Web-to-print technology: More bang for your buckGary NemcekMortgage marketing technology
To make your marketing efforts as successful as possible these
days, you must address an ever-growing set of challenges. You face
a world full of changing media and communication channels, not to
mention all of the pundits spouting, "Print is dead!" and, "The Web
is the future!" Buyers are becoming increasingly skeptical of many
traditional forms of advertising and, at the same time, they are
quick to shun promotional content in new places, like popular sites
and communities on the Web. What's a person to do?
The key to success is relevance—a meaningful message
delivered the right way at the right time. Unless you're a psychic,
that can pretty hard. But with the right tools, you can make it a
lot easier.
In a survey conducted this summer by CSO Insights, respondents
said direct-mail marketing was the tactic with the highest return
on investment, beating out e-mail marketing, events and trade
shows, telemarketing and more. So while it's always good to use
multiple channels and integrate your efforts, direct mail and other
print collateral is probably a good place to start. The cost is
reasonable and quite controllable and, as this survey indicates,
the results often speak for themselves.
But on top of the ever-present marketing challenges like
choosing communication channels and reaching your audience, you're
also likely to face the consistent challenge to be as lean, mean
and cost-effective as you can be. You'll need the tools that can
help you be lean and mean without sacrificing your goals, which are
generating leads, nurturing them through a sales cycle and closing
deals.
Take advantage of the power that Web-to-print technology
provides. A Web-to-print document management platform will let you
create flexible, dynamic document templates with an unlimited
amount of variable text and images, putting the power of one-to-one
marketing to work for your business. The technology makes
controlling costs and maximizing results a little easier and a lot
more efficient.
Web-to-print technology gives you a strong, flexible set of
tools for collateral management and document customization that
lets you make the most efficient and profitable use of your mailing
list and prospect database. Because they're Web-based, these tools
are available anytime from anywhere, and you have a wealth of
tracking and reporting functions that will help supercharge your
marketing.
A customized Web interface will let you create and store
document templates, customize pieces prior to ordering and even
arrange to have the finished pieces prepped and mailed. Mortgage
lenders can easily create automated, micro-targeted mailing
campaigns, using flexible digital printing techniques to produce
letters, self-mailers and postcards that are rich with customized
data.
Creating, managing, distributing and tracking your marketing
materials can be a drain on your marketing resources. The keys to
success are flexibility and efficiency. Bring your marketing
campaigns into the 21st century, by putting technology to good use.
The right tools can help you:
• Create personalized, one-to-one marketing materials on
demand;
• Maintain consistent branding on all marketing collateral
and promotional items; and
• Print dynamic brochures, pamphlets and newsletters on
demand to drive traffic to your Web site.
Web-to-print technology can save many tedious hours of creating
and managing individual marketing campaigns and make your sales
efforts more cost-effective. Materials can easily be branded and
customized with local content, such as addresses, contact
information or images.
Imagine brochures printed just for Jane with pictures of the
home she's looking to buy, a refrigerator magnet with the local
sales rep's contact information or postcards that point the
recipient to a Web page created just for him. With on-demand
printing, you can also eliminate worry about using out-of-date or
otherwise irrelevant materials. There will be no more ordering
static documents by the thousands and hoping to use them all. Now,
each piece can be customized and printed as you need it.
It might sound daunting, but print-on-demand technology makes it
all easily within reach, even for the smaller businesses. While
larger lending organizations can reap the benefits of better
control over brand identity, streamlined proofing and order review
processes, and inventory tracking, smaller businesses have just as
much to gain. Save time with quick and easy template-based document
creation and ordering. Save money with smaller, targeted
collateral. In many cases, Web-to-print technology is put in place
by print shops interested in making your print jobs easier and more
efficient, so they often bear the small cost of using the
technology.
As if that litany of benefits weren't enough, consider this: As
the business landscape becomes increasingly competitive, individual
brokers and large organizations alike need to find as many
meaningful ways as possible to differentiate themselves. One way to
differentiate your business is through "social
responsibility"—being part of the community, donating to
charities and making your business more environmentally friendly.
That's another area in which efficiency-encouraging Web-to-print
technology can help.
Despite the fact that print marketing is almost exclusively
based on products that come from dead trees, making those print
efforts more environmentally conscious is not too far a stretch. As
aforementioned, Web-to-print technology helps make marketing
efforts more efficient and effective, delivering more bang for your
buck (or more bang per page, if you will). And, if you're working
with a spread-out sales force, for example, a Web-to-print network
can completely automate the process of finding local printers to
cut down on transportation (and burning gas and exhaust), not to
mention save shipping costs.
Efficiency, effectiveness and environmental friendliness ...
Isn't technology wonderful?
Gary Nemcek is co-founder and president of the networks
group of Four51. He may be reached at (952) 294-0451 or through his
company's Web site, www.four51.com.
