There are many advantages to a transpromo solution that can make it a valued part of any direct marketing strategy. For example, most transactional documents are opened and read each month, with view levels as high as 98%, according to some research.

Bills and statements require greater involvement than other forms of communication as they often contain financial information that needs to been reviewed and require some form of action. In addition, these documents tend to be filed and viewed more than once, providing multiple chances to communicate marketing messages.

This kind of direct marketing also provides the added benefit of allowing companies to customise communications to target specific customer groups. By adapting messages and offers, documents can be personalised based on transactional data, buying habits and other information, so the right information is communicated at the right time.  

Obstacles to adoption
So why aren't more businesses buying into transpromo? The disjointed nature of many larger organisations is one major barrier. The responsibility of transactional and direct marketing mailings will be spread across different teams, which need to work together to develop a joined-up approach.

There is also a perceived added cost associated with transpromo. Traditionally, bills and statements use black print on pre-printed paper to keep overheads to a minimum. In contrast, statement-based marketing requires eye-catching design and colour to deliver a mix of functional, transactional data and bold promotional messages. Meanwhile, tailoring the marketing communications to better target individual customers requires smaller print runs adding a premium to the print costs. Furthermore, investment may also be needed in IT infrastructure to handle the added database and mail merge requirements of this customisation.

What is important to bear in mind is that while transpromo mailings may be more expensive to organise and print, the overall cost to a business may in fact fall. By sharing overheads across a number of budgets, including operations and marketing, this type of activity could actually drive down costs. The combination of transactional and promotional mailings could create efficiencies by removing spend from elsewhere in the business that will outweigh any additional printing costs.

In recent years, some companies have begun to switch to e-statements, resulting in some decline in mail-based transactional documents. However, online documentation tends not to generate the same viewing levels as physical mail, so by making this change, companies are stopping the only direct marketing tool guaranteed to be opened and read.

The postal service remains a trusted means to send and deliver information, including highly important documents, which cannot always be said for other communication mediums. For example, the rise in online and telephone fraud has created a level of mistrust amongst many people, so there will be a place for transpromo opportunities for years to come.

Transpromo may require a different approach to sending mail, but the potential benefits far outweigh any investment needed in terms of time and money. Just a 5% increase in current customer business is proven to translate into as much as a 50% increase in bottom line profits. Statement-based marketing offers one of the most effective ways of
targeting an existing customer base, so companies are missing a massive opportunity to increase sales and drive business growth.

Guy Buswell is chief executive of UK Mail Group, the UK’s largest independent express delivery company, operating a national network of more than 50 depots and 3,500 vehicles.