Print.IT Reseller - issue 61

01732 759725 VARIABLE DATA PRINTING 34 What’s essential is that you promote your new capabilities to your customers so they are aware of the added value you can bring to their businesses a bit of technical knowledge, traditional printers can undoubtedly tap into this sales opportunity which will help to retain their customers and also win new business. Managing data with confidence Managing data can be made easy by simply investing in a framework by partnering with the right software company such as Infigo Software, VPress, Transeo Media and XMPie which offer easy-to-integrate, user-friendly software systems for the web-to-print (W2P) market. At the Antalis Academy, we’ve partnered with Infigo Software to deliver a number of W2P workshops where delegates have the opportunity to find out about the latest trends and advances in the world of W2P. This enables them to make an informed decision about what their business realistically needs to profitably deliver highly personalised printed products. Before you know it, data will no longer be terrifying and you’ll be surprised how quickly you’ll be inviting your customers to hand over a database of 10,000 data entries – confident you can take care of it and easily convert it into a print-ready format. Achieving VDP stand-out It shouldn’t be overlooked that, as a traditional print service provider you have the advantage of experience. New e-tailers are launched every day, with the majority offering personalisation of printed goods. However, they may not be set up to deliver the print aspect of the business effectively – it may be that they need guidance on how to fulfil this aspect of their business effectively and with profit margins in mind. So if you can get both areas right, then you’re winning. What’s essential is that you promote your new capabilities to your customers so they are aware of the added value you can bring to their businesses. Some print customers will themselves be daunted by this whole arena and will be looking to you for a hand-held approach to VDP. It’s up to you to whet their appetite, educate them and show them the limitless possibilities VDP presents. By getting ahead of the trend and identifying the opportunities presented by VDP, whether within marketing, online gifting, print packaging and other areas besides, printers can provide expert consultancy, especially to start-up businesses, to help manage and/or consolidate their print solutions capabilities – or even outsource their printing. With the right software, running digital data is a great way to exploit the money-making capabilities of a digital press. Those who dare to take that extra leap forward into today’s digital market will surely win as they will have more to offer their customers and will be well placed to maintain their competitive edge. www.antalis.co.uk Venturing into VDP We’re not talking about ‘pure players’ here; businesses such as these have bought into the concept of running digital data for some time now and are already exploiting it to its full potential. For those who are new to digital though, the leap to investing in new, high- performance equipment is probably perceived as a large enough one for now; and the prospect of venturing even deeper into digital, specifically into VDP, can prove intimidating for three reasons: 1 Data can be terrifying – many of our customers cite this as the biggest disincentive as they are unsure of how to manipulate the data, as well as where their client’s responsibility for data management ends, and where theirs begins. 2 Compliance anxiety – with the roll- out of the GDPR, some businesses worry that, by venturing into running digital data, they may fall foul of data privacy regulations. 3 Achieving VDP stand-out – VDP is nothing new, so those who were ahead of the game originally, including the ‘pure players’, have already mastered it and refined their offering. For those entering this market, we’ve witnessed angst around them being able to match this standard, let alone achieve stand-out. Today however, data is king. Yes, it may be daunting for the reasons listed above. But in reality, these three areas can be tackled very easily. With some market research, a little further investment and ...continued