Today, with the battle to retain customers, coupled with escalating pressure on marketers to be environmentally friendly, digital print is increasingly becoming the obvious choice for customer communications and marketing messages, allowing for a more targeted and personalised approach.

High quality digital print has been available to marketers in the UK for several years now and within this time, due largely to the increased level of personalisation capable, has dramatically improved response uplift to direct marketing communications.

Leading case studies show that by varying the images, message, offer and copy in a single print run, companies are more likely to engage the customers and make them feel valued by the communication. What’s more important is that a higher percentage of customers read the communication and consequently buy.

It is also a key means of retaining customers. Today’s multi-channel environment has made it easier than ever for consumers to switch suppliers. Many industries are experiencing unacceptable levels of customer churn, and are urgently focusing on keeping the customers they already have.

It is an accepted reality that attracting new customers costs more than retaining existing customers. In fact, research from Pitney Bowes revealed that UK businesses are now devoting more budget to developing relationships with existing customers than to prospecting activity.

Consequently the CRM industry has boomed and CRM solutions have been widely adopted across British business. Only now, however, are businesses beginning to ensure that their customer profiling and data-modelling work is physically translated into the communications sent to customers. Undoubtedly, technology is playing a significant role here, enabling communication production to become more creative, more flexible and more targeted without costs escalating.

In an environment where customer response to campaigns is either flat or declining, every new tool available to marketers must be engaged. However, digital print raises a fundamental challenge; the cost per item is much higher than traditional methods of direct mail.

Many marketers are keen to use digital print, but they cannot see how to match their tight budget to the vision. The fact is that digital print allows for better personalisation and targeting, so campaign volumes don’t need to be so high.Digital print has to be measured on cost of response not cost per item.

Furthermore, in 2003, the DMAsigned an agreement with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) part of which committed the direct mail industry, through the DMA, to reducing the amount of direct mail waste that ends up in landfill.

One of the major ways the industry can achieve this is through increased production of highly targeted, lower volume campaigns, enabled by digital print. With less mail being sent to disinterested prospects, there will be less mail heading straight into the consumers’ bins.

Lower volume mailings, can in turn have a positive effect on customer relations. With the environment a major subject in the news today, consumers are increasingly endorsing companies who make efforts to reduce wastage and carbon emissions.

If a consumer knows that a company is making an effort to curb high-volume, blanket mailings in favour of low-volume, targeted mailing, they are potentially more likely to support the company.

Although digital print enables marketers to vary the personalised message in direct mail, as they have been able to do via email and web technologies for many years, it is essential that the message is consistent across all points of communication with the customer; otherwise the true benefits of this approach are lost.

Having a clearly thought out customer journey that manages the interaction seamlessly, regardless of customer touch point, is the key planning development that marketers must address and then communicate to all parts of the business, if digital print is to succeed in delivering incremental revenue and profit.

Patrick’s career in sales started out at the hard end of selling in financial services and photocopiers. He then progressed to a sales trainee role with Colorgraphic and then on to a senior sales role with J Howitt & Sons in Nottingham before joining GI Direct in May 1993. Patrick started with GI Solutions Group as a senior sales person, progressing to Business Development Director, and now heads up the sales team. Company: GI Direct