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When putting your brand out into the world with your marketing materials, everybody wants them to grab attention and convey their brand to their audience. Developing effective print marketing materials requires paying close attention to some design principals that will capture attention while conveying a clear message. You want to make a lasting impression on your audience, and there are a number of ways to accomplish this.
Working with a trusted Denver commercial printer will maximize your efforts, as they will be able to provide insight into the right methods to use to optimize your print marketing materials. They’ll also be able to implement consistency throughout all of your items – keeping your colors and logos uniform across many different types of marketing. From posters and banners to pamphlets and other handouts, consistency in your message along with the following tips will make a big difference in how your marketing materials are received.
Understand Your Audience
Before implementing any design, it is critical to understand who your target audience is and the exact message you want to convey to them. By tailoring your design choices to resonate with your audience’s preferences and interests, they’ll be able to reach the right demographic. By understanding your target audience, it will go a long way in creating the right materials. One of the best ways to do this is to keep up with industry trends and changes in consumer behavior, because that will allow you to zero in your messaging.
There are a number of ways to uncover your target audience and changes within that audience. The easiest way is to engage with your clients – whether directly or through things like email marketing or social media. Using analytics can allow you to gather data about who is visiting your website and the preferences of your target audience. Whichever method you use to gather this information will be extremely helpful in understanding what needs to go into designing your print marketing materials.
Keep Things Simple
Don’t clutter your design by using too much text or too many graphics. White space in your printed materials can allow the most important elements of your design to breathe, and focuses the reader’s attention on your message. You want your message to be easily understandable at a glance, because that will help keep the viewer of the materials invested. When designing things like print marketing materials, less can definitely be more.
You want your logos and text to be sharp, and those are the things you want people to remember from the marketing materials. Making them too busy distracts from the overall message and can cloud the overall message. Attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, making a compact and easily understandable message imperative. By tightening up your wording, you can make more of an impact as the message is easier to digest. It will also allow for more attention to your logos and images, which will also hold the viewer’s focus.
High-Quality Graphics & Materials
Investing in high-resolution images and other graphics will deliver sharpness and clarity in your print materials. The last thing you want is a blurred or messy logo – or one that doesn’t portray your colors correctly. Nothing will detract from the overall message and design of your marketing materials quicker than low-quality visuals. You want the attention to be on the message you’re trying to get across instead of how your logo doesn’t look right or a photo that is out of focus.
It’s also important to choose high-quality paper stock and finishes that align with your overall brand. High-quality materials deliver the impression of professionalism that you want to convey, and can go a long way in making that impression last. It might seem like a small thing, but recipients of those top-notch materials will remember the quality of the item. Budget is always a concern with any project, but using the best materials will have a lasting impact on those that come into contact with them – and it’s a great way to set yourself apart from your competition.
Maintain Brand Consistency
Along the same lines of using high-quality images and other materials, it’s important to choose print materials that best reflect your brand identity. Colors, fonts, and even imagery has to remain consistent throughout the process to convey a look of professionalism and dedication to your brand. There are multiple reasons why business owners choose the colors for their logo and other branding, and consistency with those colors across multiple platforms will reinforce that brand recognition and build credibility.
Most importantly, you want your company’s logo to be sharp with the proper coloration. This is the centerpiece of your branding, so it has to be right. Making sure you are getting consistent color of your logo across multiple forms is crucial to maintaining your brand. When your logo looks the same on a banner as it does on a tri-fold pamphlet, it makes it easier for consumers to remember your message. That is the first step in building a relationship with consumers through your brand, as all consumers want consistency from the vendors they use.
Create a Focal Point for Your Message
No matter what type of marketing materials you’re using, a great way to capture and hold your audience’s attention is with a focal point that draws the viewer in. This should serve as the main focus of your design. While the importance of logos has already been mentioned, this doesn’t have to be the focal point for every piece of marketing material. There are multiple things that can keep the viewer of the marketing material invested, from a compelling image to a bold headline or something else that’s prominent.
This is where keeping the overall design uncluttered comes into play, as well. By utilizing a focal point, it will draw in the viewer quickly without distractions. Using that specific focal point to guide the viewer through the rest of the material is a great way to not only capture their attention, but hold it so they can digest the entire message of the piece. Strategic use of this focal point can also make the item more memorable, which is one of the main goals of your marketing materials in the first place.
Craft Compelling Content
Your marketing materials are likely designed with one primary goal in mind: Generating more business. If the copy on your marketing materials is boring or overflowing with industry terms, you may lose your target audience quickly. Marketing content needs to speak directly your audiences needs and pain points, and how you’ll be able to address those needs. Don’t get bogged down in telling them all of the bells and whistles of a particular service or product, but rather inform your audience on the benefits.
One of the best things you can do with your marketing content is to simply communicate how your offering solves their problem or fulfills a need. Since the main directive is to drive business, don’t shy away from persuasive language to motivate your audience. Crafting persuasive calls to action will compel the readers to respond more quickly. Keep the information relevant and valuable without getting into too much minutiae about your process.
Use Fonts that are Easy to Read
Putting together the right content is one thing, but making sure that content is easy to read is just as important. A lot of businesses may use cursive fonts or other fonts with unique looks. These are fine to use in some instances, but not with your marketing materials. You want to use fonts that are easy to read when they’re printed or bumped up to larger sizes for large-format printing projects like posters and banners. If something like a cursive or flowing font is the main font of your branding, it’s certainly usable, but using a secondary font that’s easier to read for vital pieces of content is recommended.
It’s also important to avoid using too many fonts, because it can clutter your overall image. A lot of different fonts can also create visual confusion, distracting from the focal point and/or other images within the materials. Again, consistency is key, so sticking to two or three complementary fonts will help create consistency and reduce confusion across all of your platforms. You want to get your message across, and the easiest way to accomplish that is by making sure your audience can read that message.
There are a variety of ways to enhance the design of your print marketing materials. Even in the digital age, the tangible aspect of printed materials can still make a heavy impact for your business and your brand. As a business, your first impression is crucial, and these marketing materials wind up being just that for many consumers. For more information – and even more tips – on how to maximize your print marketing materials, reach out to the experts at Cottrell Printing today.