Personalization as a Value-Added Service

As the printing industry continues to evolve, the need for in-plant printers to diversify their offerings has never been more crucial. Rising competition, changing customer demands, and the growing shift towards digital solutions mean that in-plant printers must go beyond traditional services. The decline in traditional print products — with volumes decreasing due to electronic alternatives, sustainability efforts, and budget cuts — has become another driving factor.

One way in-plants are meeting these challenges head-on is by adding value-added services that help them differentiate themselves, meet the increasing desire for personalized experiences, and generate new revenue streams. This approach not only addresses the current needs of the market but also builds resilience against declining print volumes and fluctuating demand.

As a result, personalization powered by Variable Data Printing (VDP) has become a transformative value-added service for printers. VDP offers in-plants the ability to create dynamic, tailored communication that resonates with individual customers. Unlike traditional static print, these personalized materials make a strong impression by catering to specific customer preferences, behaviors, and demographics. This shift enhances the relevance of printed materials, driving greater engagement and response rates.

Let’s take a deeper look at the value personalization offers, and how in-plants can use it to boost the profitability of their businesses.

The Power of Personalization

Personalization is becoming a key driver of customer satisfaction and engagement across all generations.

Younger consumers, in particular, show a strong preference for tailored experiences. Research highlights that Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) leads this trend, with 47% expressing a desire for personalized product recommendations during online shopping. Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) aren’t far behind, with 46% seeking the same level of customization. This growing demand underscores a shift in consumer behavior, where customers increasingly expect businesses to understand and cater to their unique preferences.

For in-plant printers, this presents an opportunity to leverage data analytics and advanced printing technologies to deliver personalized products that resonate with these expectations. By incorporating VDP, in-plants can create customized marketing materials, personalized direct mail campaigns, and tailored packaging solutions that appeal to individual preferences and needs. For example, VDP allows in-plants to produce unique, individualized content at scale, ensuring that each piece of printed material feels personal and relevant to the recipient.

Personalization is not limited to retail or e-commerce – it extends to industries such as healthcare, education, and corporate communications. In-plant printers can help their parent organizations create personalized communication materials, such as employee training manuals, university admission packages, or patient engagement tools — all of which enhance the user experience and foster stronger connections.

Putting VDP to Work

VDP solutions such as RSA’s ImpactVDP empower printers to offer personalization capabilities efficiently, enabling businesses to meet growing customer demands for more meaningful and individualized experiences. For instance, printers can produce customized direct mail, product labels, or packaging, each tailored to reflect the recipient’s unique preferences, creating a lasting impression.

VDP also helps printers incorporate advanced personalization features like individualized QR codes, URLs, and augmented reality links, creating integrated, multichannel campaigns that are more engaging and effective. In today’s competitive marketing landscape, these personalized print materials stand out, helping brands foster deeper connections with their audience.

This approach not only boosts response rates but also cultivates brand loyalty, as customers value the effort that businesses invest in crafting tailored messages.

Enhancing Profitability

The potential for personalization opens new revenue streams for printers. With the ability to offer bespoke services, printers can charge premium rates for tailored products while expanding their product lines to include personalized labels, custom gift packaging, or targeted marketing campaigns.

Services like these are particularly appealing to small businesses, event planners, and e-commerce companies that require short-run, customized materials. Automation tools like RSA’s QDirect output management solution can enhance the efficiency of these services, streamlining workflows and reducing manual intervention so that it becomes feasible to produce short-run personalized print jobs profitably.

Digital printing technology and production management software solutions further simplify the integration of personalization into everyday operations. For example, RSA’s WebCRD automates the submission and management of personalized print jobs, allowing businesses to handle complex customization projects without delays or errors. Digital presses, paired with RSA’s tools, enable on-demand and short-run printing, reducing waste and inventory costs while maintaining profitability. This transition from analog to digital printing, as highlighted in the 2024 NAPCO Research study, allows printers to address profitability challenges while delivering highly customized applications.

Personalization also strengthens customer retention. Businesses are more likely to return to printers that can provide unique and customized solutions that align with their branding and marketing goals. RSA’s products enhance this dynamic by enabling printers to position themselves as strategic partners, offering innovative tools to meet their clients’ evolving needs.

Conclusion

Incorporating personalization as a core service offering allows printers to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market. By leveraging innovative products like ImpactVDP, QDirect, and WebCRD, printers can expand their capabilities, enhance customer satisfaction, and secure long-term profitability.

Whether through creating unique marketing materials, facilitating multichannel campaigns, or improving operational efficiency, personalization transforms printing from a static service into a dynamic, customer-centric solution that delivers measurable value. This evolution not only supports the current demands of the market but also positions printers as leaders in the future of the print industry.