Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

Marketers are naturally consistent, using the same logo and PMS colors in every piece, limiting the number of fonts to only a few and typing page numbers in the same place on every page. This consistency is important because it gives your work a sense of professionalism and authority while providing an underlying structure to every document.

The concept of repetition goes a step beyond consistency. It is a conscious effort to unify and strengthen your marketing collateral by tying together disparate parts.

Repetition is a powerful way to build brand familiarity and credibility. Studies show that you must repeat your message at least three times before it even registers with your prospect. Ongoing customer touches allow you to build trust, a necessary foundation of any purchasing decision. Repeat your call to action in every communication. Clearly explain to your target audience what you’re asking them to do and how to do it.

Readers gain comfort from having certain elements repeated. Readers more readily recognize specific columns or special sections of a newsletter if they look the same from issue to issue, allowing the reader to find what is of interest quickly. Make your piece more visually interesting by repeating a bold font, thick rule, graphic, special bullet or spatial relationship throughout your multi-page document.

Deliver your message in one way, and then reinforce it in another. Use repetition not only within a piece, but also between all pieces. Use the same design style on stationery, postcards, brochures, newsletters, packaging, advertisements and your Web site. This helps the person reading your brochure know that you are the same person who sent the postcard last month.

Repetition shouldn’t be boring. Once you have established a few key repetitive components, you can vary those items while maintaining a consistent look. Take a strong element, such as a shape, and present it in a variety of sizes, shades and positions. If there’s something that you want to call special attention to, toss in a surprise element, such as a different color, angle or graphic.

Repetition is a proven way to unify your design, add visual interest and bring clarity to your message. Identify existing repetitions and strengthen them, then create new ones to add a unique dimension to your marketing collateral.

 

 

What Is Your Print Project Wearing?

Once your print project comes off the press, it may not be finished—not yet. It might need that extra finishing touch. Let’s look at three reasons you might want to add a coating before your project goes “live” into the hands of your target audience.

1. Protection. Sometimes a project needs that extra level of protection to keep it looking its best. Coatings can protect projects such as direct mail, marketing collateral, packaging, and catalogs from a wide variety of harsh environmental conditions, including:

• Mailing equipment
• Moisture
• Dirt
• Retail storage and display
• Handling (including fingerprints)

If you need full waterproof properties, you may want to consider a laminate.

2. Gloss. Shine adds sparkle and impact. It instantly conveys the impression of value and quality. When you print or mail a piece with a high-gloss coating, you are telling recipients, “You matter!” UV coating offers the hardest coated surface and the highest level of brilliance and sheen.
3. Special effects. The number of options for specialty coatings is exploding. Spot varnish, for example, highlights specific areas of the printed piece for visual interest and impact. (Think lips popping out on a lipstick ad.) Soft touch creates a printed piece with a velvety finish. It produces a wonderful tactile feel and adds fingerprint resistance. Some specialty varnishes can be enhanced with effects such as glitter, tint, and scents. If you want to use a laminate, you can even get holographic effects.

Different finishes have different benefits and drawbacks. They also have different ranges of cost. Varnish is inexpensive and flexible, but tends to yellow over time. This can be problematic if your product has a long shelf life and large areas of white. Aqueous coating dries quickly and offers a high level of protection, but it has a higher cost. Specialty coatings offer a wide array of effects and visual and tactile appeal, but they may also carry a premium.

Different coatings “shine” for different types of projects and under different conditions. Talk to us about your coating options before finalizing your next printing project.

Survey: Top Takeaways for Print Use

Every year, Target Marketing conducts its Media Usage Survey. In this survey, the magazine asks how readers are allocating their budgets, which channels are increasing and decreasing, and which channels readers prefer for a variety of activities, including acquisition and retention.

While this survey is not projectable to marketers at large, it does give us critical insights into the larger trends. Let’s take a look at three trends you need to know.

1. Marketing is multichannel.

One of the biggest takeaways from the survey is how multichannel marketing has become. When it comes to acquisition, for example, 83% of respondents are using email, 69% are using social media, 68% are using online advertising, and 58% are using direct mail. This reinforces both the importance of print and the need to incorporate a variety of channels to hit targets wherever they are.

2. Print remains a critical channel.

The biggest growth is in digital channels like social media and mobile. However, print continues to hold its own—even grow—in its importance to companies’ overall marketing and branding efforts. According to the survey, Target Marketing readers plan to allocate 28.5% of their budgets to print this year. This includes spending on direct mail, magazines, newspapers, and circulars. This grows to 33.9% when you include space advertising like billboards and signage.

Direct mail, in particular, is on the rise. For acquisition, the percent of respondents using direct mail has risen from 54% to 58% between 2015 and 2016. For retention, the percentage using direct mail has risen from 51% to 55%.

3. Print delivers strong ROI.

When asked which marketing method delivers the strongest ROI, direct mail was also strong. For acquisition, 16.3% of readers thought direct mail delivered the strongest ROI of all channels. For retention, 14.6% thought it was the strongest. In both cases, direct mail was second only to email in terms of perceived strength.

Why Using a Skilled Designer Matters

You can profile your data, segment your mailing, and create highly relevant, personalized mail pieces, but if the design falls short, the message may not get seen. What makes your target audience stand up and take notice? Here is where the skills of a professional designer pay for themselves many times over.

Here are some key elements that professional designers take into consideration in any print or multichannel marketing project to make it pop off the page.

1. Typography. The art of typography goes beyond which fonts look cool. It involves selection and pairing of fonts for style, branding, and readability. Typography also involves font size, spacing between letters, line breaks, and paragraphs (tracking and leading), and arranging the text in a way that makes it easy for the eye to navigate around the page.

Fonts can be sirens, however, and they have to be handled carefully. Some are more readable than others or are more readable against different backgrounds. Some fonts harmonize well. Others clash. Some fonts send the right branding message. Others can undermine your goals.

There is also a hierarchy of positioning of heads, subheads, and body copy that helps to move your eye along and prioritize various elements of the text.

2. Color palette. The colors used in the print project will set the mood for the entire piece. Common color palettes include:

• Monochrome, which is based on single color on the color wheel.
• Analogous, which is based on three colors next to each other on the color wheel.
• Complementary, which is based on colors directly across from one another on the color wheel (blue/yellow, purple/lime).
• Triadic, which is built from three colors equally spaced from one another around the color wheel.

All of these palettes can include lighter and darker tones of that color, as well.

Color palettes can be warm tones or cool tones, CMYK or spot color. With digital, you can even replicate metallics. Colors can have high saturation or low saturation. The palette can be chosen based on color theory, which is based on the idea that certain colors evoke certain feelings or emotions in people.

3. Alignment of elements. Designers may use invisible lines to place design elements, such as images, charts, and even text blocks, where they have the most impact. For example, designers may use the “rule of thirds,” in which a page will be divided evenly by three horizontal and vertical lines. Where the lines intersect is where elements will draw your eye. Designers will also use grids, arrangement of white space, and placement of margins to move your eye around the page and bring attention to specific elements.

There is a lot more to professional design than many people realize. It is about more than aesthetics. It’s also about branding and communication. When it comes to designing a logo, creating a brochure, or developing your next direct mailing, bring in a professional designer. Let them help you reap outstanding results.

 

More Reasons to Love Color

We all know the value of color images in your marketing mix, but what about the messaging? Study after study shows that when messages are in color, they have a powerful impact on your bottom line. Among the benefits:

• Helping readers find information more easily (great for insurance policies, contracts, and other lengthy documents)
• Reducing errors (highlight instructions or account information so people get it right the first time)
• Slashing payment time (highlight the amount owed and the due date and watch your invoices get paid faster)
• Increasing the ability of readers to understand and retain information (great for sales presentations)
• Increased recall of the marketing message (great for everything)

Next time you want to draw your readers’ attention to a specific area of text, consider using color. Make phone numbers or payment information stand out. Highlight discounts in brightly colored starbursts. Use arrows or colored bullets to focus attention on key points in brochures.

Take the example of the State of California Franchise Tax Board (FTB). The FTB used to send out plain tax notices, but the documents were confusing and the FTB consistently experienced slow payments and high volumes to its call centers. So it added highlight color and personalized messaging. Key information was displayed in blue, guiding taxpayers through the document and providing specific instructions. The result? Faster payments and fewer mistakes. This translated into millions in additional interest income and, at an average cost of $15 per call to the call center, significant savings from reduced call volume.

Color matters—not just in your graphics, but in your messaging. Let us help you use color to make you money and save you money, too!

Don’t Overlook These Benefits of Color

When we think about color in print marketing and direct mail, we think about stunning images and eye-catching graphics. But what about color in the messaging itself? Here are some highly effective and often overlooked ways that color can be used, not just in your images, but in your messaging, too.

Study after study shows that, when messages and images are in color, it increases recall dramatically. Color increases recall in the 80% range, and people are about 40% more likely to select or read materials when they are in color.

Here are some additional benefits of color:

• It helps readers find information more easily. This is great for insurance policies, contracts, and other lengthy documents.
• Color reduces errors. Highlighting instructions or account information draws attention to critical information and helps people get it right the first time.
• Color slashes payment time. Try highlighting the amount owed and the due date with color and watch your invoices get paid faster!
• It increases the ability of readers to understand and retain information. Try adding colored text and backgrounds to your next sales presentation.

When people think about color, they think about images. But increasingly, marketers are considering the value of color in their text and other messaging areas, as well. Make phone numbers or payment information stand out in a letter. Highlight discounts in a brightly colored starburst. Use arrows or colored bullets to focus attention on key points in a brochure.

Color matters, and not just in your graphics. Ask us to suggest places you can be using color to further impact the effectiveness of your direct mail efforts.

Consumers Say, “Target Me!”

Would it surprise you to know that 78% of consumers say they would be “more likely” to purchase from a retailer again if provided with offers targeted to their interests, wants, and needs? It shouldn’t. Here are some other eye-opening data on how willing consumers are to provide personal data if it provides them with a financial benefit:

• 71% of consumers would be more likely to purchase from a retailer again if provided with offers targeted to their individual location.
• 45% would be willing to trade “some privacy” for incentives tailored to their individual shopping habits.
• 43% don’t mind if mobile apps track their smartphone’s or tablet’s location if it means they will receive ads or promotions targeted to their local area.
• 57% would be “more likely” to purchase from a retailer again if the retailer kept them updated on new offers and service by social media.

Although these data come from a study of digital marketing, they are critical to the world of print. This is both because print is one of the primary methods of driving digital data collection (direct mail, posters, signage, in-store displays) and because, as marketing becomes increasingly multi-channel, print is relying more and more heavily on the data gathered through digital channels by sharing the same centralized marketing database.

Need help combining digital and print channels to deepen customer engagement? Give us a call!

Source: Engaging with Digital Consumers (Infosys, 2013)

5 Steps to Keeping Your Customers

Why do customers leave? For any number of reasons. They may choose a competitor because of price or dissatisfaction with your company. They may feel they get a better deal somewhere else or just want to try something new. Customers can be fickle. Here are five ways to retain them.

Plan and budget. Customer retention must be given proper attention in your marketing plan and budget. Develop a comprehensive plan that includes tried-and-true print as well as social media. Retention programs often have a better ROI than customer acquisition campaigns.

Start retention efforts early. After the first sale, mail a “thank you” note with a satisfaction survey. Provide an easy response form that captures the client’s product and service needs, as well as the anticipated date for the next purchase. This will provide insight into your company’s strengths and weaknesses and give you key intelligence regarding what it will take to keep your customers coming back.

Personalize your message. Print newsletters and postcards enable you to deliver a customer-centric message based on buying preferences or past purchasing behavior. Customized offers and targeted content create personal connections.

Wake up dormant customers. Re-establish the conversation and help former customers see why they bought from you in the first place. Sending a “we haven’t heard from you lately” postcard is a low-cost way to re-engage.

Create a competitive advantage. Your most valuable asset is your customer list. Happy customers are open to upsells and cross-sells. They don’t always need special offers to continue using your product or service because they’ve already accepted your value proposition. Plus, they attract other customers through word of mouth and referral programs.

Customer retention is a necessary, cost-effective and profitable element of your marketing strategy. Through adoption of the right customer practices, you can keep those customers where they belong—in your pocket.

Take Your Paper Greener

Did you know that paper is going green? Actually, paper has been green for some time, but paper manufacturers are making it even more so. Let’s look at some trends in paper manufacturing that will be pleasing to the Earth.

Paper is going lighter. As postal costs have gone up, paper stocks have gotten lighter. While some print projects will always demand a heavier grade of paper, for documents that will end up in the mail stream, lighter paper just makes sense. This translates into less energy used to harvest and process the fiber, less energy used to produce the paper, and less fossil fuel used to distribute the final product.

Paper mills use renewable energy. Much of the energy consumed in paper manufacturing comes from renewable energy sources, including biomass (treetops, limbs, bark and other manufacturing by-products) and water. For some mills, as much as two-thirds of the energy used in their paper production can come from renewable sources.

Paper mills are going carbon-neutral. Non-integrated mills may not be able to produce their own energy, but an increasing number purchase carbon credits instead. Many paper companies now claim to be entirely carbon-neutral.

More 100% postconsumer paper. There are a growing number of recycled papers using 100% postconsumer (PCW) fiber. This used to mean significantly higher prices, but the costs have dropped to be more in line with those of other recycled papers.

More environmental certifications. Most paper mills offer environmentally certified papers these days. With environmental certification, the entire paper manufacturing process, from the harvesting of the trees to the production of the paper, is strictly monitored so you can be sure that it is conducted with the highest levels of environmental integrity.

As the paper industry continues to deepen its environmental commitment, it is becoming easier to take your print marketing green. Combine that with best-in-class mailing practices such as keeping your mailing list clean, de-duped, and up to date, and you’ve got a powerful recipe for environmentally friendly print marketing!

 

Survey: Data-Driven Marketing Is Critical to Success

Survey: Data-Driven Marketing Is Critical to Success

According to a survey by Forbes Insights,[1] 64% of global marketers “strongly agree” that data-driven marketing is crucial to success within a hyper-competitive global economy. An additional 27% agree. This makes 91% of marketers surveyed agreeing or strongly agreeing with the crucial nature of data.

Not only do marketers agree that data-driven marketing is critical, but they are seeing tangible benefits of their efforts. Nearly half—47%— strongly agree that there are “a number of tangible benefits” being realized for their data-driven marketing strategies. An additional 41% agree, making a total of 84%.

Other findings from the survey indicate that . . .

• senior leaders within organizations support and advocate for data initiatives,
• there is enterprise-wide vision for data analytics within organizations, and
• there is an urgency to conduct data-driven marketing campaigns.

There is no getting around the increasing importance of data in today’s marketing strategies, whether global or local. Marketers have more than good intentions. They are putting those strategies into action. How are you keeping pace?

Talk to us about starting or improving your data-driven marketing strategies today!

 

[1] Data is derived from a survey of 162 U.S.-based senior executives conducted by Forbes Insights in September 2015. Respondents represented a range of industries, including retail, telecom, technology, consumer packaged goods, automotive, banking, advertising/marketing, energy, travel, media, and insurance. All companies had at least $250 million in annual revenues.