Defy cross-media challenges with web-to-publish
The days when it was enough to just do offline marketing and distribute printed information materials at events are a thing of the past. The print area should not be completely ignored, as it still offers a good solution for establishing physical contact with customers. Nowadays the media world has a strong cross-media structure. Customers no longer only obtain specific information via print, but are inundated with information on new products and companies in all situations. Potential prospects can be reached in many different ways just on the way to work. Be it on the billboard next to the stop, the info screen in the subway or through social media and websites on the smartphone. In order to make this online strategy possible for local partners, web to publish systems are ideal.
What is web-to-publish?
The management of all these media channels in order to convey a uniform image of the brand can become a major challenge, especially in decentralized marketing. Web to Publish systems connect the production of marketing material directly with the distribution of advertising material to sales and distribution partners. In this way, the advertising material can be created, adapted and distributed directly in the next step on one platform. By integrating different partners, products can be created and printed in print (classic web-to-print) as well as digital ads and social media posts. By merging all offline and online advertising measures in one system, Web-to-Publish offers a good basis for uniform communication on all channels and for connecting the management of the advertising material in a shop.
Advantages of web-to-publish systems
Most Web to Publish systems are designed to personalize the documents and advertising material and to adapt them to the brand's own everyday life. This approach is perfect for the management of decentralized marketing strategies in which individual local partners point out their products and want to establish contact with customers without losing sight of the brand's corporate identity. The systems offer the possibility of centrally controlling which content of the material can be personalized and individualized. It doesn't matter whether it's a brochure or a social media post. Another important point is checking the data. By consolidating it in one system, it can also be made possible for the content to be checked again before it can ultimately be published or printed.
- Easy maintenance of corporate identity
- Central management via templates
- Individual adaptation depending on the partner* and target group
- Integrated audit data check
- Direct completion and publishing of the advertising material
How does a web-to-publish system work?
1. Select advertising material
Not only in print, also online and digitally, marketing offers many different solutions to draw attention to its brand. So the first step is to choose the right advertising material. Classic web-to-print products, digital advertisements, out-of-home products, but also advertisements on social media as well as video and audio productions in the shop can be selected.
2. Individualize templates
Thanks to the template-based working method, the partner* can edit the print or online advertising material directly in the shop according to individual and local needs. Thus, the templates in the company can also be used ideally for local and decentralized marketing. This means that the advertising material can be ideally tailored to the customer at each location.
3. Publish advertising material
In the next step, the created advertising material can be transported directly to the end customer via the web-to-publish system. After ordering, the company no longer has to worry about implementation. Through direct contact with the service providers, it can also be ensured in retrospect that the publishing is done according to your own wishes.
4. Analyze results
The integrated analyzes make it possible to analyze which advertising material was published, when and how the budget was distributed even after publishing. This enables each partner* to keep an overview of the various advertising measures and to work out the best possible solutions for the future. Based on this data, new marketing campaigns can be planned and carried out afterwards.
Integration into your own system
In order to use the Web to Publish System ideally, it is possible in many cases to integrate the program into your own software structure. For example, databases such as Digital Asset Management (DAM) or CRM systems can be integrated directly. Ideally, the data is obtained directly and does not have to be re-imported for each advertising medium. In addition, the Web to Publish system can be combined with other existing systems, such as a shop, in order to combine all marketing-relevant areas on one platform and enable the best possible workflow.
What software solutions are there?
Buy software
When purchasing software, the license for the program is acquired once. This is then owned by the company and can be installed on the various local computers or on its own server. The software can often be adapted once to the special solutions, needs and wishes of the company and the brand when it is purchased. However, extensions and updates must be purchased again.
Get Software as a Service (SaaS)
In comparison, there is the option of purchasing the system via cloud solutions (software-as-a-service). The program is obtained as a web application and users only have access to the system. This software is not purchased once, but is rented monthly via a subscription system. Thus, users must always have an active internet connection, but the system is constantly updated and further developed and is still up-to-date and efficient even after a certain period of use.
Integrated in a marketing portal
In addition to the direct purchase of Web to Publish systems, there is the possibility of investing in a complete marketing portal. Not only are web media created and produced for the digital and online world, but also classic web-to-print products or video and audio content. The marketing portal offers the solution to combine all marketing areas on one system and thus to work as efficiently as possible. Here, too, there is the option of buying the marketing portal as software or as a web application.