Have You Talked to Your Customers About VDP for the Holidays?

Did you know that one of the most frequent complaints from in-plant customers is that in-plants don’t keep them up to date on exciting and successful new print applications?  

So why not get started now? After all, what’s a better time to give them the gift of information than the holidays? Starting with information on variable data printing (VDP). 

While VDP isn’t new, there are many new use cases and applications that are now available — including packaging, labels, and stickers. And those new use cases are fueling growth across the VDP market. According to Future Market Insights, VDP revenue totaled US $11.8 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach US $31.2 billion by 2032 — a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.9% from 2022 to 2030. 

And no wonder. By customizing messages, offers, labels, stickers, and designs for each recipient, VDP enables businesses to create meaningful and memorable experiences that resonate with their customers. All of which has the potential to make for an impactful campaign — especially during the holidays. 

This article explores the benefits of VDP, provides examples of new and successful campaigns, and outlines how to effectively use VDP in holiday marketing. 

The Benefits of VDP 

VDP provides tailored messaging and multichannel integration, for increased customer engagement, faster ROI on campaigns, and enhanced customer loyalty — making it a powerful tool for holiday marketing.  

One of the most significant benefits is tailored messaging, where businesses can send unique, customized messages that resonate with each customer. This personalized approach fosters a stronger emotional connection with the audience, making them feel valued during the festive season. Additionally, VDP allows businesses to present targeted offers based on customer data, including personalized discounts or recommendations tailored to the customer’s past purchases — tactics that have the potential to increase conversion rates. 

Through personalized content, VDP also has the opportunity to enhance engagement. For example, consider a holiday card with the recipient’s name or a custom offer included. Personalized materials like this typically achieve much higher engagement rates than generic campaigns, helping businesses get noticed through the noise of the crowded holiday season. Furthermore, VDP promotes customer loyalty by making customers feel appreciated with personalized holiday messages and exclusive deals, which foster long-term relationships. 

Finally, another key advantage of VDP is multichannel integration, which allows businesses to link personalized printed materials with digital experiences, such as QR codes that direct recipients to individualized web pages. This integration boosts the effectiveness of holiday campaigns and enhances the overall customer experience.  

All of which often makes the return on investment (ROI) for VDP higher than traditional marketing methods, thanks to better response rates and higher conversions resulting from personalized outreach. 

Examples of VDP Success

Several companies have effectively used VDP to run personalized and impactful holiday marketing campaigns. For inspiration, let’s explore a few examples: 

• Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign replaced the brand's logo with common first names on bottles, allowing customers to find personalized products for themselves and their loved ones. This personalized touch, extended during the holiday season with festive designs, helped Coca-Cola increase US sales by 2% and generated widespread social media engagement. 

• Heinz created a highly successful VDP-driven campaign that allowed customers to create personalized labels for ketchup bottles. Consumers could visit a special Heinz website and enter their names or custom messages to appear on their bottles. Heinz used VDP to print each customer’s unique label, and the personalized bottles were shipped directly to them or sent as gifts. The campaign significantly boosted Heinz’s customer engagement and sales during the holiday season. It also generated widespread buzz on social media, with customers sharing photos of their personalized ketchup bottles, further promoting the brand. 

• Cadbury ran a successful holiday promotion that allowed customers to personalize chocolate bar wrappers with names and festive designs, creating a thoughtful gift option. This campaign led to increased online sales as customers embraced the personalized gift idea.  

• Starbucks embraced VDP by offering personalized holiday gift cards, which became a popular and thoughtful gift choice during the holiday season, leading to increased in-store and online sales. 

• Brands like Procter & Gamble also use VDP to create customized packaging for their products.  

Two relatively new applications, labels and stickers, are fairly inexpensive, especially when using digital printing technology. This low production cost and high perceived value results in solid margins. Customized stickers with logos or slogans are widely used for brand identity, product packaging, event promotions, and customer giveaways. Retailers use VDP to print promotional stickers with dynamic discount codes or personalized offers. Athletic apparel companies use stickers for limited-edition packaging for holidays, sporting events, or special promotions. And many universities use large-format printers to print customer stickers for facilities and students.

How to Use VDP for Holiday Campaigns 

Implementing a successful VDP campaign during the holiday season involves several key steps.  

First, businesses must collect customer data — gathering names, addresses, purchase histories, and preferences that will be the foundation for personalizing holiday messages. With that data in hand, in-plants can design templates for holiday cards, emails, or direct mail pieces that include placeholders for personalized elements like names, images, and special offers. 

Next, integrate data with design using VDP software to automatically insert personalized information into each piece. The content should also be personalized to make it relevant to each recipient. For instance, include custom greetings, special offers based on past purchases, and images that are relevant or resonate with the individual. 

Before launching the campaign, it’s essential that you test and proof the materials to ensure that all personalization elements are functioning correctly. After a successful test run, businesses can proceed to print and distribute their holiday marketing materials, tracking deliveries to ensure they reach the intended recipients.  

Finally, follow up after the holiday season to gather feedback from customers and measure the success of the campaign, to help improve future efforts. 

RSA ImpactVDP 

Conclusion 

VDP offers a powerful way to elevate holiday marketing efforts by creating customized, engaging, and meaningful experiences for customers. Through personalized messaging, targeted offers, and multichannel integration, businesses can enhance customer loyalty, increase engagement, and boost sales.  

The success of companies like Coca-Cola, Heinz, Starbucks, and Cadbury shows the effectiveness of personalized campaigns during the holidays. And RSA's ImpactVDP software can help make it happen, with recent updates adding new user-friendly features to increase productivity.  

By following best practices for data collection, template design, and execution, businesses can implement successful VDP campaigns that make a lasting impact during the festive season and beyond. 

Learn more about RSA’s ImpactVDP variable data printing module.