Everyone is looking for innovative ways to provide additional value to their clients and thereby improve customer retention, develop more new business and increase margins.  The question becomes, "How do I do this this in a cost effective way?"  Every person who owns or manages a direct mail or print operation must be concerned about initial costs and ROI.

If you are mailing material in typical, mostly blank, envelopes then your product looks pretty much the same as your competitors - and your customer's response rate will be similar to the results they can get from any mail service provider. If you want to keep those customers you must offer something better.

All that blank space on envelopes is a wasted opportunity for extra revenue. With technology available from DDS today, you can distinguish yourself from competitors and start producing mail that allows you to charge more. Printing compelling messages on the outside of envelopes escalates open rates and therefore increases value for your customers.

Variable Data Good for Marketers and Service Providers

Marketers know that personalized messaging improves the performance of direct mail. A study by independent analysts tested personalization and found improvements of 24% - 48% in categories ranging from response time to order size when content was personalized. Applying the same principles to the envelopes will further enhance the results.

  

In 2014 InfoTrends surveyed print operations and found those that increased their variable data use also reported increased sales. Almost all printing companies have software to add variable text and images to documents, but few have extended that technology to color envelope printing. Those that offer this service have an advantage over the rest.

  

Marketers are gathering more data about their customers all the time. You can help them put that information to use by personalizing not only the inside materials, but also adding color variables to the outside envelopes.

Make Mail Better with Envelope Printing

You can add inkjet printers capable of rendering high-quality text and images in full color to any mail production line. Even static content, quite easy for mail service providers to add, can influence response rates. Envelopes bearing fresh and relevant messages stand out - especially when you use color!

Color Can Be Less Expensive Than Black and White!

The cost to print the monochrome envelope (A) above using a popular mail center cartridge printer is $3.40/M. DDS color inkjet printers can produce the full color envelope (B) for $2.99/M. Which would you rather show your customer?

For even greater personalization, you can print addressee-specific data or call attention to individual circumstances with envelope messaging. This degree of personalization requires a little more control and tracking to make sure the message is accurately matched with the addressee. Our i DataPrint™ system handles this functionality quite easily. If you really want to distinguish yourself from other print and mail service providers, start printing customer-specific variable data right where the addressees will see it first - on the front of the envelopes.

Adding color variable data and images to envelopes is a fantastic way to improve the effectiveness of mail pieces whether they are meant to generate leads, boost sales, increase participation, or raise awareness. Envelope messaging that generates higher open rates results in more chances for the documents

inside to produce the desired result.

If you are not talking to your customers about adding variable data and color to their envelopes, your competition is. Give us a call to set up a webinar and let us show you how to separate your company from the competition and increase your profitability with little or no change in production cost.

Increased open rates aren't the only benefits to printing variable data on envelopes. Next month we'll be releasing a complete e-book about the substantial cost-saving opportunities and competitive advantages of using this technology in your operation.