Auto Generate QR Codes with Data Merge in InDesign CC 2014

The Data Merge function in InDesign is a powerful, versatile tool for integrated marketing. We use it for variable data printing to personalize individual pieces – text and images – and, if a direct mail piece, to address and barcode for delivery to the USPS. The latest enhancement to Data Merge is the ability to integrate automatically generated QR codes into the Data Merge workflow. The best part is InDesign does almost all the work.

As you may know, InDesign CC will automatically generate a QR code within a document. Choose Object – Generate QR Code. From the Content tab, you can choose which of 5 main classes of QR code information you want to create: Text, Website, Text Message, Email or Business Card/Contact Information. The Color tab will let you change the QR code from standard Black to one of your other Swatch colors. When you click OK, the code loads onto your cursor for placement (or if you already selected a placeholder box, it places itself on the page). It can be resized to any dimension needed and is a high fidelity graphic object – in other words, it behaves just like a vector piece of artwork.

To automatically generated MULTIPLE QR codes through a Data Merge, the key lies in correctly entering the data in your Data Source .csv or .txt file. You will need to create a column (in Excel for example) and – this is the important part – name the column beginning with a hashtag (for example, “#QRcodes“). Within that column you can mix and match any of the 5 types of codes, but the data entries must be in the following formats:

For plain text: simple, just enter the text you want to be encoded.
For an SMS Text Message: SMSTO:<Phone number>:<Message> Example: SMSTO:8285551919:Call me!
For a Website Hyperlink: URL:<url> Example: URL:http://www.imagesmith.com
For and Email Message: MATMSG:\nTo:<email address>\nSUB:<subject>;\nBODY:;;<body of email> Example: MATMSG:\nTo:name@gmail.com\nSUB:Your Subject;\nBODY:;;bodyofemail
For Contact or Business Card Info: BEGIN:VCARD\nVERSION:2.1\nN:<last name>;<first name>\nFN:<full name>\nORG:<your workplace>\nTITLE:<job title>\nTEL;CELL:<cell number>\nTEL;WORK;VOICE:<voice number>\nADR;WORK:;;<address>;<city>;<state>;<zip>;<country>\nEMAIL;WORK;INTERNET:<email address>\nURL:<website url>\nEND:VCARD

Back in InDesign, choose Select Data Source on the Data Merge panel options and then link the .txt or .csv file you created to this document. Draw a box as the placeholder for where you want the QR codes to print on your page. Now link that placeholder to the data by selecting it and then clicking the “qrcodes” field title in the Data Merge panel (the hashtag you put on that column in Excel will not show up in InDesign, but it does allow InDesign to recognize that data as QR code information). Your placeholder will then have a dashed border selection line around it, signifying it will create QR codes when merged.

Finally, merge your document either by choosing “Create Merged Document” (which will give you a multi-page InDesign document) or “Export to PDF” (which creates the finished multi-page PDF file). If your InDesign document is a 2-pager and you have an .txt or .csv file of 100 entries linked, you will create a 200 page PDF file.

One snag: I cannot figure out how to generate QR codes this way in any color other than black. While InDesign lets you choose a color for individual codes you create within the application, I have not been able to find out how to “colorize” the placeholder for the merge in order to generate multiple QR codes through Data Merge that are any color other than black. If you know, please tell us how. If not, then perhaps that ability will come in a future update.

Strive to buy your print locally! A community printer will understand communication and design, with a special emphasis on your local market. They should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmentally responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

December 30, 2013

ImageBlog’s 2013 Print and Design Year in Review

End of the year reflection time – which means of course a Top 10 list, right? Imageblog is our online newstand of conjecture, knowledge, experience and opinion about the world of print, design, marketing, technology and sustainability. Looking back at 2013, it was a year of growth. We were excited to feature our first guest blog authors, and hope to bring you more of that in the future. Below are articles we featured in 2013 that covered events unique to this year – changes, updates, memorials, anniversaries, and historic firsts. This list hopefully highlights some of the unique events of the past year:

USPS Issues First-Ever Global Forever Stamp
Just like the popular domestic first class mail Forever stamps, the USPS began offering a Forever stamp for international mail in February of 2013. For $1.10, you can send a one ounce letter anywhere in the world. The great circular design of the stamp is eye-catching and popular with philatelists.
Boston Magazine Cover Highlights the Power of Print with a Moving Tribute
After the tragic terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon in April, many newsstand covers featured stunning and moving photography and design memorializing that day. One we liked the best for its design, color and ability to capture the personal side of such an event without capitalizing on any tragic images, was Boston Magazine’s image of the shoes of actual Boston marathon runners forming a heart. Even better, proceeds from the sale of an accompanying poster go to benefit the One Fund–Boston, which has raised millions to help those affected by the attack.
“Pencil to Pixel” Exhibit a Great Success
British firm Monotype’s “Pencil to Pixel” exhibit in New York provided a museum setting exhibition for typography lovers in May of 2013, following an initial run in London in 2012. The rich show highlighted the craftsmanship and design behind well-known typefaces of the past and present.
Coke Gets Personal with VDP and Integrated Marketing
Variable Data Printing (VDP) and Integrated Marketing techniques continued this year to bolster the power and profitability of print advertising in an increasingly digital age. Coke experimented with personalized bottles in some foreign markets, as consumers begin to notice and expect individualized content in all forms of marketing.
TCM in the Spotlight with Awesome Graphic Design
ImageBlog took a look at the great graphic design work produced over at Turner Classic Movies on their website, on air productions, print materials and marketing collateral. Nothing’s more inspiring than great design and TCM and the charles s. anderson design co. are doing a world class job.
20 Years On: Newsweek Prophetic 1993 Vision of the Future
A 1993 cover story from Newsweek offered a surprisingly accurate look ahead to today, contemplating the coming “interactivity” in the world of marketing and the resulting ethical dilemmas that might arise. An interesting read, but perhaps the most interesting part is that Newsweek did not foresee their own 2013 about face: first halting print production in favor of an online-only version at the end of 2012, then reversing course and planning a return to weekly print in 2014.
1931 Frankenstein Poster Sets World Record
The only confirmed known insert poster of the 1931 Universal movie “Frankenstein” sold for over $262,000 dollars – over 5 times the estimated amount. Print is valuable!
New Help for an Old Question: What is that Font?
As just one example of the innovative ways technology is providing great solutions, we highlighted three online sites that help solve a problem designers and prepress departments have always struggled with – identifying a mystery font! Sooner or later, you’ll have the same problem and here are some great online resources.
The World’s Most Expensive Printed Book is Sold
The Bay Psalm Book now holds two world records: it is the first book printed in British North America and now the most expensive as well, having sold at auction for over $14 million! You can peruse the book yourself with the digital copy that is now available online for free, courtesy of the Old South Church in Boston.
Cyber Monday: an Ongoing Evolution
The busiest online shopping day of the year, Cyber Monday continues to evolve as technology and social media change. Small players are now part of the game and the line between brick & mortar stores and their online enterprises gets blurrier. This day is a phenomenon that surely represents trends that will continue to define the changes in print and marketing in the year ahead.

Here’s hoping you will find some interesting topics in our list, or some useful information about print, design and marketing for the year ahead. Thank you for stopping by!

Rely on your printer for advice and direction with all your marketing needs. the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmental responsible printing. They should also be able to work with you to solve any difficult prepress issues with your files.. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

May 14, 2013

Share a Coke with Your Name on it: Getting Personal with VDP and Integrated Marketing

Update:

After success in Australia, South Africa, the UK and dozens of other countries, Coke is finally releasing personalized Coke in the US this summer of 2014 – and it seems to be a social media hit (at least judging by my Facebook newsfeed.) 250 of the most popular names for millenials and teens will be found on 20 oz. bottles of Coke, Diet Coke and Zero. You can check online to see if your name will be on the bottles, and you can personalize virtual bottles to share via social media as well. But don’t get too creative – to avert potential viral disasters, the website will not generate any name not in their approved database! 😉
So why not get variable?

(The following article was first posted in 2013.)

Variable Data Packaging? — (Source link: www.marketingmagazine.co.uk)

V ariable Data Printing is a proven catalyst in effective marketing – when properly executed, research indicates that response rates can be increased by as much as 30% with VDP. Now corporations are discovering creative new ways to combine personalized content with both online and print communications for a truly integrated marketing outreach. With the dominance of social media, consumers are beginning to expect (or in marketing-speak, “demand”) a personally targeted appeal from their advertisers. And who is more successful at branding and effective marketing than Coca-Cola?

But, VDP packaging? Well, in a way…. In Australia, and now the UK, Coke is putting out millions of bottles bearing, rather than their iconic logo, 150 names as a way to “personalize” their packaging. Coke enjoys such a universally established brand recognition that they can even remove their logo from their products and still count on consumer loyalty. The campaign is called “Share A Coke”, and as a truly integrated concept, it combines the product packaging with an online site where you can create a “virtual personalised Coke can” if you are unable to find the name you are looking for among the 150 choices. Outdoor ads, and social media also drive the campaign. The video below shares how Coke anticipated the buzz generation on Twitter to further build consumer interaction:

After a successful run in Australia, Coke is repeating the project in the UK. Now, a true VDP product packaging would require the Coke bottles to be printed with the customer’s name before rolling out of the vending machine – an expensive proposition – but the success of this semi-VDP approach highlights some important ideas:

the power of variable data personalization in affecting consumer choice,
an increasing consumer expectation that we can share a personal interaction with what was previously an unreachable corporate entity when it comes to our consumer purchasing power. The buzzword is “engagement,” and consumers are realizing their new role involves more than passive consumption, but can also include interaction and influence.
the value of finding ways to initiate the power and outreach of social media outlets like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to your marketing advantage

Share a Coke campaign — Image Source: thisisnotadvertising.wordpress.com

Printers understand communication and design. Your printer should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmental responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

April 10, 2013

Your Integrated Marketing Plan Needs Direct Mail

Over at PrintisBig.com, you will find some eye-opening statistics about the print industry, and specifically about the power of direct mail – yes, good old-fashined direct mail, even in a digital age. While I would attribute part of the continued effectiveness of direct mail campaigns for marketing to their integration with other online and offline marketing methods, it looks like the preference of consumers for the physical nature of printed matter still pays off in increased conversion rates and marketing ROI. Also, small companies and non-profits are reaping the benefits of VDP personalization in increasingly targeted campaigns that drive up response rates as their database management matures. A couple of the stats from PrintisBig:

Since 2004, direct mail marketing response rates are UP 14%, while email marketing response rates are DOWN 57%.
In 2010, US companies increased sales through direct marketing to the tune of $702 billion.
Advertisers in the US spend $167 per person on direct mail, earning $2,095 worth of goods sold. That’s a 1,300% return on investment.
Non-profits gain 78% of their donations from direct mail.

Source: PrintisBig.com

Rather than seeing an EITHER/OR situation between direct mail and new digital alternatives, embrace the opportunities of mobile marketing, qr codes, email, social media and website e-commerce as a whole new box of tools to get our your message and/or drive sales. To abandon print and it’s proven effectiveness in that transition will prove costly!

Rely on your printer for advice and direction with integrated marketing. They should be able to provide you with everything from encouragement along the way to complete design, layout, copywriting, production, multi-purposing, online implmentation and distribution of your marketing outreach. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

November 19, 2012

Variable Data Printing or VDP Produces Direct Mail Results

During the 2012 presidential campaign, both major political parties spent more on Direct Mail than any other form of advertising except broadcast television. Are you surprised that more was invested in old fashioned snail mail than internet or mobile outreach? It is because the campaigns know that Direct Mail works. Direct Mail with variable data works even better. And to the surprise of many it works more effectively than most email marketing efforts. The reason why says a lot about both the nature of email/web ads and the benefits of smart direct mail print marketing.

Direct mail has long been a staple in reaching a target audience and producing results. Personalizing the message on direct mail through variable data printing (VDP) can increase ROI even more – anywhere from double the normal return to 10-to-15 times! And the best part is that it works even better when you get creative with the possibilities – use VDP in a way that is unique to your clientele and needs.

Think of VDP as much more than just someone’s first name on the front of the card. For example: if you own a pizza place, you could collect personalized data from customers in house with a survey card – then mail each customer a coupon for the specific pizza they said they enjoyed most, vastly increasing the likelihood of their return over just a generic coupon that goes out to all customers. In this way you begin to profile your customers buying habits, and can target your marketing efforts in a much more effective, powerful way.

For a good overview of VDP, check out Adobe’s VDP Resource Center. Then call us and we’ll brainstorm some exciting VDP solutions for your integrated marketing.

August 28, 2012

Printing Custom Flyers: 7 Ideas to Get Your Money’s Worth

Custom, full color flyers are a true workhorse of any solid marketing effort. They function as handouts, sales sheets, product cards, event announcements, coupons, direct mail, or invitations. Even with today’s online competitive marketplace, they remain a central, effective tool for putting into your potential customers’ hands the information you need them to have. Digital printing now allows you to customize and personlize flyers as never before for shorter runs at lower costs with very quick turnaround times.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when designing and purchasing flyers in order to get the most bang for your buck:

Power Up Your Brand: quality graphic design is within the reach of every budget today thanks to the amazing advancements in desktop design software. Take advantage of that! Every time you are lucky enough to catch a potential customer’s eye, you want your look to be consistent and to carry the same impression. That instant of positive recognition is your brand at work. Be vigilant in making sure all your printed material coordinates with your online presence, your signage, your store displays… and a flyer is probably the easiest place to manage that look you want. Choose a printer that can assure you of the proper color match, paper choice, “look and feel” and can design everything you need with your precise brand specifications.

Repurpose as Direct Mail pieces: When you print flyers for in-store distribution or use at an event or trade show, follow up that effort with a direct mail distribution using the exact same piece. You will save printing costs by producing more at one time. Design your flyer to be a “self-mailer.” One third of the back will be a mailing panel with your return address and the mail indicia you need so that when folded and tabbed shut, it will mail at automation-compatible rates through the USPS. Also a standard letter-sized piece of paper which is folded into thirds will fit into a regular #10 envelope along with any other pieces you want to distribute.

Consider VDP: The more personalized a direct mail piece is, the more successful. VDP, or variable data printing, uses a source spreadsheet of recipients to personalize each individual flyer you print. That can be as simple as including the person’s name in the “Dear John” salutation, to actually switching out the images within a flyer’s design, or targeting individual offers to individual people within the same printing and mailing. Remember that your database of current and potential customers is marketing gold… the more precise and detailed your spreadsheet is, the more flexibility you have in targeting specific groups with specific offers.

Connect to your website through QR codes: Ever made a QR code yourself? Go here to try it out and see how easy it is. Do people really “click” and use QR (or quick response) codes? Studies show QR code usage has exploded over the past year, and they are free to create and easy to include on your flyer, providing a link from the physical part of your marketing to the virtual. Even if someone doesn’t scan and follow the code to your website, seeing it on the product lets them know there is more to be found from you online – a fact that might influence them later on. Include the QR code!

Produce a set of matching flyers: one each for your product lines or services, or to highlight different aspects of your offerings. When you create all of these at the same time, you will save both design and production costs, as well as ensuring a consistent branding on all the materials. They look great displayed together, or collected into a folder for sales calls.

Include a coupon: Give people a reason to hang onto your flyer. The longer it is in their possession, the stronger the impact you are making. Design an eye-catching coupon that can be torn off and redeemed. You will be able to track the results and see how effective your promotion was, whether they are redeemed online or in person. Coupons are also a good way to collect contact information from customers so they get into your database for future targeted marketing: at the very least, ask for name, address, and email on your coupon!

Be specific! Give people the information they need to know in order to do what you want them to do. Seems simple, but can so easily be overlooked! Tell them the exact price, availability, sale dates, return policy, hours of operation, delivery information, etc. If you solve any nagging questions up front, they are more likely to consider their purchase right away, or choose you over someone who’s procedures seem murky or confusing.

Rely on your printer for advice and direction in choosing and branding your promotional items. They should be able to provide you access to just about any item you can imagine. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

December 27, 2011

Print: The Heart of Integrated Marketing Campaigns

Tangible, portable, engaging, accessible, user-friendly, multiuse, renewable, versatile and creative… all great reasons to make print the foundation of your marketing campaign. Its very nature as a physical, rather than digital, object makes it effective and respected in the consumer’s mind. With advances in digital printing, the cost of print is even more affordable than ever for short or long runs. But by combining print with the new tools available online for personalized, trackable, interactive communication, you can boost your ROI with a truly integrated marketing campaign.

Print is user-friendly. All market segments feel comfortable viewing and reading information in print — therefore it can be used to lead those who are reticent about online purchasing or digital communications to check out your webpage, ‘click’ and follow a QR code, or visit their own personalized landing page (PURLs). Print is an easy stepping stone that works in coordination with online marketing to guide interested customers into a more interactive realm of communication and commerce. At the same time, print will reinforce your brand and online message in a concrete way.

With variable data printing (VDP), print is more user-friendly than ever. It speaks to each recipient in your database individually. From the printed contact, lead them to respond with more information about themselves and their interests, either online or by mail. With that information you have enriched your database and can target each customer in an even more personal way — trackable, multitouch, measurable results from your marketing dollars.

Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

August 4, 2011March 24, 2020

Supercharge Direct Mail with Variable Data Printing

Man receiving mail

Direct Mail works. Direct Mail with variable data works even better. And to the surprise of many it works more effectively than most email marketing efforts. The reason why says a lot about both the nature of email/web ads and the benefits of smart direct mail print marketing.

Many people’s first impression of “blast” email marketing was that it would save print production costs and revolutionize campaign strategy. What prevented that sea-change however is basic human nature. Most people ignore – even sometimes resent – unsolicited email messages, and easily overlook banner ads or website advertising, especially if it is not accurately customized to their personal interests. Direct mail has long been a staple in reaching a target audience and producing results. Personalizing the message on direct mail through variable data printing (VDP) can increase ROI even more – anywhere from double the normal return to 10-to-15 times! And the best part is that it works even better when you get creative with the possibilities – use VDP in a way that is unique to your clientele and needs. Think of VDP as much more than just someone’s first name on the front of the card. For example: if you own a pizza place, you could collect personalized data from customers in house with a survey card – then mail each customer a coupon for the specific pizza they said they enjoyed most, vastly increasing the likelihood of their return over just a generic coupon that goes out to all customers. In this way you begin to profile your customers buying habits, and can target your marketing efforts in a much more effective, powerful way. For a good overview of VDP, check out Adobe’s VDP Resource Center. Then call us and we’ll brainstorm some exciting VDP solutions for your marketing.

Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

Update:

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

Since 2004, direct mail marketing response rates are UP 14%, while email marketing response rates are DOWN 57%.

In 2010, US companies increased sales through direct marketing to the tune of $702 billion.

Advertisers in the US spend $167 per person on direct mail, earning $2,095 worth of goods sold. That’s a 1,300% return on investment.

Non-profits gain 78% of their donations from direct mail.

ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.