Recipe for VDP: A primer for successful campaigns

Hans SepProduct Line Manager

Giselle de la MoriniereProduct Marketing Manager

Feedback from 2014

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39% didn’t do any VDP

“More hands on

examples”

“Slow down and

simplify”

“How do I create a

VDP file?”

“Explain and show creating

VDP”

Today you will learn:

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• How to get the right information from your customers

• Why the customer list is so important

• How to set up a VDP campaign with tools you already have

• When you need an advanced VDP program

Print is king!

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• One of our 2014 World of Fiery sessions focused on cross-media campaigns

• Today’s presentation focuses on personalized prints

Print is the heart of cross-media

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Print is the heart of cross-media

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Full name

First name

PURL

QR code

Why personalized printing?

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Highly personalized color direct mail typically generated a

6.5% response, over three times higher than the

usual response rate for non-personalized direct mail.

– Melissa Data,September 2012

Courtesy of InfoTrends

94% of multi-channel campaigns include print.

Courtesy of EFI DirectSmile

91% of printed direct mail sent to prospects is opened.

Royal Mail, UK study findingCourtesy of EFI DirectSmile

“Mailboxes don’t have spam filters”

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• Physical mail is touched, looked at

• More directly targeted to customers’ needs

Benefit to the print service provider

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• Higher margins

• New customers

• Additional revenue potential

• More efficient for graphic designers

Reasons for not offering VDP

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47.8%Lack of interest

from clients

43.5%Doesn’t fit into

our business model

21.7%Limited

technical skills

13.0%Too expensive to get started

8.7%Lack of

understanding of data skills

Source: Trends in Cross-Media, Emerging Trends, InfoTrends 2013

Get started today

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Start today with tools you already have

Learn when a more complex solution is needed.

Limited technical

skills

Too expensive to get started

Conquer customer data

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Customer data doesn’t have to be scary!

Learn how to ask the right questions.

Lack of understanding

of data skills

Sell your capabilities

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Lack of interest

from clientsEducate your customers on why they need to use VDP.

Practice on your own marketing campaign.

Grow with VDP

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Doesn’t fit into our business

model

To thrive, you must personalize!

Steps for creating a VDP campaign

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1. Determine the campaign goal

– What information is being communicated?

– What is the call to action?

Steps for creating a VDP campaign

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1. Determine the campaign goal

– Who is the audience (or audiences)?

• Are there different messages for different audiences? If so, how many?

• How many total variations need to be produced?

Steps for creating a VDP campaign

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2. Get the customer list

• Use existing lists

• Purchase from publications or other sources

• Make sure it contains all information needed to support campaign goals!

Steps for creating a VDP campaign

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2. Get the customer list

• Separate variable elements

• Ensure list accuracy

– Cleaned/validated

– Sorted properly

» Postage discounts for pre-sorting & preparing direct mail

• Practice on your own customer list!

Quality Counts!

On average, global companies believe

26% of their data

is inaccurate.

Source: Data Quality Benchmark Report, Experian 2015

Customer list dos and don’ts

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• Bad example:

Multiple variable fields grouped togetherTypo in email

address

Customer list dos and don’ts

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• Good example:

Variable fields separated Verified email

address

Steps for creating a VDP campaign

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3. Determine how much of the printed piece will be variable

First name Full

name

Image and offer

Steps for creating a VDP campaign

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4. Determine if other channels are needed– PURL

– QR code

– Make sure all variable elements are included in customer list

Recap

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1. Determine the campaign goal

2. Get the customer list

3. Determine how much of the printed piece will be variable

4. Determine if other channels are needed

Let’s put knowledge into action!

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What tools do you need?

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• A Digital Front End (DFE) that handles a VDP language (preferably a Fiery DFE)

• Application to manage data (Excel)• Application for layout (Word,

InDesign, etc)• If required: application to create

VDP job (DirectSmile, XMPie, Fusion Pro, GMC)

Demo

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• Create two VDP jobs with Fiery FreeForm:

– Simple (Word)

– Complex (InDesign)

Fiery FreeForm

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• Simplest, easiest way to start with VDP

• Unique solution driven by powerful Fiery architecture

• Standard with every Fiery production server

• No advanced VDP program necessary

• Based on page overlay concept• Easy to use and support

Using Microsoft Word Mail Merge

Microsoft Word with Fiery FreeForm

Microsoft Word with Fiery FreeForm

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We have a customer newsletter that we would like to use for our first VDP job.

We expect that personalization will increase engagement.

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Microsoft Word with Fiery FreeForm

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• Always have an easy method to identify customers in a variable data job– Greatly simplifies identifying pages

that need to be reprinted because of problems with finishing, for instance.

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Microsoft Word with Fiery FreeForm

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• Use text boxes when optimizing a Word document for Fiery FreeForm

– This makes it easier to create Fiery FreeForm templates

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Microsoft Word with Fiery FreeForm

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• Create a dummy list of customers with short and really long names, addresses, etc.

– Allows you to quickly see issues with text overrun

Microsoft Word with Fiery FreeForm

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Microsoft Word with Enhanced FreeForm

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Why mail merge with Fiery FreeForm?

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Mail MergeMethod

Merge, Save & Spool

Time to Process Job Size

Standard Word 21 min 9 min ~ 33Gb

Fiery FreeForm 4.5 min 35 sec ~ 140 Mb

Why mail merge with Fiery FreeForm?

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• Fiery FreeForm enables:– Significant time savings and performance

improvements• Masters are processed once and can be re-used between

similar jobs.

– Addition of VDP features to “dumb” mail merge jobs• Finishing• Record reprint

Using Adobe InDesign Data Merge

Adobe InDesign and Fiery Enhanced FreeForm

Adobe InDesign and Enhanced FreeForm

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Increase number of sign ups for quarterly events via an easier sign up method with a QR code.

Target messages to specific audiences with a versioned newsletter.

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Adobe InDesign and Enhanced FreeForm

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• You can use Microsoft Excel to optimize and augment data

– For Adobe InDesign:

• Prepend # for QR codes

• Prepend @ for image location

Address & QR

Tourism

Adobe InDesign and Enhanced FreeForm

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Local Biz Employees

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Adobe InDesign and Enhanced FreeForm

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• Use layers in InDesign to create templates– You can add QR codes and variable

images with Adobe InDesign Data Merge

– Make sure to use the correct layer when you edit a layout

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Adobe InDesign and Enhanced FreeForm

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• Don’t merge to an Adobe InDesign document, output to PDF directly

• Make sure you have separated the data beforehand

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Why data merge with Fiery FreeForm?

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Merge Method Time to Process Job Size

Adobe InDesign 111 sec ~ 1.3Gb

Fiery FreeForm 23 sec ~ 94 Mb

Adobe InDesign and Enhanced FreeForm

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• Capture Fiery FreeForm settings with Fiery Presets

• Re-use with

• Hot Folders

• Virtual Printers

• Command WorkStation Drag & Drop

Types of VDP jobs

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Mail merge Versioned

Courtesy of InfoTrends

Personalized

Choose what’s right for your workflow

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• A successful campaign is determined by the goal, not the tools you use– Many things are possible using InDesign & Word

– Fiery FreeForm is more powerful than you likely realized

• Follow the checklist

• Promote yourself!

Resources

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• Demo files & How-To guides– Microsoft Word demo (54MB)

– Adobe InDesign demo (176MB)

Resources

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• Demo files & How-To guides

• VDP campaign checklist

Resources

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• Demo files & How-To guides• VDP campaign checklist• 2014 World of Fiery VDP sessions:

– The Business of VDP: How to Get Started and Grow Your Profits

– Ten Ways that Fiery Tools Make VDP Easy

• Snippet from 2014 World of Fiery VDP session #2– Discussion with SendOutCards

Resources

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• Demo files & How-To guides• VDP campaign checklist• 2014 World of Fiery VDP sessions:

– The Business of VDP: How to Get Started and Grow Your Profits

– Ten Ways that Fiery Tools Make VDP Easy

• Snippet from 2014 World of Fiery VDP session #2– Discussion with SendOutCards

• DirectSmile cross-media infographic

Resources

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• Bonus video: VDP languages & transparencies

VPS VIPP

Resources

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• Bonus video: VDP languages & transparencies

• EFI website: VDP & FreeForm

Resources

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• Bonus video: VDP languages & transparencies

• EFI website: VDP & FreeForm pages

• FreeForm Kit

Resources

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• Bonus video: VDP languages & transparencies

• EFI website: VDP & FreeForm

• FreeForm Kit• ABCs of VDP

Resources

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• Bonus video: VDP languages & transparencies

• EFI website: VDP & FreeForm

• FreeForm Kit• ABCs of VDP• How-To Guides

eLearning bundle

• Free 3-course bundle for all registrants1. FIERY-500 Understanding Variable Data Printing

2. FIERY-510 VDP with Fiery FreeForm

3. FIERY-700 Advanced Imposition and VDP

• How does it work? Look for email with details

Must sign up and begin courses by December 31, 2015

• Go to https://training.efi.com/#/signup

• User name: WOFW.VDP

• Password: Fiery.1

Other upcoming EFI webinars

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EFI product Date/Time Topic

DirectSmile October 27, 2015 – 1:00pm EST An introduction to DirectSmile Cross Media

Digital StoreFront

October 29, 2015 – 2:00pm EST Mailing 101: How direct mail automation can grow your business without growing your payroll

November 19, 2015 – 1:00pm EST EFI Digital StoreFrontintroduction and overview

December 14, 2015 – 1:00pm EST EFI Digital StoreFrontintroduction and overview