5 FAQs About a Web-to-Print Platform for Franchise Owners
One of the biggest challenges for franchise owners in growing their business is ensuring brand consistency across a wide variety of print marketing collateral. As the number of franchised locations grows, franchise owners must invest increased time and money to create consistent print marketing materials, a task that can be exceptionally difficult given the variance in sales and marketing goals for each location.
A web-to-print platform can help franchise owners create on-brand, consistent, and targeted marketing materials — in particular direct mailers — that support both high-level and localized initiatives, provided franchise owners understand what a web-to-print solution is and how they can use it to optimize their print communication spend. Here, we’ll look at 5 FAQs about web-to-print platforms to help franchise owners better understand the potential of this more strategic approach to producing high-quality print.
How does web-to-print work?
A web-to-print platform features a centralized online storefront where franchise owners can upload on-brand, pre-approved templates for a variety of documents, including sell sheets, brochures, or flyers. Franchisees can access this storefront at any time to quickly and easily order print runs of these documents in the precise quantities required for each application.
The ability to upload and edit templates, logos, or messaging in real time streamlines the print process and helps ensure your franchisees are not printing inaccurate or outdated documents. This also helps reduce waste by virtually eliminating the likelihood of printing inaccurate materials.
What’s more, the centralized nature of a web-to-print platform helps remove communication silos between franchisees and their owners, and it also helps increase visibility into the types and quantities of print communications different locations use. This can help franchise owners print marketing materials like direct mailers with greater visibility and efficiency, and this can also help owners better understand the ROI of their print materials.
What’s the difference between web-to-print and print-on-demand?
A web-to-print platform uses print-on-demand (POD) technology to help your franchisees print exact quantities of marketing collateral or direct mail pieces the moment they need them. Not only does this help keep your print costs down by reducing the need to either warehouse or dispose of wasted copies, but it also allows your franchisees to print sales or marketing collateral with a greater degree of flexibility.
Because web-to-print leverages POD technology, franchisees can customize and personalize templated documents using variable data and images to help create custom sales and marketing collateral that still maintains your brand identity and voice. This level of personalization makes it easy and cost-effective to create the kind of messaging that will best resonate with a highly targeted audience, something that is extremely important for marketing communications like direct mail.
Does web-to-print allow for document versioning?
Yes! Franchise owners can have anxiety over whether corporate branding guidelines and campaign initiatives are being faithfully and successfully executed at the local level. With a web-to-print online portal, franchise owners can better oversee and manage template versioning.
Plus, a web-to-print solution helps empower your franchisees by allowing them to update and print the documents they need without lengthy or complicated approval processes. This also allows your franchisees to quickly seize sales opportunities that may have small windows of time for your franchisees to act.
Is a web-to-print platform cheaper than other methods of creating print collateral?
The value and cost-effective nature of a web-to-print platform comes from the ability to reduce the likelihood of costly reprints should documents be inaccurate or not properly branded. The ability to produce precise print quantities virtually eliminates the possibility of waste or the need to warehouse excess copies.
In addition, the capability to use variable data and images to create personalized, highly targeted messaging can help increase important metrics like direct mail response rates, thus reducing the need for subsequent or supplemental print campaigns.
Is web-to-print limited to just print materials?
The value play for franchise owners with web-to-print is streamlining and enhancing the production of personalized print marketing collateral across a wide network of locations, but the right web-to-print platform can also help franchise owners create consistently branded projects outside the realm of traditional print marketing materials.
For example, not only can OnSpark help franchise owners build a customized online portal that houses your organization’s variable direct mail, sales, and marketing collateral, but OnSpark also simplifies the process of creating branded, personalized merchandise. Such pieces can help franchise owners execute account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns by positioning high-value offers to a very targeted audience in an efficient, cost-effective manner.
Varispark has the knowledge and experience to help franchise owners get the most out of their print marketing communications by enhancing consistency and reducing the costs and headaches that come with producing high-quality print. Our web-to-print platform is designed to optimize your print marketing spend by increasing response rates and ROI.
Learn more about OnSpark and harness the power of web-to-print today.