Cognesia has since joined the direct mail printer’s database marketing arm, GI Insight, which runs customer loyalty programmes on behalf of the group’s retail clients, where it will help build a clearer view of consumers’ online behaviour.
GI Insight managing director Andy Wood explains that GI could use Cognesia’s product to more easily and comprehensively track and analyse the online behavior of its customers’ customers and link that to their in-store activity.
“We run the loyalty programmes for our retail customers so we have all the transactions from their stores and from their websites, but we don’t have a view of people who go onto the web to look at things then to the store to purchase,” he says.
What excites Wood is the fact that this behavioral data can be used to feed back into DM campaigns that target individual customers who have visited a website multiple times but are yet to make a purchase.
All well and good, but of what relevance is this to your average digital or small litho printer? Well, while it is true that acquiring a Cognesia is well beyond the means of your average printer, there exists a myriad of free and low-cost tools and means by which printers can start to enhance their client relationships.
Wood, who when GI Insight was launched back in 2000 was both its managing director and sole employee, says that if he were to start again today he would follow two simple steps: “The first, which is by far the easiest and requires no technical understanding, is to go to your existing customers and say ‘we already print your DM and you have a website; how do you feel about letting us use the data from your website to trigger more targeted DM campaigns, which, because they are digital and more personalised, are more likely to be successful?’”
The second and slightly trickier step is what to do when the client says ‘yes’, but neither you nor the client has the expertise required to analyse the data. “As the supplier you either need to have those skills yourself or you need to partner with someone who does,” says Wood. “The great thing about partnering is that it allows you to offer that service at negligible cost but also your relationship with your clients becomes stickier and the cost of print, while it doesn’t become irrelevant, does become less of an issue.”
Partnering allows the printer to expand their existing skill set, something Grafenia chief executive Tony Rafferty believes is already becoming essential. “SMEs are now going web first, which means their relationship with their web people is more important and more strategic than the relationship with their printer,” he says. “They may spend more money on the print, but if they’re handling a project they’ll do the work on the web side before they turn to the printer.
“A printer who wants to sell to their local customers going forward either has to form a heavyweight partnership with a local techie or they are going to need a tool that allows them to do what the client needs using their existing printer or graphic designer skill set.”
It is this belief that has led Grafenia to launch Nettl – its second franchise business after Printing.com, which Rafferty founded using job ganging software he developed at university while promoting student nights in local clubs. And, as Rafferty puts it: “As a guy who once upon a time spent $1m on a domain, in Printing.com, we must think there’s something in this to launch a franchise that doesn’t use that name.”
KPM Group is another printer that has evolved well beyond its original print remit, growing from a £700,000 DM printer in 2007 to a £5m-turnover printer, B2B publisher and, now, augmented reality software developer in 2014. Managing director Nigel Copp, who also sits on the DMA Mailing Houses Council, highlighted the array of free online tools sub £1m-turnover printers can use to deliver an enhanced service.
“There are simple tools out there that can add value to what you do,” he says. “Google Analytics gives an indication of website traffic. MailChimp allows you to track digital campaigns. You can identify the people linking to a website or particular offer via PURLs and QR codes. There are lots of products out there and a lot of this is relatively simple to do.”
Proven returns
A little time invested in signing up for and getting to grips with these free-to-use software tools can pay dividends in terms of being able to offer a more encompassing service by tracking responses and proving ROI.
“There’s a lot of value you can add in terms of campaign management, tracking and analytics, which allows you to demonstrate the ROI the client is getting through putting that work through you,” adds Copp. “It’s all about adding value and getting that engagement going again through print and direct mail.”
However, as important as adding new services is, the ability to identify the clients that can benefit from them – as opposed to those who are simply interested in finding the cheapest printer – is key.
Ashwyk, an Essex-based boutique digital printer that specialises in short runs of high-end bespoke work that can involve complex finishing, has hit this stumbling block in its bid to expand its variable data work.
Managing director Joe de Wykerslooth says: “We have tried to expand our variable data services because we understand that’s the only way you can fully justify large run lengths through a digital press.
“The problem is finding customers that not only understand the value of variable data printing, but also appreciate our HP Indigo offset technology over other toner-based systems that have lower click rates.”
He adds: “People are not investing the money in massive print runs anymore, it’s either pure digital media campaigns or short runs of high-end bespoke work where the money is spent on the tactile feel of the piece that can really express the brand identity.
“Having the recipient’s name on a piece of standard print is nothing special at all. What’s clever is having the data that allows you to target the right people in the first place with the right images and content. That’s what we’re more interested in.”
Opinion: Basic analytical tools can still be incredibly useful
John Charnock, managing director, Print Research International
Not everyone has the budget or the capability of St Ives or GI to acquire an insight organisation, but the good news is that there are plenty of simple ways to help customers glean useful data.
In its broadest sense, insight is the ability to analyse data and see patterns and behaviours that mean that you can anticipate which customers are more likely to be receptive to some kind of communication and ultimately buy something.
Historically insight and data analytics has been based around demographics such as age, gender and geographical location, but insight companies have realised that individuals are more likely to be receptive to some kind of communication when, for example, they are happy or have just been paid. So many analytics solutions now look for the emotional state of the prospect rather than just the basics.
But the basics can still be incredibly useful. The challenge for print is that in order to generate data, it needs to trigger a response, from things like simple coupons and redemption codes, to QR codes and PURLs (Wordpress has some great PURL tools) or the plethora of solutions for DM type work such as Easypurl, Mindfire, XMPie and Documobi or augmented reality tools like Layar.
However, the key to insight is overlaying the data to create in effect a prospect profile. And that’s when the data can become incredibly powerful and it doesn’t have to be the preserve of high-end consumer brands. Helping your clients to find new sources of information, new prospects or flagging up what their competition are doing will all provide them with insight.
And then setting aside some simple resources to build better information on the effectiveness of a campaign and its ROI is relatively easy and starts future conversations with the customer at a much more strategic level. Just remember though that insight can just as easily highlight an ineffective campaign as flag up an effective one.
Reader reaction: How do you incorporate data services into your offering?
Nigel Copp, managing director, KPM Group
“We started looking into augmented reality about 18 months ago. We found there were limits to a few of the main platforms in terms of having to upgrade to access the analytics, so we found some developers and put together our own platform that’s a bit more specific to print and a bit more WYSIWYG. As a platform it allows us to engage with not only print but also audio and video. It’s in the trial phase still, but our plan is to put it on a website for other people to license.”
Joe de Wykerslooth, managing director, Ashwyk
“There is a tendency for printers to try to become more like marketing communications agencies, almost as if being a printer isn’t good enough. I disagree – we’re a print specialist. We’re not experts in marketing, we’re experts in what stock will work best with what design, how it should be finished and being able to manage the whole project across multiple print and finishing processes. We can handle data, we can handle the technical side, but first and foremost we are a printer, and proud of it.”
Mark Gladstone-Smith, managing director, Carly Press
“We try and add value where possible, but generally by putting print on paper and offering different print finishes and laminates rather than any web or marketing services at the moment. But that’s not to say it won’t happen as we’re continually looking at new ways to expand and grow. If we do decide to go down that line, we’d get somebody in from the outside as it’s not something we know a huge amount about and it’s not something you can sell if you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
