12 Handy Print Marketing Tips for Better Branding

With the convenience of digital marketing, many companies have forgotten how effective print marketing can be in attracting new customers and keeping existing ones.

However, in order to be effective, you have to have materials that show off your brand in the best possible light, while staying creative enough to entice new customers into taking notice of your brand for the first time.

Merge Digital Media with Print Marketing

Using QR codes in your print marketing shows you’ve got digital savvy, and it gives customers a reason to visit your website or download your app.

When smart phone users see a QR code, they can’t help but want to follow it to see where it goes. Just make sure you’re leading them somewhere that’s going to help you seal the deal. Try using designer QR codes with color to make your codes work with your design.

Don’t Be Afraid to Instigate

Think about all those Super Bowl ads that get us talking around the water cooler the next day. Whether funny, poignant or just plain annoying, these commercials instigate the audience into talking, discussing and in some cases even arguing over them.

Create print designs that get your audience talking, even if you have to be slightly provocative to do so. When it comes to grabbing the audience’s attention, sometimes an idea that sounds insane is the one that gets your company noticed.

Engage your Audience in a Story

Nothing engages an audience quite like a story, whether it’s told through text, images or a combination of both. Decide what your company’s story is and how you want to tell it.

All of the best advertising campaigns have a narrative—from the toy bunny that just keeps going, to the old ladies who want to know where the beef is. Your narrative could be a written story, a series of sequential pictures like a comic or just one bold image that says it all.

Testify!

In this age of social media, customer testimonials are crucial for any business. Ask some of your longtime clients and customers if they would be willing to say a few kind words about your company, and include a photo of each.

Not only are you showing your potential customers how well you treat your clients, you’re enticing them with the idea that one day they might be the happy smiling face in your marketing media.

Go Green

Most of your existing and potential clientele probably consider themselves to be eco-conscious, and will respond positively to companies that share their ideals

Choose an eco-friendly printer.  For example, Overnight Prints uses waterless technology exclusively on all of their sheetfed presses.

Call Your Customers to Action

You’ve gotten your printed materials into the hands of your potential customers—so now what? Without a call to action, recipients are going to ask themselves the same thing.

Tell them exactly what you want them to do, whether that’s “call now for a free estimate” or “save a bundle with our services.” Once you’ve told them what you want them to do, follow up with your contact information so they can do so.

Provide an Incentive!

Not every potential customer is going to heed your call to action, so you have to motivate these stubborn mules with a carrot.

Add coupon codes, special offers and introductory rates on your marketing materials to give them a reason to contact you.

Be Theatrical

You have something important to say to your audience, so do it in a lively and dramatic way. Any business could claim that they “offer quality service at an affordable rate,” but that doesn’t sound very exciting.

Instead, you could write that your company offers the “highest quality service with the lowest prices in town.” Punch up your copy so that it gets your audience to take notice.

Use Color to Reinforce Brand Inentity

Coke is red, Apple is white and McDonald’s is golden yellow.  What color is your brand? Do you have effective branding in place? Do all of your marketing materials accurately reflect that?

Remember, there’s a difference between blue, cerulean and navy— substituting one for another misrepresents your brand. When in doubt, use PMS spot printing in your materials to always have the accurate tone that represents your brand color.

Upgrade your Business Cards

There’s a difference between professional looking and completely boring when it comes to business cards. Your business cards should reflect your brand, but that doesn’t mean slapping on a logo and calling it done.

Add color and design elements to give your card personality. Consider rounding the corners or adding spot UV coating to make it stand out. When recipients look at your business cards, do they see contact information or do they see your brand in a nutshell?

Pass it On

Word of mouth is a good way to drum up business, so you want to create a design that gets passed along to others. Referral offers are an easy way to create word of mouth publicity, but don’t underestimate the power of a creative design.

Sometimes we like to share things with our friends and family just because they’re interesting, poignant or funny.