Do you want to enhance the ROI on your internet spend?

Well, of course you do…..who wouldn’t?

Reaching your most valuable prospects effectively is not always an easy task. Prospects browse the internet, hopping from one website to another often looking for something to engage them and capture their attention.  The problem is, the more internet grows and people are enticed by its speed and abundance of information, the more distracted they become, and the harder it is for organizations like yours and ours to keep a prospect’s attention long enough to get them to convert. 

No matter whom you are trying to reach, be it members, prospective students, ticket buyers or donors, we all find ourselves faced with the same problems of, 1) Attracting more and more visitors to our site AND, 2) Getting prospects to convert once they are on our site.

We decided it was time to figure out how to more effectively reach new and lost prospects, for ourselves and for our customers. After a careful evaluation of how to solve this problem we discovered Search Intent Targeting and Retargeting, two great solutions for capturing those prospects and speaking to them in a way they will respond. 

Search Intent Targeting and Retargeting enable you to either start the conversation, by helping prospects find you in an internet search (Search Intent Targeting), or continue the conversation, by following your prospects with targeted ads around the internet after they have left your site (Retargeting).

This new platform we call netCAST,  is a dynamic targeting solution that assists us, and can assist you reach your most valuable prospects more efficiently and more effectively.  With netCAST we can target:

▶ The Right People

   Prospects who are in need of just what you offer, with

▶ The Right Ads and Communication

   Customized Ads that speak directly to your prospects, in

▶ The Right Places

   Precisely where they are browsing on the internet

Here’s how it works for gaining NEW Prospects or capturing LOST ones……

Capture New Prospects with

netCAST

Search Intent Targeting

Imagine…capturing new prospects at the moment of intent and bringing them to your website with an engaging and targeted ad.

              With Search Intent Targeting you Can:

▶ Increase front-end traffic

▶ Expand reach

▶ Access top-performing keywords – even your competitors!

▶ Combine the power of display with the benefits of search              

HOW:

▶ During a prospect’s web search, we capture them by identifying specific keywords they used in their search.

RESULT:

▶ We drive these prospects to your website by serving customized ads that follow them as they browse the internet, resulting in additional traffic to your site.

                                                            * * * * *

Capture Lost Prospects with

netCAST

Dynamic Site Retargeting

Imagine…putting messages in front of lost prospects who’ve left your website, in order to attract them back and convert.

With Dynamic Site Retargeting you Can:

▶ Display the exact product or service they were viewing while on your site

▶ Control the sites your ads appear on and their frequency

▶ Prompt lost prospects to return to your site and convert

▶ See higher purchase or engagement rates

HOW:

▶ When a prospect leaves your site, your ads will display on other sites they visit, keeping your product or service at top of mind.

RESULT:

▶ Ensures that the coveted group of prospects who have already taken the first step — showing interest in your products or services — will return to your site and convert, often at a higher rate.

 

Personalization: One Design, Infinite Possibilities

Want to reach your target audience in a more meaningful way?  Why not personalize your mailing?  And I don’t mean just plastering the person’s name all over a mailing piece.  I mean REAL personalization that speaks to each individual in a different way, a way that will grab his/her attention. 

Today we have more information about our customers and prospects than we have ever seen.  BUT, it’s what you do with that information, and how you leverage the data that really counts. 

A study showed that over 70% of consumers would rather receive a personalized mailing than a generic one. So why not give the people what they want, and spend your marketing budget in a more efficient, more profitable way?

Personalize, personalize, personalize!  Maybe you have customers/prospects in a specific industry? Then target your messaging toward that industry.  Do you want to reach out to men and women in a different way?  You can do that too. Target by demographic, spending level, area of study, whatever! In today’s digital world you can direct your messaging across all of those groups at once, at little to no additional cost, effort or time.  All you need is a database, one creative design and multiple messages or images. Our specialized design software and digital press will customize each individual mailing piece to the recipient. 

You can speak to different groups with different messaging and imaging, all in one simple mailing, whether it’s alumni, students and parents, current and lapsed members, or high and low-value donors. Whatever your need, you can have a virtual, individual conversation with each recipient on your mailing list.  Just tap into your data and apply targeted personalization and customization, to ensure your direct mail messages will have a significantly better chance of being more impactful, more response-driven and more profitable.

At Art Litho Direct we are reaching out to our customers and prospects in so many different ways, AND we are helping our customers reach out to their targets as well. We have recently launched a new marketing platform, XPressConnect, that helps us, and can help you, take advantage of all that your database has to offer.  It’s a turnkey solution to complete direct mail customization and 1-to-1 personalized communication that enables us and our customers to have a virtual conversation with each member on our/their mailing list.

Whether you use XPressConnect, or find another digital printer, make sure to get in the game now!  With direct-connect targeting capability, easy graphic setup and direct-to-print functionality — It’s fast, creative and economical, and it’s easy as 1, 2, 3!

1.    Determine your target audience
2.    Provide your design template and photos*
3.    The rest is done for you! - Your printed direct mail piece, personalized for each member of your target audience, is mailed and in their hands!

Don’t miss out.  Your competition surely won’t!

Art Litho is hiring a Direct Mail Production Programmer

Job Description:
Experienced professional needed with a minimum of 5 years of Direct Mail Production Programming. The Direct Mail Production Programmer primary role is to program files for our customers’ marketing campaigns and to process customer files for direct marketing programs. This candidate will work mainly with our customers and our business development team by managing and processing direct mail and direct marketing automation files and solutions.

Requirements: 

•  This individual has proven experience in some or all of the following services: direct mail files processing, writing programs for direct mail and direct marketing applications, database, software installation and upgrades, as well as creating database solutions, data analytics and performance reporting.
• Self-starter with the drive and initiative to program direct mail solutions
• Develops and maintains programs for automation of data processing
• Interprets customer written instructions into parameters for data processing system
• Prepares data files by standardizing formats, performing data hygiene and processing files through USPS approved software to maximize postal discounts.
• Excellent presentation and time-management skills. Must be able to communicate technical concepts effectively.
• Experience in Variable Printing, Marketing Automation Programs such as ACT-ON or in Data Analytics is a plus

Bachelor's degree from four-year college or university in Computer Science or related IT field or relevant professional experience.

Contact:
Interested applicants should complete our online application and email your resume to vcrowe@artlitho.com or contact Vincent Crowe at 443-457-7871. 

Art Litho is hiring an MIS Director

Art Litho is a marketing production services company located in south-west Baltimore with a core competency in direct mail, print and related services that seeks a Management Information Service Director to manage and develop all our information technology requirements.

Job Description:
Experienced professional needed with a minimum of 5 years of MIS management experience within a commercial environment. The MIS Director’s primary role is to make sure that our information systems are maintained at world class levels. This individual will support all departments which include manufacturing, business development and administration by acquiring and deploying resources to meet their MIS and IT goals. This candidate will also be responsible for maintaining all our hardware and software and for collaboration with IT partners including the installation of new hardware and software.

Requirements:
This individual has proven experience in some or all of the following services: troubleshooting, recovery, tuning of the database, software installation and upgrades, resolving errors and failures, auditing activities, and resource utilization as well as creating database solutions, data analytics and performance reporting.

• Self-starter with the drive and initiative to create and manage IT solutions
• Working Knowledge of SQL and relational databases, administration, installation, configuration, support, maintenance ,trouble shooting, disaster recovery and documentation of the MS SQL Server,
• Work with team members on a daily basis to resolve technical issues as they occur.
• Excellent presentation and time-management skills. Must be able to communicate technical concepts effectively.
• Hardware and software deployment and management experience
• Ability to establish rapport and develop credibility as MIS.IT  expert
• Experience in Direct Mail or Data Analytics is a plus

Bachelor's degree from four-year college or university in Computer Science or related IT field or relevant professional experience.
Contact:
Interested applicants should complete our online application and email your resume to vcrowe@artlitho.com or contact Vincent Crowe at 443-457-7871. 

Art Litho to Open up New Markets with KODAK MARKETMOVER

When Art Litho President Pat Crowe saw new and different kinds of competition enter her Baltimore, Md., marketplace, she knew that her 60-year-old commercial printing company needed to expand its offerings to customers.

"We're now competing against different companies, like fundraising organizations, for example," said Crowe. "Our capabilities gave us an advantage over other print and mail shops, but the marketplace is changing. It's more and more about data, and targeting campaigns more effectively."

Crowe saw the growth opportunity in the digital printing and variable-data services she already offered, but Art Litho needed a partner that could provide the data mining and analysis services her customers needed to maximize the value of every campaign.

A longtime customer of KODAK Products and Services, Crowe found a ready-made solution in KODAK MARKETMOVER Managed Campaign Services. Print service providers like Art Litho can use this program to get the necessary support to bring to market and sell data-driven, multichannel direct marketing campaigns to their clients.

Kodak has assembled a team of experts to provide marketing-related consulting and customized KODAK Solutions. These experts bring extensive knowledge in data analytics, marketing, and marketing science that enable print service providers to deliver multichannel campaigns that differentiate their business and build customer loyalty.

Using Managed Campaign Services, Art Litho can present a full-service marketing solution to its customers, while attracting new customers with this significant competitive advantage over other print service providers.

"The idea is that you take your client's data and analyze it, and reveal to them information about their customer that they didn't realize," said Crowe. Then together with the client, you can focus the campaign around this insight."

"It's important for print service providers to establish deeper, more sticky relationships with their clients, but they don't always have the marketing and quantitative expertise to take their services to the next level," said Stuart Grossman, Service Line Lead, KODAK MARKETMOVER Business Advantage Solutions. "That's where we can really help. We can act as an extension of their expertise and bring in the right support staff to round out their service offerings."

MARKETMOVER Solutions consultants work with printers to identify the strongest candidates among existing clients, then help to market and deliver value-added marketing services. This helps printers move toward new account acquisition while minimizing their resource and capital investments.

"Early results have demonstrated a great deal of customer interest in Managed Campaign Services. It puts us in a different competitive marketplace," said Crowe. "We're definitely getting into prospects we haven't gotten into before. In the past we said, 'Here's a way to revise your piece to save on postage,' but now we can give them marketing advice about testing different approaches."

Already, Art Litho can report increases in business as a result of this consultative approach.

"Because we came in with this solution, we won some print and mail campaigns," said Crowe. "We had one customer who did not have the data for a full, managed campaign, so we said, 'Let's do a campaign to accumulate the data.' It's getting us in the door with more prospects-getting people to listen to us."

Art Litho also credits their core business success to the optimized production platforms enabled by their KODAK Workflow Solutions that include KODAK PRINERGY CONNECT Workflow, KODAK INSITE Prepress Portal with Rules-Based Automation, KODAK Platesetters, and KODAK TRILLIAN SP Plates.

Kodak is a global advisor and provider of integrated services to help companies transform and optimize their businesses. Through a network of service professionals in 120+ countries, Kodak provides technical, professional, consulting and managed services to enable customers to focus on growing their businesses, maximize productivity, and more effectively manage risks. All KODAK Products and Software are backed by KODAK Service and Support. To learn more, visit www.graphics.kodak.com.

Happy Thanksgiving from Art Litho!

Ahh, Thanksgiving. The time of year we all reflect on things for which we are thankful. Especially thankful we are when our travel plans work out smoothly. We are also thankful when we still have room for that slice of pie after dinner, or when our favorite football team pulls out the win in the end. It's also nice to be be around family and be thankful for those close to us and for the traditions we hold dear year after year.

Here at Art Litho, we are thankful to YOU: Our customers. We are thankful you depend on us to deliver your job on time. We are thankful that we can help you analyze your marketing data, and plan your next successful campaign. We are thankful when we can advise on the proper way to fold a brochure, or suggest a more efficient mailing method. We are especially thankful when we get feedback telling us how successful your campaign went, and how we were a big help. These are the kinds of things we strive to bring to our customers. We know if you aren't successful in what you do, then we haven't succeeded. So, from everyone at Art Litho, a big Thank You for your continued partnership. Have a great Thanksgiving.

How to have a successful Press Check

A Press Check, or Press Inspection gives you an opportunity to really see your printed project come to life! Catching potential errors at this stage can literally save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars.  To ensure your next press check is a successful one, please follow the tips below:

• Have the following available: Printed samples if the job is a rerun, printed samples of companion pieces (you should supply these to your printer in advance), printed samples of same PMS colors and photos/illustrations. 
• Carefully scan the entire sheet. Match it against the Prepress proof. Verify that all copy and photos are in place, and that all corrections from previous proofs have been made.  
• Verify register. Examine the copy; check crossovers and backups.  
• Check for any mechanical errors.  You want to make sure that the size is correct and verify that the paper is the same brand, color, finish and weight that you specified. 
• Check registration. Determine if any dots are hanging at the edge of a four-color photo.
• Verify screen tints. Ask yourself, are all screen tints the right color? 
• Verify Colors. For process color, check overall color, neutral colors, memory colors, and contrast ranges against the color (Prepress) proof. Remember to use the correct lighting conditions. Also remember that ink colors used are a reasonable match to the supplied swatch. 
• Verify that small flaws are not present. Look for hickies, ghosting, scumming, roller marks, broken type/tules, pinholes, and other flaws.
• Determine if content aligns properly. Check rule-up for correct fold, trim and alignment of die cuts.
• Evaluate the fine details. Are the separations, halftones, and duotones sharp and clean? Proof read headlines and display type one last time. 
• Ask yourself, are there any last minute corrections to the copy? 
• Ok the sheet. Number each check sheet. Sign, date and note time on the final ok’d sheet. Confirm shipping instructions and delivery dates. Discuss binding and finishing to anticipate any problems or delays. Take several ok’d sheets back with you. 

By simply following these handy reminders, will most likely make your next press check smooth and enjoyable!