Print marketing remains a mainstay for many businesses and it is easy to find advice about print marketing. Here we will discuss the five print marketing mistakes you should avoid at all costs so that your print marketing campaign doesn’t fail. We’ll also provide advice on how to maximize the returns on your print marketing campaign when you do it right.
1. Busy, Busy, Busy
Just as online content should not try to be all things to all people because then it won’t come up in context based searches, you cannot try to make your printed marketing materials include everything you may want to say. People will read print flyers talking about a grand opening of a store or glance at a coupon in the mail that features your top two entrees while the discount acts as a final incentive to come in. You should not try to make printed material that tries to appeal to everyone. Almost no one is going to read sales copy that fills a page with text that reads like a book. A brochure that answers an important question still relies heavily on graphics and bulleted lists. Don’t try to put too many notices, warnings, disclaimers and competing promotions on the same flyer.
2. Spending Too Much On the Materials
The majority of the printed materials you distribute will be thrown out almost immediately, though they’ll still leave a deeper impression than the digital ad someone saw yesterday. This means it is a mistake to go for any option other than cheap leaflet printing. If your leaflet printing results in a higher than average conversion rate for readers, you still benefit from the cheaper print job in the form of a higher return on the investment since you didn’t spend that much on it. So, don’t have expensive brochures made when cheaper leaflets will do, and don’t spend more on complex graphic design unless it is almost certain to make the sale. Most people don’t pay attention to print materials anyway, so spend more time focusing on efficient design. Don’t break the bank on fancy materials and start small if you don’t want to go overboard with your advertising budget.
3. Think about How It Looks To Your Audience
What is the first thing a would-be customer sees when they pick up the flyer from the mailbox? Remember that it won’t look the same in their hands in the evening as it does proudly display in your store window or in a design sketch. Does it look good at every light level? Is it readable to those who haven’t put on their reading glasses yet? Can those with limited English skills understand what you’re offering and the reasons they’d want to buy from you? This is where simple graphics that explain your service or show off the product help sell the product to the entire audience.
4. Be Consistent In Your Image
Being consistent in your printed materials has several benefits. First, using the same logos and styling makes the process of revising and updating printed materials cheaper since you aren’t reinventing the wheel each time. Second, the consistent brand image helps build brand awareness with all recipients even if they only glance at the materials. This is why you should take different media into consideration when building your brand image and logo. You should choose a logo that will work well on many platforms, and both in color and monochrome.
5. Design Printed Materials for Each Audience
The ideal online marketing campaign creates different landing pages to meet the expectations and needs of each type of customer. You should do the same thing with your print marketing. Use a consistent “image” in terms of colour schemes, logos, and fonts, but vary the images and incentives with each print run based on the audience. Affordable flyer printing allows you to run A/B tests with your marketing messaging when you send different flyers out to two halves of your targeted mailing list. Do more people come in when you offer 20% off a first order or a £3 discount? Do you have a higher referral rate when you offer someone a discount for referring a friend or give them a coupon card they can give to a friend? Use this information to tweak your print marketing campaigns and make the proper adjustments.
Conclusion
For your campaign to work, it is essential that you steer away from these classic print marketing mistakes. Your print marketing shouldn’t look like a book page. Instead, it needs to be easily skimmed and understood. Don’t spend too much on printed materials. Design the flyer to look good to your audience and clearly communicate the message no matter their situation. Have a consistent brand image and stick with the same style but try different marketing approaches like coupon codes and ad copy to learn what works best for your business.