Remember when you had all of those brochures printed and you ended up with them hanging around the office for months on end afterwards?
You couldn’t get rid of them, could you?
Or what about the time you ordered a batch of new business cards only to realise that your business was suddenly receiving 80% of its enquiries via a new website… which wasn’t listed on the cards?
What a waste of time, effort, and marketing investment, eh?
Thankfully, there’s an answer, and it lies in where your business is headed.
Why is so much print wasted in business?
The scenarios we’ve painted above are incredibly common, and if you’ve been running a business for any amount of time, you’ll almost certainly have experienced them.
The reason so much printed marketing material is wasted is simple: in those instances, the print and design projects won’t have been aligned with the direction in which the business is travelling.
It’s easy to get carried away with exciting, sexy design projects, but they need to be directed by your wider plans.
Doing this is far easier than you might think.
Aligning design and print with your brand
Let’s start with the obvious – if you’re having something designed or printed, it needs to tie-in with your brand.
But you need to look beyond the logo. The branding you pour onto those print designs needs to be carried through to your social media presence, blogs, and email marketing efforts.
It’s never ‘chicken and egg’, either; there’ll always be a starting point. For your business, it might be that you already have all of the branding elements in place elsewhere before you start the design. Or the design might come first.
Just make sure they all match up and tell the same story.
The role your audience plays
Who are you targeting with your printed marketing material?
Let’s say you invest a bunch of time and a big portion of your marketing budget in a leaflet campaign. What if the way it’s designed jars with the people who receive it, and the copy speaks a language that turns them off?
Chances are, you’ll have spent time creating an audience persona for your business. That person is your ideal customer, and your business is heading in their direction.
Is your design and print material doing the same thing?
Conveying problems and solutions
Running a successful business is all about demonstrating that you understand the problems your audience is experiencing and know how to solve them.
But if you pick up your business card, does it suggest the same thing? Or is it a bland confirmation of your contact details? If so, why would anyone bother getting in touch?
Your printed materials should shout loud and proud about the fact you have the answers to the problems your potential customers are facing. If they do, then it will be money very well spent and you’ll see a tangible return on that marketing investment.
We hope this has given you some insight into how to focus the design effort for your printed materials. Remember, if you need anything designed or printed, just reach out to the friendly team at R Print.