When the term "TransPromo" was coined over five years ago-and as excitement ramped up around this concept-there were high hopes that the result would be rapid adoption of this technique to increase the value and relevance of transactional documents. While the concept remains intriguing, many enterprises have found that it is not as simple as it seems in practice. Experts agree; adoption has been spotty. Companies continue to message on their bills, but there has been no surge in exploiting white space, and only a limited number of companies have enabled others to advertise on their statements via TransPromo rather than using physical inserts.

Transpromotional communication (TransPromo) refers to the placement of personalized promotional or other messaging on transactional documents, often related to the content of the documents themselves. For example, a credit card company might promote specific travel destinations based on data it has about a consumer's travel history. Alternatively, the messages could be more educational. In the world of utilities, providers have an interest in educating consumers about how they can reduce energy consumption while also cross-selling energy-efficient appliances. Healthcare providers can offer patients advice and news based on what is known about individual health conditions to promote patient wellness.
 
The logic is simple:

Transaction printing was the second-largest application segment for digital production printing in 2011, accounting for 25.3% of the total volume. While it will remain very significant, this share is expected to decline to 18.8% by 2016. This is primarily due to the decline in billing and statement volumes-the main contributor to the transaction category. At the same time, however, this decline is somewhat mitigated by the move to TransPromo printing. As shown in the Figure below, TransPromo communications are expected to experience a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of over 30% between 2011 and 2016.