What determines success with a personalized print campaign? As the use of 1:1 printing becomes more widespread, the industry is starting to put together a series of best practices.

Although each list is somewhat different, each reflects the same set of core values and principles. These lists have been put forth by digital press vendors and suppliers of 1:1 printing software, by industry associations like the Print on Demand Initiative (PODi) and by industry analysis firms like Digital Printing Reports (The Marketer’s Primer Series).

Recently, we saw this core set of best practices reinforced yet again in the What They Think Webinar “Talking to the Marketing Professional.” There, presenters provided a list of eight best practices that all marketers should keep in mind.

1. Tightly identify your target market. Really know and understand to whom you are marketing and why. This allows you to focus your message and make it more relevant.
2. Have good prospect and customer data. Nothing can botch a personalized campaign like misspelled names or outdated data. Marketing relevance starts with good, clean, up-to-date customer information.
3. Use a “value offer” strategy. All the personalization in the world won’t matter if the recipients don’t see the relevance of the contact. Make sure you have a compelling offer that the recipients see as being of importance to them.
4. Coordinate creative execution across multiple media. All direct mail campaigns need a great message and creative. If you reinforce this message across multiple media, such as following up with a personalized e-mail, results can soar.
5. Use interactivity that engages the prospect in a dialog. Don’t just send information out. Get it back! Engage the recipient in a dialog, such as using surveys in personalized URL campaigns. This creates a bond with your company and gives you more information to further target offers in the future.
6. Test, test, test. Since the price per piece of digital press output is the same regardless of the number of pieces printed, this lets you test your message without price penalty. Test different messages. Test different offers. Use every campaign as an opportunity to learn what strategies are most effective with your customer base.
7. Define success metrics. What will you consider success? Are you trying to achieve a certain dollar volume of sales? Have a certain percentage of customers upgrade? Retain a certain percentage of customers? If you don’t define “success” ahead of time, how will you know you’ve achieved your goal?
8. Communicate and share results. Share your results with us. If we know the results of the program, we can use our expertise to help you refine your program next time. If you don’t share results, you are missing an opportunity for even greater success in the future.

When you sit down to create your next 1:1 print marketing program, remember that success doesn’t happen by accident. At the same time, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, either. By considering these best practices, you can get the most out of your campaign.

Since we are surrounded by printed materials, it’s easy to overlook print as a communications medium. However, in its Why Print? brochure, the Print Council offers a list of reasons you should include print in your next marketing campaign. Here are a few salient points about the power of print.

Unlike electronic content, print has staying power. For example, magazines can be passed around to two or three people, which gives advertisers added exposure for their marketing messages. Print is also portable. People can pick up flyers or magazines from a newsstand or trade show exhibit.

For direct mail, print is particularly effective. Researchers with the Direct Marketing Association and the Wharton Economic Forecasting Associates determined that U.S. advertisers spend $167 per person in direct mail marketing. That expenditure results in sales of $2,095 worth of goods per person. In other words, print showed a 13-to-1 return on investment.

Another study showed that when online buyers are ready to buy, they seek out print materials. Online consumers who received a printed catalog from a retailer were almost twice as likely to buy at the retailer’s Website than those who didn’t. A 2005 field study by the Direct Marketing Association indicated catalogs accounted for 42% of sales, retail 20%, Websites 26% and other channels accounted for 12%.

Newspaper readers also use print to for shopping. A 2006 study by the Newspaper Association of America showed that 78% of readers used newspaper inserts to plan shopping, and 76% said that the inserts helped them save money.

Ink-on-paper is familiar and real. People are comfortable with it. A Graphic Design USA survey showed that 71% of designers’ work hours were devoted to print projects. For example, at events, programs, posters and signage all involve print. Anywhere people gather, print offers a platform for marketers to have their message seen.

Although times change, some things remain the same. Print is unlikely to go away because it still is a viable way to communicate. The Magazine Publishers of America studied 36 brands that shifted their ad expenditures from TV to magazines. The results showed that their media effectiveness scores doubled over time. If you are wondering “Why print?”, the answer is because it works.

Customer loyalty is more than keeping your customers for a long time. As defined in the article, “Creating Customer Loyalty by Listening,” it includes their willingness to purchase more products and services and in turn, tell others about your brand. This takes more than providing a good product or service. It requires two-way communication that enables you to understand your customers’ wants and needs so that you can deepen that relationship and protect it against the marketing  strategies of your competitors.