Jan Carlzon, ex-CEO of Scandinavian Airlines, had it pegged more than ten years ago when he said, “In the 1980s, we saw a customer in every individual. In the 1990s, we see an individual in every customer.” We believe that concept continues to hold true. If you are experiencing less than desirable results from your direct marketing, it’s time to re-energize your marketing campaigns and take advantage of the power of 1:1 marketing.

Connect with your customers and prospects utilizing individualized messages and images specific to their interests and watch your response rates soar.

As an authorized Xerox Print Service Provider, we can produce documents ranging from simple mail merge applications to completely personalized documents. There are four basic methods for implementing a 1:1 Marketing strategy:

• Mail merge documents differ in name/address and simple text only.
  
  
• Versioned documents send out different messages to specific target audiences. For instance, an insurance company distributes benefits booklets customized by age group. So 25-32 year olds get one version and 33-45 year olds get another.
  
  
• Customization involves creating unique pages promoting a product or service that a customer is likely to buy. This type of variable data requires knowledge about the prospective customer, because a message must be sent that relates to the customer’s buying criteria. If customer X, who lives in Arizona, purchases a dress from an Internet-based clothier, she is added to the customer database with her unique information. Every few months, the clothier sends her a new catalog showcasing new dresses and complementary items. Even though the clothier sells winter parkas, they aren’t included in her catalog as it is unlikely she would buy one. Why spend the extra money to print and distribute a catalog containing everything they sell? Printing and mailing costs would increase, and extra pages make it less convenient for her to find the items of greatest interest.
  
  
• Personalization goes one step further and sends messages timed to individuals known needs. A supermarket chain, for example, might use a “shopper’s discount card” to track its customers’ purchases. The supermarket knows that based on her buying history, Mary Knauff purchases new deodorant every three weeks. A few days before she’s due for the purchase, the supermarket sends out a “buy 3, get one free” coupon for Mary’s favorite brand.