Election season is gearing up and it looks like printers will play a key role this year due to health concerns with the ongoing pandemic. Are you prepared to meet the demand?
STATE OF AFFAIRS
With a sweeping pandemic encouraging people to “social distance” for safety, many look to the polls this fall as another place to avoid.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said, “People shouldn’t have to choose between voting and their health.” Though there has been significant debate over whether vote-by-mail is constitutional or will open our election system up to voter fraud, absentee voting or vote-by-mail numbers are likely to significantly increase.
This could mean big business for printers as many states scramble to figure out how to fulfill the demand for more vote-by-mail ballots and envelopes by November.
In addition to vote-by-mail, we could see political campaigns--from the presidential race all the way down to your local city council members--rely more heavily on direct mail campaigns and printed materials than in previous years with rallies and fundraising events out of the question.
With a nation set on social distancing and stuck at home, direct mail can have a strong impact on a uniquely captive audience and may be relied upon more than ever.
THE ELECTION DEMANDS
Standard election-related jobs for most printers are political fundraising letters or issue-based flyers. Higher volumes of these short-run print jobs, often requiring unique designs (using full color and full bleeds) with eye-catching variable data CTAs and personalization, may be coming your way.
What are your current print solutions? Your standard process may no longer serve you or your customers well if you can’t say “yes” to their design requests, budgetary constraints, or turnaround time.
Consider too the additional demand for ballot printing as vote-by-mail expands—the whole project can include mailing envelope, return envelope, short-run ballot sheets, and instruction inserts. While ballot designs will vary among states, or even counties, printers will need to be capable of delivering 2-4 color envelopes of multiple sizes with variable data, often in short runs and on demand.
This can be a very tedious and costly (if not impossible) task for print shops relying on large offset presses, toner devices, or outsourcing.
THE INKJET SOLUTION
Alternatively, inkjet print solutions make-up for the shortcomings of traditional offset, old toner, and costly outsourcing solutions. Inkjet is capable of variable data, full color, full bleeds, fast turnaround, and unique envelope shapes, while providing the lowest cost-per-piece for these capabilities.
Specifically, Memjet’s Versa Pass inkjet technology utilizes aqueous, dye-based inks and a single-pass print system that delivers an impressive combination of speed and market-leading image quality at 1600 dpi. Additionally, the efficient silicon structure of the printheads enables a very cost-effective solution.
When incorporated into production machinery like the iJetColor Pro light-industrial inkjet envelope press, Versa Pass technology can deliver over 7,120 envelopes per hour at print costs as low as $0.003/piece.
The iJetColor Pro Powered by Memjet is a perfect example of how inkjet print technology can deliver thousands of direct mail pieces and election ballots for fast and easy on-demand printing with the option to print full color, full bleed, variable data imaging.
If you need a print solution that provides these benefits to better prepare your print operation for election season, the iJetColor family of inkjet presses will deliver.
Contact us today to explore how this envelope print solution.
