Sending consumers a catalogue can boost purchase rates by 24% -
Brands are understanding the level of engagement you get when a customer sits down to browse through a brochure or catalogue - But the newest brochure marketing trend take the idea a few steps further.
So, what are the marketing trends that will demand you have automation in your print shop?
- Programmatic print
- Printing on demand
- Targeting
Programmatic Print
Brands can track what their customers are looking at online and can trigger specific digital adverting based on this, so why can’t they apply this to their print marketing too?
“We are in a revolution of data driven printing and personalisation”
If PSPs can automate variable print runs based on customer data they can give brands the unique opportunity to deliver bespoke and targeted booklets. The content each, or group of customers receive will be based on their own online habits, and therefore drive a much higher rate of engagement.
Printing on demand
It’s important for brands to act more responsibly, whether that be to keep costs down or to reduce their impact on the environment, by printing on demand brands are doing exactly that.
- Only printing what they need is in favour of sustainable practices
- Producing, then sending brochures as they are needed saves on costs.
Brands are also opting toward the trend of mix ‘n’ match brochure making, where only the relevant pages for that person (e.g. course pages in a university prospectus) are what’s printed. Again, cutting waste, saving on costs, but the biggest benefit is the improved engagement as consumers don’t have to sift through pages and pages of information to find what they are looking for.
Targeting
The focus on costs has made it very competitive for brands to keep loyal customers. This has made targeting and leveraging customer data a very powerful tool.
“Consumers are 60% more likely to become a repeat buyer after a personalised experience”
An example
What is something a brand knows about its customers that the competitors don’t? When a contract is coming to an end.
There is an opportunity to target that customer just before the end of a contract (before they start comparing against the market) - whether that be a car lease, phone, or insurance contract, offering them their options to renew, or upgrade before they start looking elsewhere.
The result
A tailored piece of print containing their contract information and bespoke offers, in a smartly presented brochure. This is a very strong tool to add value to the brand, capture the customer before competitors do and differentiate themselves in a competitive market.

Summary
Marketing over the last 5 years has become extremely digital, which gives print the advantage of standing out amongst the virtual noise. Like digital marketing, brands want to see their brochures, catalogues and booklets push the most relevant messaging to their customers. As a result, we are going to see a rise in short (targeted) runs, personalisation or variable data, and therefore demands for a lot of automation to make it all happen.
Duplo pride themselves with solutions that improve automation and flexibility and short print runs, talk to us to find out more.
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Source: Sappi Papers, The Marketer’s Guide to Marketing in Print, 19 Dec 2022.
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