One of the most valuable features of today's web-to-print solutions is their ability to enable easy and extensive document customization. Prospects and customers are inundated with hundreds of marketing messages every day, and they pay little attention to those that don't speak to important issues and needs.  In this environment, the key to marketing success is to make marketing messages and materials more relevant.

Marketers have long recognized that customizing marketing materials for specific audiences will increase relevancy and improve marketing effectiveness. One proven application of this idea is known as marketing localization. Localized marketing is the practice of customizing marketing materials for local audiences. It can be as simple as adding local contact information to otherwise standard marketing collateral materials or as complex as creating an entire promotional program (direct mailers, print ads, point-of-sale materials, etc.)  that is customized for a specific geographic market.

Unfortunately, localized marketing has traditionally been a cumbersome, time-consuming, and costly undertaking for most companies. Marketers are usually forced to make an unattractive trade-off between keeping control of the brand and excessive cost.

The good news is that web-to-print solutions are removing the obstacles to localized marketing. They enable corporate marketers to retain control of brand messaging and brand presentation, while making local customization easy and affordable.

I've posted a brief article at Scribd that describes the benefits of localized marketing and explains how web-to-print solutions make localized marketing simple and cost effective. If you're a provider of web-to-print solutions, this is part of the story you should be sharing with potential customers.

You can access the article here.