How Variable Data Printing Can Help Keep
The Best Players Coming Back

Cash In! is a series of concise communiqués that offer our perspective on topics that challenge marketing professionals in the gaming industry.

You've probably received one in the mail recently - you know, the direct mail piece that started with, "Dear Mr. and Mrs. Smith". Welcome to the world of Variable Data Printing (VDP).

The desire for personalization is what VDP is all about. It's the ability to produce one-of-a-kind digitally-printed pieces using a database of many different "fields." Those "fields" can be pictures, names, text or graphics that can all be changed on each individual piece in a multi-piece mailing. And the entire reason to personalize direct mail is to achieve a higher
ROI - at a reasonable cost.

It's all tied to "fragmentation" that is occurring in the media world right now. While magazines like Time and Reader's Digest are struggling to maintain circulation levels, newer and more targeted publications like "Wood Working For Left Handed People" are soaring. Ok, I made that one up. But you get the idea - and there's probably a market for that one, too! Thanks to technology and the development of customer data bases, more relevant information is available. And now people actually expect their direct mail to be tailored and personalized. Does this mean that unless each direct mail piece you send out is not personalized it will be deemed "trash?" No! At least not yet. But it does mean that until the "tipping point" has been reached and the majority of your direct mail utilizes VDP, the pieces that actually use it NOW will see a higher readership and ROI, assuming the information is accurate. When receiving personalized direct mail, people are actually thinking, "Casino X really knows and values me."

So how can you put this new technology to work for you? Direct mail is one of the most measurable forms of marketing that exists today. You need to think in terms of cost per response instead of cost per thousand. Think a "rifle" approach and not a "shotgun" approach. Target, target, target!

Capture as much data on your customers as you can, then use it to get your BEST customers to keep coming back. Determine what your best customers have in common, and use this valuable information to aggressively target future customers who possess those same traits. Once you begin improving your ROI using VDP, you can establish a benchmark in order to limit the quantity of future direct mail pieces you send. Monitor the response rate while using VDP - studies show that you will be able to reduce the quantity of mailers to achieve the same results because your conversion rates will be higher. And with each subsequent mailing, you can refine your list even further. Since postage is the most costly element of direct mail, your savings will be huge! In fact, the savings in postage alone will more than cover the additional cost of using VDP versus conventional printing.

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