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Let us explore the target markets a printer serves in this global business world. Print on demand and digital printing can serve many markets; the largest is financial. This market has been utilizing print-on-demand and digital for decades.
Dollars and Sense
Starting with black-and-white printing, the transactional statement market has evolved into a full-color world. Bills and invoices now include targeted messages and advertising. Credit card companies are versioning postcards. Some annual reports are printed with conventional and digital presses, denoting a hybrid document. This market has grown significantly and is changing rapidly giving shorter run and variable-data jobs to commercial printers.
Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic
Education is another growing market for a printer to target. More and more universities and other higher educational institutions are seeing an advantage in marketing their institution, giving them higher enrollments.
The educational market is wide and deep with opportunities for the printer. There are many segments: Childcare services—daycare for children from infancy to kindergarten; K-12 institutions are comprised of elementary, middle, and high schools; charter schools are publicly funded, self-governing schools that promote innovative teaching and accountability; community colleges offer one- to two-year associate degree programs; colleges and universities are public/private, large/small, urban/rural offering full four-year degree programs; for-profit universities offer degree and certificate programs for working adults; distance learning schools offer online courses and degree programs in specialty areas; for-profit trade schools provide quality education in the trades. Other segments include: vocational schools/trade associations like Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation specialize in occupational placement and advancement training; consumer education and training services such as Sylvan Learning Centers help children improve grades and skills; business education and training services like Dale Carnegie and New Horizons offer sales training and computer skills training; and specialty schools like John Hopkins and the College of Art at Maryland Institute focus on very specific training, which is often graduate and post-graduate work.
Corporate training centers, provided by most corporate companies, train employees for specific career advancement; senior learning organizations host everything from community evening classes to assisted living; and there are other higher education—including non-degree—institutions, extension programs, international studies, and nontraditional schools.
No Business Like Show Business
The entertainment industry has embraced digital printing for promotional and end-product jobs. This industry is segmented into film, music, network and local television, cable and satellite, radio, sports, and gaming.
The gaming industry is a strong market to target because it can bring ongoing annuity streams for the print service provider. Most casinos have a built-in loyalty program with tracking schemes, which the printer can be a significant partner in. The ROI for the businesses and printer reaches high response rates and revenue.
Adding, not Subtracting
The advertising industry is showing more signs of adopting digital printing in client marketing campaigns. The selling point to this industry is enabling the agency to be more creative with a clients' message. Variable-data printing is being pitched to clients more than ever before. The concept of increased ROI and targeted data is showing higher revenues for all concerned. Currently, PODi case studies are increasing in this market compared with five years ago.
Reading Up on Things
The book publishing market is also a growing target market. There are 13 book segments including: trade, educational, reference, university press, professional, and book publishing companies. Some key digital printing applications are customized and short-run books. The author/self publisher is growing more familiar with the use of digital printing.
Catalogs-on-demand is an emerging market to target for print service providers. Manufacturing and retail industries are using this application to target customers for higher revenues and repeat business. This application applies to both black-and-white and full-color digital printing showing positive results in all markets.
A Beautiful Life
There is a new target market surfacing in the healthcare and beauty industry, which has merged into a retail market. In larger cities, the beauty spa has added on-staff doctors to do cosmetic procedures, such as laser and chemical facial peels. These facilities have instituted sophisticated direct-mail campaigns to a highly targeted audience. The response rate results from these campaigns have been quite good promoting health and beauty.
The insurance industry continues to be a strong digital print user market. This is a document-intensive industry. The paper waste used is the highest of all industries. Print on demand and variable-data printing works very well for this industry. The personalized/versioned benefit kit is a top application for the insurance company.
Additional, new markets to target are travel, real estate, and event marketing. All three of these are prime for the variable printed piece.
The travel industry is focusing on returning clients. Real estate firms are focused on new and existing home sales. The event marketer is considered as an event planner to target event advertising. Web-to-print solutions are employed for use with these markets showing a high usage of variable-data printing.
Every market out there could use some form of digital printing and print-on-demand. There are hundreds of case studies published to show the power of digital printing. Because the world of business is global, the market is limitless.
Ed Bokuniewicz has 27 years in the graphic arts industry. Currently, Ed is a business development specialist for Eastman Kodak Co.
author: By Ed Bokuniewicz