By Margie Dana

Everywhere I look, the word "transpromo" is popping up in trade publications and on printing news sites. I did a little digging and a lot of reading to find out what all the transpromo hoopla is about.

A transpromo document is the marriage of a piece of transactional printing with promotional or marketing content - all in the same document.

You may not be familiar with the term "transaction documents," but they refer to printed products that involve financial information. One party owes money, or a service, or a product to another party. (Some party.)

Here are examples of some transaction documents I get:

• Credit card statements
• Bank statements
• Mutual fund statements
• Invoices from utility companies
• Invoices from magazine and newspaper publishers (yes, I still subscribe)
• Insurance statements

Transaction documents are changing, thanks to advances in the full-color toner and inkjet printing market. They've gone from being plain old one-color documents to full-color transaction PLUS promotional documents.

Surely you've noticed. Some of your statements and invoices are now printed in color. Some have promotional content, which may be targeted directly to you.

Since statements and invoices are the one type of mail that usually gets opened, read and kept, they are truly a great marketing vehicle.

Marketing departments are now getting involved in the production cycle of transpromo work. Advertisements are showing up, as are product enhancements, colorful charts and graphs, and dynamic content and personalized messages.

Marketing with Color
The transpromo field is growing as the use of digital color to produce transactional documents is on the rise. This is great news for marketers, who face challenges as we consumers are bombarded with promotional messages on a daily basis via all kinds of media (young and old).

What gets a piece of mail opened and read? Color, for one thing. Full-color digital printing systems are transforming the transaction document market. Color is an effective way for marketers to have their messages stand out.

Color conveys professionalism. It is more memorable. And color gets noticed first. Companies will do away with the colored inserts you've been getting in your statements. Everything will print directly on the statements themselves.

Keep in mind that the volume of transactional printing is actually declining, thanks to the option to pay bills electronically (Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment, or EBPP), if we choose. The good news? Production costs of full-color digital printing are dropping.

Done effectively, a transpromo document will get you (and me) to act. We'll react positively to a particular marketing message that catches our eye. That's the idea.

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© 2008 Margie Dana. All rights reserved. You may contact Margie Dana at mdana@bostonprintbuyers.com.

5/28/08