Have you ever wondered how you could track a print campaign so that you could measure the response and gauge its effectiveness? I have.An innocent query from a marketer on this very topic had me post the question in my professional network, and two experts replied with information too good not to share.

Larry Zusman is Director of Video Personalization at XMPie®, a Xerox Company. I've heard Larry speak about personalization several times – he's terrific, and clearly an authority on this subject (so if you need an expert to present, hint, hint.)

I also heard from Andreas Weber, the CEO of Value Communication AG, in Mainz, Germany. Andreas is widely recognized as Germany's leading business communications analyst and innovation expert, with a focus on state-of-the-art graphic communications concepts and solutions for variable business/brand communication.

These experts taught me about two software solutions that marketers – and print providers – should be aware of, when developing cross media campaigns.

This week, I'll share what I learned from Larry about the XMPie solution. In two weeks, I'll share Andreas' information about DirectSmile®.

XMPie®
I spoke with Larry Zusman over the phone to learn more about XMPie's solution for tracking and analyzing multi-channel campaigns. He focused on a particular tool: PersonalEffect® Analytics (PEA). According to their web site, it is “the industry's first Web-based tracking and reporting tool that monitors each phase of a multi-channel, one-to-one marketing campaign, including print, email and the Web.” (Visit www.xmpie.com for details.)

PEA is a tool that lets you track the success of a print campaign. It has a unique capability, said Larry, something called ADOR, which stands for Automatic Dynamic Object Replacement. The ADOR is the ID of a specific variable content object that is being referenced in a print or electronic document as a variable component. For example, it could be the name of a person, or it could be a graphic, image, audio file or movie. The ADOR object represents something in the database that could change for each recipient in a campaign – across all media. By linking these ADOR objects to the design document, based on business rules, you create communications to the recipient that are highly targeted and relevant. Why is this important? He explained that when you start the PE Analytics process, you determine what you want to track. Let's say you're doing a New Moms marketing campaign. You're going to get photography and determine what photos might be appropriate for a new mom, an older mom, or a mom of a boy, etc. You, the marketer, can track and test down to the level of the specific image used for each recipient in the XMPie campaign.

Imagine you get a printed piece in the mail, advertising the New Moms promotion from a major retailer. Maybe you redeem the offer by calling the call center or visiting the personal website or scanning the QR code in the mailer. The response mechanism that you used and your response to that particular piece can be tracked and analyzed for recipients, groups of recipients or larger populations.

Keep in mind you don't track everything in a campaign. You have to ask, what's relevant? What do I want to track? The marketer in that Moms campaign might want to know if the cover image is strong enough for new moms.

Here's another scenario: a marketer might do a PURL that is included within a concurrent print and email campaign. Analytics can show if print pulled better than email, and vice versa. And you can also determine which content used for each one of these components did better.

The software can ask some very complicated questions, in addition to basic ones. For example, these can relate to geographic difference in component responses among different populations or tell you, for example, the characteristics of respondents in relation to their response to variable offers. ADORs let you track content at a very deep level, tracking and measuring every action and reaction within your campaign.

Marketers want to know the analytics, and with the XMPie solution, it's easy. They've created some cool gauges, said Larry, “like a good, better, best rating” on the ROI in a campaign. This can be generated using PEA and can also be accessed via XMPie CircleTM, an SaaS solution that provides an interactive digital storyboard for multichannel campaigns.

With XMPie Circle, the customer has a view of the whole campaign and can roll over the various components to see the measurement online. (For details, visit www.xmpie.com/Circle.) Larry noted that XMPie integrated with Exact Target on the email side, so that emails are tied-in with PE Analytics.

Who buys these solutions? Typically marketing solutions providers and print providers, though Larry mentioned that many end customers, including universities, financial services and hospitality companies, do as well.

I know I learned a ton about tracking campaigns from my conversation with Larry Zusman, and I hope this information serves you well. Do visit their web site at www.xmpie.com. Should you have questions, please contact .good customer service essay