VDP is Amazon.com.  The company sends eblasts and newsletters using your name and uses their database of information of purchases you have made in the past to determine what you’d most likely be interested in purchasing in the future.  Whether they offer books and DVDs that are similar to your past purchases or products that will supplement what you’ve previously bought through their website, each point of communication is targeted specifically to the consumer’s likes and interests.

The opportunity is vast when using VDP in your cross media marketing plan and it will get results when used properly!

Timothy Freeman

President

Print & Graphic Communications Association