While traditional bill and statement inserts ride along with the bill, they can be easily ignored. Many recipients will pull the statement out of the envelope and discard everything else. This is where transpromo comes in.

We may not want to admit it, but our bill and statement providers know us pretty well – they understand the money we accrue (and spend), the lifestyles we lead, and the products that we purchase. By increasing message targetting without betraying a customer’s trust, a transpromo approach can be quite advantageous. At the same time, however, transpromo does not have to be tied to an offer. It can simply act as a new vehicle to disseminate information.

Consider the postal savings that could result from reducing total direct mail shipments. Postal rates continue to rise each year and direct marketers are continually challenged to offset these costs, which can represent up to 65% of total direct mail project budgets.

Yet many marketers fail to focus their cost-reduction efforts on postage, trying instead to cut print and materials costs, and other campaign elements. With transpromo, you are combining a ‘must-read’ document with loyalty-building and cross-selling information. The transaction document is going to be mailed anyway, so why not consolidate direct mail with it each month?

The colour of money
Traditional bills and statements are printed in black and white, with a pre-printed form providing a hint of colour. With the increasing speed and affordability of digital colour devices, many providers have shifted to digital colour technology. While transpromo does not have to be printed in colour, it can make promotional messages stand out. Companies that have implemented digital colour are experiencing improvements in the revenue collection process and better cashflow through the effective use of colour.

More timely payments and reduced exceptions offset much of the cost of communicating in colour. Additionally, the digital colour printing of bills, with key information highlighted, reduces call centre traffic and the associated customer support costs.

For the 2009 study Trans Meets Promo: A European Perspective, InfoTrends surveyed nearly 800 direct mail, bill and statement providers in western Europe. The companies that responded were spread across six western European countries.

Colour is the biggest stepping stone for getting into transpromo, but is also one of the biggest hurdles due to the costs involved. We asked transaction document owners who were using digital colour why they chose to do so. The primary reason was because colour conveys a higher value to the customer.

Companies strive to show strength in their brands—what better way to do so than to add colour to a document that customers interact with every month? Half of all respondents also said that colour was also commonly used to enhance graphics and promotional messages or to highlight key information. Colour opens up a number of opportunities for impressing customers, while also providing clarity that can reduce call centre inquires.

The transpromo opportunity will remain substantial in 2010, but the need for improved education remains. While printers may understand the concept of transpromo, their customers still need to be educated.

Transpromo may not be the best term for the discussion, but the concept behind it comes with significant opportunities for bill and statement providers.

Ralf Schlözer is associate director at digital print and document technology analyst Infotrends. Email ralf_schlozer@capv.com