Make Print Your Launching Pad to Online Content and Greater ROI

By Guest Contributor and PBI Sponsor Jeff Hopp

PBI Sponsors are invited to write a Print Tip. Today’s Print Tip is by Jeff Hopp of Ripon Printers (www.riponprinters.com) in WI. Ripon was a sponsor at our Print & Media Conference in Chicago recently. They have been PBI conference sponsors for several years.

The question today really isn’t whether or not print works. It does. The more pressing issue is whether or not companies want to bear the higher upfront costs. In truth, the economic downturn has forced cash-strapped marketing departments to rely on digital vehicles with enticing costs per thousands, but also with higher customer annoyance risks.

That’s partly why many savvy marketers welcome the recent explosion of alternatives that launch print to online content. It enables powerful multichannel campaigns that can feature interactivity and deliver measurability. Exactly what marketers seek.

Here are four key ways that print can launch ROI-generating online experiences:

[list style=”bullet” color=”red”]

• Personalized URLs (pURLS). Personalized URLs not only allow you to measure the success of your campaigns, but also enable one-to-one messaging for each recipient. A pURL provides a unique URL for each viewer of the printed material. By typing the pURL (which generally includes the recipient’s name) into a browser, the customer or prospect is automatically launched to a customized homepage featuring a unique offer. Studies show that people are far more inclined to click a link that contains their name and are also more favorably disposed to receiving your message. But for maximum effectiveness, we also recommend including a special incentive that entices the recipient to use the pURL. Creating a pURL campaign is relatively easy using specialized software systems available through printers and other sources. And you can reproduce pURLs with virtually any variable data printing system including laser, inkjet and digital presses.
• Mobile Barcodes. Mobile barcodes (such as Microsoft tags, Data Matrix, and QR codes) are special two-dimensional barcodes that can be scanned by smartphones. They enable buyers to access many types of information including URLs, personal and professional contact information such as a vCard, product and service information, video and almost any other type of data. Nielsen estimates that smartphone users will total 142.8 million in 2011, surpassing the number of feature-phone users. What’s more, the mobile revolution is a global phenomenon. Yet with print driving important sales-related activity among all age groups, it provides the ideal vehicle for presenting mobile. While all age demographic groups, including those 55+, are increasingly using mobile barcodes, we suggest knowing the sweet spots. The prime categories trend younger, with 35- to 44-year-olds leading the pack, followed closely by those 25-34 and 18-24.
• Digital Editions. Digital editions of catalogs, magazines and other publications have come a long way in recent years. Gone are clumsy PDF distribution approaches as well as irritating systems that required software downloads for viewing. The digital edition conversion process is now very simple. Essentially all you need for converting your print version to a digital edition is a print-ready PDF file. Sophisticated software does all the heavy lifting. The result is a browser-based, network-friendly digital version of your print material that is instantly available and provides high-quality graphics as well as “page flipping” just like the printed version. Digital editions can also go well beyond basic functionality to include a wide range of interactive capabilities. A digital edition can provide a terrific market advantage when integrated with other print and digital media. Consider digital editions for international distribution, immediate fulfillment, improving environmental perception, broadening customer choice, gaining market intelligence, enhancing revenues and expanding content.
• Augmented Reality. This is ultra-cool and best described as virtual reality augmentation with print. The applications require users to have a webcam on their computers and to download software provided by the marketer or publisher. The user then holds the printed material about one foot from the computer and watches the print come to life. We’ve seen everything from a LEGO box cover that transforms into virtual reality when held in front of an in-store kiosk computer to a women’s fashion catalog that lets the viewer try clothing on an image of herself, then take a picture and share it with friends. The technology keeps evolving. A recent demo of a mobile augmented reality app developed by Mobilstar and XY3D made the Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover instantly turn into a 3D model that was enhanced by a jukebox feature allowing the viewer to navigate songs as well as buy, rate or like any track.

[/list]

If you’re not already using print to launch your customers and prospects to online content, now is the time. You have nothing to lose and so much revenue to gain.

Jeff Hopp is sales manager for Ripon Printers, a company that provides digitally driven print solutions to marketers and publishers. You can contact Jeff at x202 or

(C)2011 Jeff Hopp. All rights reserved. Your comments are encouraged. You’re free to forward this email to friends and colleagues. However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author. Comments?