How to develop an incredible customer experience using print collateral

All organisations seek to make a good impression and leave a lasting one. The outcome is customer advocacy, peer recommendation and a positive brand reputation. When it comes to print, customer experience is very much a thing. Start by understanding the problems your customers face and their expectations.

What is customer experience?

Customer experience is also known as CX. It is the process that captures everything a business or brand does to put its customers first. It comprises an end-to-end customer journey—pre, during, and post-sale. CX stretches across brand, product, price, and service.

All customer touchpoints feed into an overarching customer experience. Considering each touchpoint as a collective journey will drive better business outcomes. To achieve this, many brands operate an omnichannel approach, including in-store, online and mobile communication. Combining in-person and digital options provides a smooth journey across all available channels.

It’s worth pointing out that CX is different to customer service. While customer service is part of CX, it responds to customer queries, problems, or learning.

Why does customer experience matter?

Besides building a brand, customer loyalty, and profits, customer experience is forever changing. CX is proactive, not reactive. Processes often involve customer-facing requirements, and their needs are never static.

CX is evolving beyond traditional sales and marketing. Major external forces like the COVID-19 pandemic, social movements, economic factors, and climate change also impact the customer journey. Life is full of ups and downs. And people are complex – as individuals and as a collective. A modern-day CX approach must allow for this and meet customers’ needs by being holistic and fluid. Strategies must also consult and stretch across every department in an organisation.

What is customer experience in the print industry?

While technology-led practices are at the forefront of customer experience, print remains a key feature. Printed materials offer hyper-personalisation in a tangible, valuable and keepable format. It’s a versatile medium. Printed collateral can enhance customer experience and collect satisfaction and sentiment metrics.

How can companies use printed collateral to improve customer experience?

Companies must focus on delivering a seamless, enjoyable customer experience at every stage. Mapping this out goes a long way toward attaining customer loyalty. There are several ways to incorporate print into a robust CX strategy.

Create tangible touchpoints

Printed materials like brochures, pamphlets, and direct mail provide a physical brand interaction that stands out from digital noise. Flyers and printed packs can leave a lasting impression and reinforce brand recall.

Personalisation

Variable data technology creates a sense of connection, making customers feel valued. Personalising customer names, preferences, history, milestone dates, and offers is all possible.

Value-added content

Printed materials provide helpful educational content and tips. Examples include how-to guides, campaign fundraising activity packs, stationery, and practical items. Valuable content demonstrates a customer-centric approach and creates high brand perception.

Embrace omnichannel experience

Integrating printed collateral with digital channels is easy. Printing QR codes, augmented reality, and personalised URLs provides a seamless link between online and offline. Websites, brochure downloads, event bookings, or feedback requests are accessible digitally or traditionally.

Product unboxing

‘Unboxing’ forms part of the CX journey and helps customers feel extra special. Receiving a branded box is exciting. Tailoring the contents with personalised thank-you notes enhances the joy gained from a new purchase. Product guides, special deals, and messages from creators or packers are also well-received.

Support in-person interactions

Printed materials are an excellent way to provide sales teams with high-quality collateral. Supportive materials include brochures, case studies, product samples, and exhibition and display resources. Such assets make in-person meetings more engaging and impactful, which boosts customer experience.

An important element to consider is print quality. The material, design, coating, and finishing all impact customers’ perception of a brand. Accurate trimming, collating, and pagination are also aspects to be mindful of. These elements, plus colour consistency and proofreading, ensure effective brand management in print.

By strategically leveraging printed collateral, companies deliver personalised, valuable experiences that differentiate them. Creating a unified presence will build stronger customer relationships across the CX journey.

What types of print collateral help to provide great CX?

Using print’s personalisation and customisation capabilities, companies can deliver tailored experiences. Adding a tangible aspect deepens customer relationships and builds brand loyalty. These days, printing onto almost anything is achievable. Think big and go big with your customer experience strategy.

Brochures, catalogues and leaflets

Present customers with valuable information about products, services, campaigns, and topics. Print offers a variety of engaging and visually appealing forms.

Direct mail

Personalising direct mail pieces like postcards, letters, and magazines helps companies make customers feel valued. Special offers, discounts or promotions boost loyalty, drive customer engagement and encourage purchases.

Inserts and packaging enhancements

Custom packaging with branded designs and unexpected inserts elevates the unboxing experience. Enclosed printed materials include thank-you notes, product guides or special offer leaflets.

In-store collateral

Brochures, ‘coffee table’ photobooks and product samples build awareness and encourage in-person interactions.

Exhibition and display materials

Signage, popup displays, roller stands, and shelf-talkers provide extra information at point-of-sale. Go bold

Loyalty programmes

Loyalty cards, sale stamps, or coupons incentivise customers and create exclusivity.

Informational booklets

Product or service user guides, care instructions, recipes, or tips offer welcome perks. These resourceful additions help maximise product use and peer recommendation.

Printed materials and products are keepable and functional and help affirm brand attraction. Adding QR codes or URLs gives customers a faultless online/offline experience.

Handwriting a personalised message on a postcard or letter can further enhance CX. Using the bonus human touch is a great way to incorporate customised interactions.

How do you know when great customer experience has been provided?

Creating a positive customer experience doesn’t come overnight. There are many metrics and aspects of customer journeys to consider. But they must be strategically implemented. A great starting point for CX strategy is investing time in customer feedback surveys. Sending online forms by email is a good example of a structured review process. As is publishing surveys across social media channels. Distributing printed versions in real-time at in-person events, workshops, or conferences often collects more information. Online and offline survey versions present options and accessibility based on customers’ preferences.

You are looking for practical data. Consider the stages where customer opinions matter in the overall customer experience. Work out what provides a good customer experience and what hiccups result in bad customer experiences. This is influential information to learn from.

• What was going on in your customers’ lives that made them choose your company, product or service?
• What alternative brands, products or services did they consider?
• Have they tried a similar solution or action before?
• How do they rate your communication, delivery, turnaround, product, and service? Dispel this into questions about buyer stages and different aspects of a product or service.
• How do they ‘feel’ about the experience? Gaining an emotional response is a powerful indicator of customer sentiment.
• What benefits have they gained?
• What did they most appreciate or least enjoy – again, split this question up further.
• What would they have liked to experience that they didn’t?

The above points offer a few basic questions when identifying customers’ expectations. Responses highlight what works well and what does not. The data will determine areas for development to improve CX and customer loyalty.

A crucial question to ask is a net promoter score (NPS). Answers determine how likely an existing customer will recommend you to friends, family and colleagues. An example is below.

‘How likely are you to recommend [brand/product/service] to a friend, family member or colleague?’

Customers will rate their answers on a scale of 0 to 10.

• Promoters: A 9-10 rating shows a loyal customer who will share positive experiences and be a great brand advocate.
• Passives: A rating of 7-8 suggests a satisfied customer, but they may not be devoted to your brand.
• Detractors: A rating of 6 or below implies an unhappy customer.

The net promoter score is the percentage of Detractors deducted from the percentage of Promoters. A good score would be above 50 or exceptional over 80.

Did you know?

• 72% of consumers say external factors like social movements, inflation and climate change impact their lives more these days. *
• 61% of consumers say their priorities often change because of global events.
• 64% of consumers want companies to react faster to meet their evolving needs. *
• 88% of executive-level professionals believe their customers are changing faster than their business can manage. *

Data source: Accenture