By Grant Miller
HARNESSING INNOVATION TO DELIVER HIGHER VALUE COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH MAIL y helping clients implement best practices for higher-value communications — such as making mail more colorful, interactive, engaging and integrated with digital communications — leading mail service providers are turning their customers’ bills, statements, and direct mail into powerful marketing tools. This is enabling them to have a different kind of conversation with their clients — one that appeals to the marketing influences that often shape a client’s buying decision. In today’s physical and digital world, personalizing the customer experience is an essential part of any successful engagement strategy. Mail service providers should encourage their clients, in particular marketers, to reinvent physical communications to make them more engaging and to leverage data analytics to make communications more relevant. Effective Utilization of Colorful Print Mail Research shows that colorful print mail can boost open rates of up to 70%. Employing high-quality, dynamic color printing capabilities can add value to every mail piece and advanced inkjet color with variable data printing leads to impactful communications and can extend marketing reach. In fact, inkjet systems have transformed print and mail markets by printing at a compel26
ling cost with speed and quality that is highly productive. Inkjet systems typically require extremely high volume print jobs to be most effective. However, recently introduced systems for medium and small volume levels are making inkjet more affordable and attainable. Leverage the Outside of the Envelope When using color, it’s important to think about the outside envelope as well. The logo or graphic printed on the front of the envelope strongly influences when and whether people open it. Adding colorful, relevant information to the outside of the envelope can double open rates. In fact, a study conducted by Leflein Associates of Ringwood, New Jersey showed that participants were more likely to open a mail piece with color text and graphics on the front before opening pieces with no headline or graphic. Given a choice of color graphics or black and white text, participants indicated they were 247% more likely to open envelopes with color graphics first. Fifty-seven percent of participants indicated they hardly ever noticed what was printed on the back of the envelope when sorting through or opening their mail. However, as with the front of the envelope, the study indicated that the presence of color text and graphics on the back was significantly more likely to influence their decision than black and white only.
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2015 | www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com
In this new print-to-mail environment, where inkjet technology delivers the speed, print quality and per piece affordability that mailers demand, organizations have the opportunity to create dynamic mail envelopes and reduce expenses at the same time. Additionally, organizations can eliminate the need for pre-printed forms and envelopes and are able to produce more engaging, colorful mailings for clients. Tap Into Transactional Mail Colorful mailings can come in many forms. Monthly bills and statements are often a valuable yet untapped marketing resource. Over 20 billion billing statements were mailed to US consumers in 2013 (the most recent year for which statistics are available). Many customers (typically 60-90% depending on the industry) continue to request printed statements. In fact, a recent study found that 84% of people believe they understand information better when they read print on paper. Furthermore, the US inspector general’s office analyzed three consecutive months of 2014 billing data for a major utility company and found that 91% of customers chose to receive their statements by mail. The content and design of bills and statements is critical to reducing customer confusion. The right content and design can also have a positive financial impact by lowering call center expenses and helping