Geomarketing Brings New Opportunities in the Era of Convergence

It’s no secret that the industry has undergone profound changes: communication platforms, shifting business dynamics, and new competitive threats are all impacting printing run lengths and demand for printed products.

Despite these changes, SGIA research shows that 95% of printers believe expansion beyond their current primary offering is possible. And 93% of printers believe that expansion is happening within the industry right now.

These providers know that with innovative thinking and the right resources, expansion is possible.

Many providers are using the power of location to support their expansion. locr (Booth 11531) works with print and marketing service providers to add value to printed communications.

Direct mail opportunity

Printed direct mail is a logical extension of a printer’s business. It leverages many of the skill sets that the printer already has — variable data, digital printing — and puts them to good use.

But in this era of convergence, printers must add value to the direct mail they create. They must offer a direct mail strategy.

Personalization is a critical element in creating this strategy for clients. The challenge? Many clients don’t have sophisticated data to use for direct mail campaigns.

Meeting this challenge is where print providers add value: help your clients use the data they do have to create a personalized direct mail campaign.

locr lets printers add the value of personalization using only a prospect’s mailing address. This address can create a highly personalized map that shows your prospect how to get to the location of a business or event.

These maps can be part of an interactive campaign that can gather more customer information for future marketing campaigns.

A direct mail campaign was developed by Tulsa-based print provider TPSI to drive business to a restaurant that had opened a second location in a new part of town. The campaign included attractive images of the food and décor, and described the dining experience. To further tell the story, the direct mail campaign also included a personalized map that provided directions from the recipient’s home address to the location of the restaurant.

The direct mail campaign also included a $10 gift card the customer could use towards their next dinner as an additional enticement. And when customers redeemed the card, they provided more data (name, birthday) that TPSI could use for future marketing.

The direct mail campaign generated a successful 24% response rate, establishing a strong working relationship with the client that created repeat business.

Just as maps add value to direct mail, they can also add value in other areas where print providers seek to expand: packaging, book publishing, even wide-format.