The Value of Personalized Meaging in Marketing by Jeff Walker

Different marketing channels often rely heavily on personalized content to drive results, since consumers have proven they respond better to pitches that are specific and sincere. In fact, according to Direct Marketing News, a Certona survey from last year found that website conversions for retailers increased by up to 300 percent when personalized content was delivered to shoppers. While these figures refer to a digital channel, the value of personalized messaging also translates to print marketing collateral and other traditional mediums. In all these marketing channels, consumers gravitate toward campaigns that treat them as individuals with unique wants and needs.

Marketers are well-aware of these patterns in consumer behavior. In fact, according to a recent Iron Mountain report, marketing departments have started to embrace personalized messaging as part of their print collateral strategy. However, there are still obstacles that need to be overcome to make personalization affordable and practical for these traditional campaigns.

Many of the top challenges organizations face in incorporating personalized messaging into their print collateral center around a perceived lack of necessary resources. In fact, almost half of the nonregulated industries included in the Iron Mountain report claimed cost was their chief concern in achieving this shift to individualized messaging. Similarly, 28 percent of the surveyed marketers reported that the projected return on investment of personalized messaging in print collateral was either unclear or too low to warrant the time and effort this content shift would require. However, organizations that have these types of monetary concerns can invest in cost-effective analytics tools that are available online. These tools provide the data resources necessary to deliver personalized print content at a more focused level, which allows organizations to save on print materials and lower their campaign costs.

Staffing requirements can pose another major challenge for organizations that want to deploy this new type of print content. In fact, nearly 25 percent of the nonregulated industry marketers included in the report claimed they were concerned about not having a large enough staff to manage a personalized campaign. However, in practice, the use of analytics tools should alleviate the need for additional staff, since the marketers who are currently running print campaigns can use these tools to integrate data that can make their tasks easier.

Overall, the value of personalized messaging lies in its ability to build a unique connection with consumers. By incorporating individualized content into their existing print campaigns, organizations can ensure this traditional marketing channel remains both viable and valuable.

Read Make it Personal with Digital Printing to learn more on personalized messaging for your print and fulfillment campaigns.

LINK:	http://blogs.ironmountain.com/2015/service-lines/marketing-production-...
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