Hyper-Personalization Trend Highlights the Critical Nature of Accuracy in Direct Mail

In the high-stakes world of mass mail manufacturing, the cost of printing errors can be significant. Not only is mail manufactured at extremely high speeds, but the range of high-value personalization features utilized today to increase response rates makes matching variable printed materials, envelopes, and attached cards without errors increasingly challenging.

Despite the rise of digital marketing, direct mail is still broadly utilized by retailers, educational facilities, non-profits, financial companies, healthcare, and political organizations to get their marketing messages out to target audiences.

For some time now, this type of mail has used digital printing techniques to personalize marketing materials and envelopes. This was already considered “mission-critical” given the internal contents of an addressed envelope may contain sensitive financial or health information and should not get into the wrong hands.

Now, with a trend toward adopting a hyper-personalized approach, matching the various component parts of a mail piece — messaging, addressing, envelope, attached cards, etc. — is even more critical.

Hyper-personalization in direct mail is a strategic approach where marketers leverage past purchase records, browsing habits, demographic details, and other available data to customize messages and offers for individual recipients. A hyper-personalized strategy can significantly improve the efficacy of marketing endeavors by increasing open rates, click-through rates, and ultimately, boosting sales.

For these reasons, securing the right mail manufacturing system is of paramount importance. Most systems are a combination of technologies from systems that employ different types of inks, inserters, card attaching systems, and tracking and cameras that verify printed information is correct and items are properly matched. Software often ties the entire process together.

Unfortunately, critical components such as the software, the camera systems, and even the inkjet printer may be sourced overseas — a factor that might not be immediately evident without digging deeper. This approach can limit the equipment manufacturer’s ability to make any changes to hardware or software given there are no engineers or product designers on staff.

“Sometimes direct mail service providers view inkjet systems as ‘just a printer’ that doesn't need to be that high integrity, and they don’t know that until they have a problem,” says David Loos of MCS Inc., a company that designs, manufactures, sells, and supports industrial inkjet imaging, tracking, and inserting systems and solutions for the mail manufacturing industry.

Alternatively, there can be significant advantages to working with suppliers that can offer a customized, end-to-end mail manufacturing solution.

“By owning and controlling the technology in-house, company engineers can make changes or customizations as issues arise to provide a superior solution with full accountability for results from design to implementation to nationwide support,” says Loos, adding that this is the best way to ensure the end-to-end system delivers error-free results.

Hyper-Personalization

At Summit Direct Mail Inc., the Dallas, Texas-based company has the capability to produce two million personalized pieces of mail per day. Founded in 2003, the mail operations are in four facilities throughout Dallas for a total of approximately 230,000 sq. ft., run by 160-180 employees.

The company is a provider of print, mail, and fulfillment services in addition to other multi-channel marketing and digital communication solutions. The company offers digital printing, offset printing, direct mail, product/literature fulfillment, and transactional mail, web to print/e-commerce, and complete online marketing automation services.

“If [the mail] doesn’t get opened, nobody wins,” says John Barber, president of Summit Direct Mail. “The more personalized you make something, the better it performs and the higher the response rate.”

“The amount of data [for personalization] that is out there now is so immense compared to what it was, and now the technology allows us to use it,” he continues. “Every way that you can mail it to make it look personalized, we do it.”

Today, this can include a laundry list of techniques designed to stimulate and track responses to an individual from Unique Offer Codes to Personalized URLs, and intelligent mail barcodes. Outbound phone calls, SMS, and text messages to an individual can be tied to these items.

For example, a custom Personalized QR Code. With customization options like varying colors, patterns, and background, or adding a logo and CTA frame, one can design a unique QR Code that represents the brand.

A company’s prospects and customers will scan the QR code on their direct mail postcards, brochures, letters, and envelopes, with a smartphone camera, and they will be immediately sent to a website, personalized landing page (PURL), social media platform, YouTube video, given a digital coupon, and more. The possibilities are endless. Barber says they have seen an increase of over 80% in scans from these codes since 2020 when going online via mobile devices.

According to Barber, to stay at the leading edge of hyper personalization, Summit Direct Mail continually invests in new technologies. Since the company was founded in 2003, Barber says he has worked with MCS to acquire high-speed inkjet systems, high-speed inserters, and TK 1000 high-speed web press. According to Barber, MCS provides all the features that, “puts the sizzle in [direct mail].”

One example is MyFont, a new way to address mail with real handwriting using high-speed inkjet technology. As an optional feature in the MCS Raptor 10 inkjet software, envelopes and teasers can be printed in natural and customized handwritten fonts — not pre-designed selections. For years, nonprofits and financial services industries have used this technique to increase response rates for advertising mail.

Super Accuracy

Art & Negative is another print and fulfillment solution that offers a range of commercial printing services, including direct mail. The company can produce up to 30 million pieces of mail per month on its high-speed printing equipment including newsletters, nonprofit mail, postcards, as well as enrollment kits, credit card marketing, and promotions for universities and colleges.

According to Jim Myers, vice president and one of the owners of Art & Negative, the company purchased its first inkjet system in 2004 for printing self-mailers, promotional material such as postcards, brochures, or catalogues mailed without an envelope.

Art & Negative purchased a FlowMaster high speed mail inserter that can achieve speeds up to 12,000 envelopes per hour. Inserting machines automate the process of inserting documents, flyers, or other materials into envelopes or packages. As Art & Negative grew and needed more capacity, the company continued to purchase additional FlowMaster inserters.

The system includes an MCS Perfect Track Tracking System with Match Mailings, Read & Print, Output Verification, Electronic Double Detection, and Insert Verification, along with extensive logging of data including time, date, operator name, machine ID, piece ID, and destination of piece.

“The tracking system can also take a picture of the item. If it's in the healthcare arena, they want verification that person passed through your machine, it can take a picture and track [every piece of mail],” says Myers.

Myers says MCS also works with him to find solutions that fit within a defined budget. “If I have to come in at a certain price, most of the time they have been able to work with us by offering solutions or other models that will get the job done,” explains Myers.

Summit Direct Mail’s Barber agrees. “It's not only speed and personalization, but also the price efficiency,” says Barber. “At the end of the day, we have to give our customers what they want, and they want it at a low cost.”