But printers, especially those who have been doing variable data printing (VDP) work, are especially well-placed to diversify in this way. While the software for setting up and running digital marketing campaigns used to be expensive and required specialist skills, the trend has been towards ever simpler-to-use and cheaper – even free – tools, effectively de-skilling much of the production process.
The professional print part, however, hasn’t really got simpler and neither the equipment nor the expertise to use it well are available for free. Printers with VDP experience will have overcome one of the biggest hurdles on the route to full cross-media, which is the ability to understand and work with data and databases.