A recent report by a top UK mailing systems specialist has
highlighted a major missed promotional opportunity amongst
European organizations.
Such businesses are missing out on €2.8 billion worth of
free advertising. And how? Simply by failing to make better
use of invoices and statements they send to customers.
This mailing specialist has calculated the value of the
wasted space on such documents to be equal to 24% of the
combined annual direct mail spend in the UK, Germany,
France, Italy and Spain put together. A major slice of
this estimate - almost €1.8 billion of advertising space
left unused - is made up by the Banking Sector.
It is becoming clear that international business is taking
this missed opportunity very seriously. Technology analysts
in the USA have given it a name ' "transpromotional
advertising" - a sure sign that this is a phenomenon to be
embraced and implemented as a mainstream advertising
method. Transpromotional advertising ' or "transpromo" for
short ' is set to become a buzzword amongst marketers in
the months to come.
What to do to activate Transpromo Advertising?
The advice for business large and small is to review the
layout and style of invoices and statements, and plan for
regular update of billing templates with suitable
advertising messages and images.
Not only that, but it is a good idea to think in terms of
the reverse of any statement or bills too: these days,
printers with duplex (double-sided) mode are readily
available - and are a must in any case in terms of
paper-saving. Using the available space, visible when the
paper is folded, is excellent advertising "real estate".
Having decided to revamp the printing process, it's always
a good idea to check paper and envelope weights. Is there
extra capacity for a small leaflet within the postage
charge? In which case, the invoicing print run could easily
comprise additional sheets with important advertising or
communications messages.
Finally, it's a good idea to make sure you have the right
printer for the job.
Which printer for Transpromo Advertising print runs?
High volume printing systems suitable for printing bills
and statements include the new Xerox 650/1300 Continuous
Feed Printing System which uses a new toner-based printing
technology to achieve mono print speeds of 650 pages per
minute (or 1,308 images per minute when printing on both
sides of the page). Such systems are aimed at high volume,
high end users.
But at the other end of the scale, for small enterprises
looking to impress their clients and enhance their customer
base, many robust printers are available with black and
business colour capability (for attractive presentation
without mission-critical colour proofing) and full duplex
(ensuring most efficient use of paper). Such printers are
available with budgets of a few hundred £'s for robust
regular use and fast paper output for longer print runs.
Jimi St Pierre:
Writes for several Office Equipment
suppliers in the UK, including office printer supplier
Officemagic. The Officemagic range of inkjet, laser and
multifunctional printers can be found at http://www.officemagic.co.uk/