“Print is dying.” That’s something we’ve been getting used to hearing alongside the proliferation of digital information retrieval. But the truth is not that print is dying; it’s that print is adapting. Furthermore, printed material is still viable and effective in many spaces, such as news and advertising. Much of this can be attributed to print technology, particularly automation, which is helping the industry stay widely relevant by increasing efficiencies within. This allows print to continue as a distinctive marketing and communication medium.
Consider that in the United States, 80 percent of households read or browse their advertising mail, and 96 percent of news is still read in print. Automation is what provides the time and cost efficiencies necessary for keeping these media thriving. From 2010 to 2016, the number of online print orders through service providers’ websites increased from 15 percent to 28 percent, according to statistics presented by Aleyant.
We are amid the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, and print—with assistance from a growing marketing automation landscape—is along for the ride. By 2019, the global marketing automation market is anticipated to reach $5.5 billion from $3.65 billion in 2014. That’s a compound annual growth rate of 8.55 percent, with North America leading this growth in terms of market size.
It’s now necessary to utilize automation, especially when it comes to your company’s next print job. And there are ways your company can see for itself how automation increases efficiency. Consider the following metrics when measuring the efficiency of your next print job:

• Per unit costs. How much money and resources are going into your project?
• Cycle and response time. How much time is automation saving you? How much faster are you receiving feedback?
• Backlog. Are you prioritizing the right projects at the right time?
• Per unit full-time equivalents (FTEs). Are employees being utilized appropriately and necessarily?
• Per unit equipment utilization. How well is your equipment contributing to efficient automation?

Print is enjoying a renaissance. What we once assumed was a dying market is actually growing, with help from the rise of marketing automation. The stats are there to back it up, but if you need more proof, measure your own company’s potential benefit of utilizing automation for print. You may just be left dying to start your next job.
See what The YGS Group’s Marketing Automation Portal (MAP) team can do for you at theygsgroup.com/foryou/map.

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