As the business environment grows increasingly competitive and companies continue to tighten expense controls, marketers are gaining interest in leveraging transactional documents as an integrated element in the overall customer communications experience. An increasing number of companies are turning to transpromotional (TransPromo) communications - the inclusion of messages (promotional, educational, informational and other) on transactional documents - as a way to increase the value of statements, notifications, confirmations and other transactional documents that have long been considered simply a cost of doing business.
InfoTrends market research shows that consumers spend an average of two to three minutes reviewing the statements they receive in the mail, with 20% spending more than five minutes doing so! It is time for marketers to leverage this customer touchpoint. Affordable software and hardware technology is available to transform the transaction document into a valuable marketing tool that can cross-sell, up-sell and enhance customer loyalty.
With the average consumer receiving up to 3,000 marketing messages a day, the key is making sure that the marketer's message cuts through the clutter. InfoTrends recently published a paper specifically tailored to this topic that contains some great real world examples and experiences relative to TransPromo communications. "Design Considerations for TransPromo Communications" touches on how to engage the right resources within the organization and examines all design-related aspects of the process, including roles and tools required for successful TransPromo campaigns.
In order to be successful with TransPromo, all organizational stakeholders need to collaborate on the strategy. With strategic objectives in place, the design team should take into consideration the following guidelines:
- The creative brief is the communications platform that ensures that all participants in campaign development and execution are on the same page.
- A cross-functional team engages internal stakeholders and external resources throughout the design effort.
- A good design will ensure manufacturability and deliverability.
- Template design and document composition (including application of data mapping and business rules) are usually, but not always, separate functions.
- A clean, functional design will deliver the best results.
- The design should comply with corporate identity guidelines and, where possible, be compared against known standards that have worked in the past.
- Reduce the design down to bare minimums to ensure removal of unnecessary legacy information that may have been accumulated in the statement design over the years.
- Too much color can be distracting and can actually make a statement look more like a flyer, resulting in the opposite of the desired effect.
- Use good information design practices when allocating white space for marketing or other messages.
- Have a clear strategy in place relative to the use of inserts. Some companies choose to eliminate them altogether, while others find a combination of inserts and onserts to be beneficial.
- In the TransPromo design process, the potential to add e-presentment services should be taken into consideration. Consumer demand for access to bills and statements online will only continue to grow.
Statements and bills are a valuable customer touchpoint, and they should be leveraged accordingly. With the right strategy, document design and an interactive team, your TransPromo initiatives can make an impact with your customers and your business.
Matt Swain is a senior research analyst for InfoTrends, a leading worldwide market research and strategic consulting firm for the digital imaging and document solutions industries. For the complete report, "Design Considerations for TransPromo Communications," visit http://store.infotrendsresearch.com.
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