Guest post by Kerry Regan
“We don’t want to produce mass offset printing. We want to make communications work for our customers and for their customers and for the end customers. It needs to stand out. It needs to be profitable for everybody. That’s what we’re aiming for.”
So said Jeroen Van Druenen, president and chief executive officer of Amsterdam marketing service provider Jubels, in a recent webinar on Omni-Channel Marketing in the Best Practices Webinar Series sponsored by Xerox. He was joined by Ayelet Szabo-Melamed, vice president of Marketing at XMPie, a leader in providing technology for engaging audiences with personalized, relevant communications across both print and digital media.
Szabo-Melamed set the stage by describing the digital disruption that is shaping today’s graphic communications industry. “Digital and mobile devices are driving changes in the way consumers communicate, and brands and enterprises must change, too. They must deliver what consumers want: a consistent experience whether they are on a mobile device or a tablet or a laptop, with everything flowing seamlessly from one platform to the next.”
Van Druenen, who is a member of the Xerox Premier Partners Global Network of leading print providers and president of the XMPie Users Group, then described how Jubels is achieving that in two campaigns that typify the transformation the company has undergone from print services provider to a successful omni-channel marketing business.
Getting Around GDPR
Mooze, a Netherlands based design and online printing firm, sought help in attracting more professional design customers for its online printing services. Part of the challenge: new European GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) laws prohibit email solicitations to prospects unless the solicitor has an established relationship with them.
So Jubels developed a direct mail campaign targeting 7,500 designers and driving them to a personal landing page with an offer of 100 free business cards made from the recipients’ designs. Three exotic mailers were tested, including a three-dimensional popup cube, and the top performer was used to generate a strong conversion rate of 10 percent.
The campaign has been so successful that Mooze has now run it three times with equally stellar results. Two things account for that success, Van Druenen said. “Of course one is the free business cards. It’s always nice to get a present,” he said. “But also, people love that entering their personal code on the landing page populates the form with their personal information so they don’t have to enter their details again. It’s a very smooth experience, and it’s automated easily with XMPie software.”
Creating an ‘Automated Marketing Machine’
For trademark protection attorneys Knijff / Onel, Jubels developed what Van Druenen calls an “automated marketing machine” to help Knijff / Onel find new ways of communicating with customers to raise awareness of all their services. The strategy: build on the firm’s differentiating strengths of regular client contact and strong knowledge of the industry’s relevant developments.
Jubels developed a personalized campaign with seven basic touch points running over the course of several weeks and offering a free, personalized brand protection guide. The complex execution mixed direct mail with emails, a personalized website and phone calls, most triggered automatically based partly upon recipient responses. XMPie Circle (2018 InterTech Technology Award Winner) not only simplified the development and programming of the campaign, but its demonstration as well via Circle’s Web-based screens for easily visualizing the program’s multiple process steps and contingencies.
Jubels has a contract to run the campaign every two weeks for two years, with an innovative compensation deal: a lump sum fee for developing the solution and subsequent fixed-sum payments for each new customer developed. That annuity-like stream ensures ongoing revenues for Jubels, and the results are pleasing Knijff / Onel as well—between 40 and 60 new customers every two weeks for a total of 431 in the first 32 weeks. Just as importantly, Knijff / Onel is having valuable ongoing conversations with its customers.
“It’s about how you handle your client’s communications needs,” said Van Druenen. “And if you show them the real benefits of it, then it doesn’t make sense to talk about pricing. They know that professional services cost money and that if it’s done well it will be profitable for everyone. That’s the key. It’s a great way for print service providers to step out of the commodity business.”
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