Print Blog: communicate, motivate, educate, enhance, celebrate, animate, and promote with print and promotional products

Tri Fold Brochures: Printing Ain't Dead For Facebook

Have you ever seen an ad for Facebook? Everyone knows who they are but I've never seen them advertise anywhere.  I've never seen a TV ad, heard a radio ad, seen a print ad, seen a billboard or even a custom poster advertising Facebook and it's one of the biggest companies in the world. The only thing I've seen is a full color Tri Fold Brochure delivered by of all things snail mail!

    

At first glance it doesn't make sense, Facebook is pure Internet, they exist only in cyberspace, how could they possibly use printing and direct mail to advertise? Companies like Facebook spell doom for ancient marketing platforms like tri fold brochures and direct mail but here they are utilizing mediums they are supposed to kill. 

When you think about it though, it makes perfect sense; Facebook uses Tri fold Brochures and direct mail because they work. How else are they going to get their message and special offer in front of a very specific target market; business owners willing to give their new advertising platform a try?

Targeting and measurement is the key, they don't want to offer $50 in free advertising to just anyone, they want to give it to people and companies that are likely to become long term paying customers. How do you find those people and measure the return, buy a qualified list and utilize variable printing technology to offer specific traceable codes so they can see exactly how many people act on their offer.

With variable print technology and the power of the web they can provide multiple offers in the same campaign and see exactly which offers pull better than the others; it's A / B testing taken to the extreme.

So printing ain't dead yet; instead for companies like Facebook printing and tri fold brochures are an important way to create new paying customers.

 

4 Steps To Brand Recognition WIth Printed Promo Items Campaign

Strategically printing and mailing information is an outbound marketing approach that works, as long as there is consistency of message or theme.  Creating a brand identity, then consistently and persistently distributing that brand or theme is important to establish an ongoing recognition for the brand.

There are 4 steps to brand recognition for an outbound direct mail printed promo item campaign:

Step 1: Use an appealing headline or promo item for the campaign.   The promo product doesn’t need to be expensive, but the dimension will encourage the recipient to open the envelope. The envelope or package if it's “lumpy” will inspire intrigue.

Step 2: A clearly defined color or theme will create memorable impressions.  If your theme is inconsistent, or you use different colors with each mailer, you risk being forgotten.  A strong, clearly identified image is best.

Step 3: Choose promo items that have some longevity or usefulness.  An item that is tossed in the trash is worthless.  If you use personalized information or if the item is useful, your branded messages will be used longer.

Step 4: Punctuate your mailing with a call-to-action. Ask the recipient to do something, like visit a website, use a coupon, download a form, or other activity.  Your promotional mailer means nothing unless it asks for action and there are measurable conversions. 

What kinds of mailers have you done that have been successful?  Have you found a promo item that your customers love?

5 Items You Shouldn't Forget When Printing Business Cards

Printed business cards are important to any business, but when starting a new business they are a critical way to assure that your contact information gets into the hands of prospects and potential customers.  

You've started your business and now it's time to print your business card.  That should be easy, right?  The problem is, so many new companies create their business card because it's needed quickly, and they forget important information that should be on the card!

Here's a list of the items you should never forget to include on your business card: 

1. Your Company Name And Logo.  So many companies print their business card and they use a stock font for their company name. That's fine, but if you have a logo, it's important to be sure that that's on  your business card.  Color logos increase recognition and improve the chances of people remembering who your company is.  

2. Your website address  To learn more about your company, most potential customers or prospects will want to visit your website to learn more.  Also, having a web address lends an air of legitimacy to your business.  

3. Your contact information including email. That's the point, isn't it?  So that people can find you!  List your email address, phone number, fax number.  Some people  will include a mobile or cell phone number as well as their social meia profiles.  (Hint: A freebie email does not carry the same weight as an email at your domain.  Many domain companies offer a free email with the purchase of the domain.)

4. Your Card Should Be Readable. Many people are using scanners to scan the business card into their database.  If you use unusual fonts or the font is too small, or the color is hard to read, you are limiting the effectiveness of sharing your information through your business card.  Consider bold contrasts and clean designs over complicated designs and diffuse colors.  

5. Print Your Card On Good Stock. Flimsy appearance on cheap stock, or cards that look like they were printed yourself will give the impression that you are a small company.  Even if you are a small company, give he appearance that your company has some substance by using a good,heavyweight business card stock and having your card printed professionally.

5 Tips To Creating More Effective Printed Flyers

Searching for business?  How about sending your prospects a flyer?

When creating a  printed flyer, sometimes, even with the best intentions, our concept of reaching out with a mailer to our customers misses the mark.  There are a few tips to creating a flyer to improve the return on investment for your printed document. 

Flyers that are created digitally can utilize full color and be printed very cost effectively.  Mailing them to a geographic audience can have great returns if you follow a few tips for creating the content of your flyer.

Here are 5 tips to creating a more effective printed flyer:

1. Be sure your contact information is on the flyer. This seems like a simple piece of advice, but all too often, I receive flyers where the contact information is missing!  How does the prospect get in touch with you?  Where is your business located?   
2. Give reasons why to do business with you.  How long have you been in business?  Is your response rate within 24 hours or an hour?   What awards have you won?  What organizations are you a member of?  Are you licensed? Insured?  There are all helpful to someone who is not familiar with your company.
3. Feature your work – preferably in color! They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  If there is a way to show a picture of your work, you should include that on your flyer.  Also, don't make the picture so small that people can't figure out what you are featuring.  If you have before and after examples, those are always interesting! 
4. Give testimonials or references.  Sometiimes seeing a testimonial can sway someone who otherwise is ambivalent.  Especially if it's a testimonial by someone that the person may know!  Testimonials work great if you are doing a mailing to a Chamber of Commerce group where you've completed a project for one member and you may be interested in doing work for others.
5. Feature an offer or "Call-To-Action".  What is the immediacy of your message and what are you offering.  If you simply send something that says you exist it is not as effective as sending something with an offer that is of limited duration.

Marketing Colleges With Print Brochures, Envelopes And Booklets

Colleges seeking students and their parents make a big investment when they select the insitution they plan to attend for the next four years. One of the important tools a University marketer has to attract students are the printed brochures, printed booklets and printed folders that are sent out when a prospective student requests additional information. 

The purpose of mailing the printed brochures is to create an exciting presentation to attract students to their university or college versus the competition.

How to make your printed brochure more exciting?

• Design the brochure from the student's perspective.  Kids want to know what college life is like - share the day from the dorm to the class to the social activities. 
• Add pictures of happy students.  No one wants to go to a school where everyone is grumpy.  Pick pictures that show people interacting and smiling to print in your booklet.
• Add value with incentives to visit.  Offer a way to visit the college and a college t-shirt or hat to register in advance.  College paraphernalia goes a long way towards establishing loyalty and connecting the prospective student with your institute. 
• Feature the school teams.  Evoking college spirit and highlighting winning teams is another way to connect with students.  Offer a registration form for students to sign up for the team or to request commemorative printed posters.  Forms are a great way to get student information for following-up later. 
• Use a decorative and colorfully printed envelope for mailing the college brochure or booklet to prospective students.  There's nothing worse than boring. If another college sends a fun, brightly colored hip envelope, and yours is plain manilla,  which do you think the student will open first?  Also adding an item to give the envelope some dimension also adds to the intrigue.

University brochures don't have to be boring.  When applying to various colleges, there is an intangible emotion that looking over the College Brochure will convey. For many students the next four years will shape their future. 

College is a big investment in many ways.  Be sure that the information you send to prospects is interesting and rewarding.

 

Why You Should Print Custom Calendars Now

It's the midst of summer and the last thing you are thinking about is New Years Eve, but from a business marketing perspective, perhaps now is the time you should be planning ahead?  Not where to go to celebrate, but instead, printing custom calendars for your staff, your business associates, potential customers or current customers. 

Custom printed calendars and custom printed appointment guides are a terrific tool to keep your company name and brand in front of your prospect.  The trick is to get this tool into your client's hands before your competition does.  Most people will use the first custom printed appointment book they get, and unless yours is a better size or has more features, it doesn't pay to be second!

Even in this highly technical world, custom appointment books make a great promotional gift.  Especially if your target audience is older, or if you are in a market like health care or financial services, a tangible, printed appointment book is likely to be used. 

Some colleges and universities issue personalized or customized appointment guides to their students as a welcome gift.  Student's have so many challenges with starting college that having a way to stay organized is greatly appreciated.  Parents will appreciate this too, especially with the high cost of tuition, a promotional item like this is percieved as adding value.

Personalized appointment books and customized calendars can be created in different colors, styles and with various features. 

3 Common Mistakes When Printing QR Codes

Using a QR Code on printed collateral or promotional items can be a great new way to incorporate print with Internet.  Using A QR code to encourage "likes" on a Facebook page or to share information through a webinar is a great way to have your message projected directly into a person's phone.  After all, what could be  more powerful than to have your phone number where a potential customer is most likely to use it?

Many companies are excited to adopt QR codes but are not thinking the campaign through. That's why we've identified 3 common mistakes that prevent QR codes from being effective.  

1. Where to print the QR Code.

While a QR or quick response code can be printed in many places, the reason to use the QR code is for potential customers to scan it.  This can be something that is printed on a mug, a t-shirt, a calendar, a brochure or a mailer.  Whatever you print the QR Code on, it is important to share the printed piece with potential customers.  

Determine what the goal of the QR campaign should be, not just that you want to use a QR code and therefor where should you print it.  For example - printing a monthly calendar with a QR code each month could feature a page with monthly specials that is unlocked each month.   Or a coffee mug could have a QR code that points to a daily deal.  The exciting part about QR codes is that you can track the metrics and you can make the offers changeable, since the page that is the target can featured dynamic or changeable information.

2. How to describe the reason to scan the QR Code.

A huge mistake that many novices to printing QR codes make is to assume just having a QR code is reason for people to scan that code.  Frankly, scanning the QR code is a not intuitive unless someone is just testing the QR scanning technology.  What is the benefit of scanning the code?  Tell the prospect in clear language what the benefit would be to scan the code. That will greatly increase the open metrics.  

3. Where to direct people who scan the QR Code.

Once someone scans the code, where does that code take their browser.  If the QR code leads to a Home page, especially one that is not optimized for mobile, then it will severely limit the effectiveness of the campaign.  Be sure the code points to a landing page or at least a page that is optimized for mobile viewing.  Include a telephone number on the page - many smart phones have the ability to dial directly from that page. 

Certainly quick response technology is a neat way to marry printed material with the online world. It boils down to understanding when the marketing program makes sense to use that technology as well as how to best position that marketing technology to accomplish sales and marketing goals that will determine whether marketing dollars have been spent wisely.

5 Tips To Creating A Powerful Brochure

Your brochure is sometimes the lasting impression that a customer has about your company.  It can create a positive image or poor image, dependent upon how well it's put together. 

Recently a salesperson came by representing a company that wanted to do business with our company.  The salesperson, at the end of the presentation, sheepishly pulled a color copy of their brochure from his briefcase and explained that the company was in the process of printing new brochures. 

Not only was this embarrassing for the sales person, it also gave the impression that the company is not well organized and may lack resources to support our business.  Whether this is the case, or is not the case, it's the impression that makes the difference.

Don't be caught without a professional brochure for your sales people to share with potential customers.  To help you get started, here are 5 tips that can help when creating that brochure:

1. Color and style consistent with branding.  Be conscious that your brochure should match the look and feel of the rest of your marketing program.  The color of the logo, the style of the layout and design, should reflect the character of your advertising and marketing collateral.  If you took all of the pieces of your campaign, and put them all in a row on a table, would they appear to be the work of one company, or would they be disjoined?

2. Feature your selling message on the front.  The front of your brochure should entice your prospects in to reading the rest of the brochure.  If you don't feature your key selling message, you may have created a brochure that's destined for the circular file. 

3. Use clear pictures that are easy to see.  Don't use small pictures that are clustered and difficult to figure out what they represent.  Larger pictures will work better and are more eyecatching.  Pictures that evoke interaction or a question in the mind of the viewer may lead to better readership.

4. Check for typos and grammar.  There's nothing worse than having a customer point out the grammar and spelling issues in a printed piece.  It's unprofessional at best and can cause you to lose the sale at worst.  If you aren't a great writer, have someone proof the content before printing.

5. Assure the paper stock and printing represent quality.  Work with the printer to pick the paper stock and the size and style of brochure that work with your budget and also meet your quantity requirements.  Sometimes printing the cheapest way is not the best solution.  Be true to your company's goals and pick a brochure format that matches your company's positioning.  There are so many choices including coated stock, uncoated stock, recycled papers and others, that it's important to enlist your printer for input.

When creating a brochure for your company, you don't have to work in a vacuum.  Getting insights on what may work best for your company is a great way to be sure that you are taking advantage of new trends and products, while offering information that positions your company to best advantage with prospects.

Ideas For Using QR Codes In Printing And Promotional Items

Printing promotional items or mailers with QR or Quick Response codes is becoming more and more popular as smart phones such as the Android, Blackberry and iPhone become more prevalent.  With a simple app that can be downloaded and installed on the phone, the phone becomes a portal of opportunity for online commerce. 

Here are some ideas for how you can use QR codes to enhance your business:

1. Online Shopping: Point the QR code to a page of specials that can be purchased through the mobile browser.  This can generate immediate sales, especially if the offer is highly targeted.

2. Calendar Specials: Print a calendar that features a QR code each month.  You can create the pages that the code is pointed to with different specials.  This can be 12 different offers that keep your message fresh with your customer. 

3. Business Cards: With social media signatures, sometimes you can't seem to get all the information you want onto the business card.  Using a QR code gives greater flexibility, and also has the advantage of getting your contact information into your client's phone!  

4. Gather Facebook Fans: Point the QR code to your Facebook page, where the visitor can "like" your page.  That way, you've opened the door to further engagement.

5. Additional Info: Share product features and benefits that may best be shown by video or demonstration.  Using the QR code, you can direct the viewer to product specifications or video tutorials that simply are too involved to print out on a mailer.  Add a "how to" to educate your customers.

6. Maps and Directions: A QR code can point to a map or directions for a customer to find your location.  You can even feature pictures of your location.  Linking to Google Maps, for example, can be powerful.

7. Coupons And Specials: Of couse you can stick to coupons and specials.  The customer can scan your offer, then show your sales person in the showroom that they responded to the offer to get a discount or win a prize.

In the battle for top of mind awareness and to keep your name in front of your customer, having a tool like QR codes is important.  If you are not currently using QR codes and would like to be, give us a call to discuss your business.  We have many promotional items that would make excellent reminders for your customers to check out your specials.  

Have you used QR codes yet?  Have you seen them used?   What is the neatest implementation of QR codes that you've seen?  We'd love to hear from you!

3 Rules For Logo Use In Printing And Branding

Printing the next brochures may be on the agenda, but before they are printed there is the design that must be taken into consideration.  The content is written, and you have a rough layout, but there are three principals of color that must be taken into consideration.

1. Consistent Color: Colors will look different when used on different media.  You may have picked red for your logo and you want to use red on your website and on your printed material.  The colors translate much differently when used on glossy paper or matte paper.  With all colors there can be large variations of colors, ranging from warm to cool, and also from light to dark.  Having a red that is warm as in orangey red is much different than having a red that is cool - or blue red. They are both red, but when put next to each other, they will clash.  Be sure to use a color matching system, such as the pantone system, to identify the color. 

2. Consistent Placement: Large companies have whole manuals that describe how the logo can be used and what colors the logo must be printed with - they do this to preserve the brand.  Every time your logo is presented, if the logo looks different, you are not getting the benefit of creating a branded image. Use the logo in the same way in all of your collateral including your brochures, letterhead, envelopes, promotional items, give-a-ways.  Be sure that if you always use your 'mark' on the right of your company name, that you are consistent with placement.  Pre-think alternate ways the logo may be printed, including a black and white version, and a square version.

3. Consistent sizing: When publishing anything, it's important to have the logo positioned so that the relative size of the components are the same.  If you have a mark and initials, for example, the size of the mark and the size of the initials should be used in a similar fashion, regardless of where they are printed.

In any use of the brand and logo, if you develop a habit of being consistent,  you will amplify the brand recognition tremendously.

What ways have you used your brand on printed materials?  Have you ever printed on an unusual item?  What was the most difficult use of the brand logo that you've encountered?