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(Article first published in April '08. It has been modified slightly to suit its publication on our site)
During the course of my career I have worked in some large organisations. I remember on many occasions throwing out thousands upon thousands of unused leaflets, brochures & flyers. To a large company, printing is so cheap in the marketing equation that they never under-print but rather always over-print and if the design is only temporary then they can print anyway and fix it on the next run.
Oh how life is so very different when you run your own business, where every cent counts! So it seems incredible to me how many small companies I meet that have stacks of unused flyers, folders or brochures in a back room, that will likely never be used. How is it that business owners so diligent in all other aspects of cost control can end up wasting money in such a basic way?
Well Planned Print Marketing Saves Money!
The answer is simple - excitement. Marketing is exciting! You are doing something positive for your business and investing in it through the materials you are producing. In this excitement some crucial steps are not reviewed and numbers become inflated. Fast forward six months and you have a stack of unused brochures!
This problem starts before the printing presses start rolling. Actually it starts before the graphics designer turns on his or her computer. There are actually four areas that need to be reviewed to ensure this doesn't happen to you:
- Requirements
What do you want to achieve and who is going to see it? The answer to this question will help define what type of literature you need. If it's for business use then you are more likely to print an A4 brochure or folder rather than an A5 leaflet.
- Design
What do you want it to look like? The answer to the requirements question will feed into this. Should it be corporate looking or more retail based? The content is also important. Do you have good-quality photography? Does the text read well for the target audience?
- Implementation
How are you going to distribute it and who are you going to send it to? Answer this question before you print because it is critical! If you plan to deliver by post, make sure that it's a standard letter-box friendly size. If you are sending them to business owners or buyers, make sure they know it's coming by telephoning them first (they will be less inclined to bin it without reading it if they are expecting it).
- Forward-Planning
I have seen more business owners fall at this hurdle than any other! Are you moving premises in the near future? Will you be changing phone numbers for any reason? Will you be changing email addresses? If there is any risk of any these happening then don't print your current address or other details on the materials. Instead you can either have your printer include a die-cut for you to insert a business card with all your details or as a minimum, simply include your website address.
With these issues covered you should find that you make great use of all your printed materials, which will maximise your marketing funds! But remember - if you do have to throw out printed materials, make sure you recycle them!
Franco De Bonis has worked in the field of sales and marketing promotion since 1990 and was most recently the global marketing manager for a major international technology company before setting up DG Group in January 2007.
DG Group is dedicated to delivering all the marketing solutions any company may require. Whether it's a website or leaflets and brochures, or even some product packaging; DG Group will manage the whole project and even provide guidance along the way.
The content in this section is the original creation of DG Group and is protected by copyright. You may use this content on your site or in other materials providing you acknowledge DG Group as the author and include a link our site.
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