Marketing Manner

Anymore, it’s not unusual to see a URL in a magazine or newspaper ad, or even in a direct mail piece. In fact, I actually look for a URL on print advertising materials to see where I can look for more info. That makes me keep the postcard or advertisement longer than I would have otherwise.

Seventy percent of print ads include a URL, although that’s an average number. The number is skewed a bit, which you’ll see by the following stats: Male-focused, urban magazines like VIBE and Dub had almost 90 percent URL-inclusive ads, while only 20 to 30 percent of ads in various fashion magazines had URL-inclusive ads. That’s a pretty big gap.

Why the gap when it’s only natural for people to look to the Internet for more info? It’s not that hard to integrate your print and online advertising. It might take a little extra work, but I guarantee it’s well worth it. It’s easy for people to research companies and products online, and most people do the research. It’s best to be safe than sorry, and having a Web site and a landing page just for your print ads can bring in more customers and more profits.

Here are the steps to take to integrate:

1. Include your URL in all of your print materials. Your URL can go straight to your Web site’s homepage, but if you want to measure how much of your online traffic comes from print ads, create a different landing page for each ad. This is where the extra work comes in.

If you create an extension like www.url.com/postcard or www.url.com/magazine you can count the hits on these pages and figure out how many people visited your Web site solely because of the print ad they viewed. Making these landing pages might be a hassle now, but you’ll be happy later when all you have to do is look at your page counter to see how much traffic your print ads are bringing in.

Make sure the URL is in a font and size that is readable. Don’t put in a background color to try not to stand out; you want it to stand out. People expect to see a URL on print ads these days, so don’t make them search for it.

2. Making it measureable is the next step, which I integrated into Step 1 by creating a URL extension. (See, integration happening all over the place!)

3. Give your URL meaning. Tell people why they should visit your Web site. Should they place an order through the site or find out more info? If your product includes a complex decision-making process, directing people to a tutorial or video of your product in action could help them make their decision. Tell readers what they can expect from visiting your Web site. If you want them to place an order, make the URL you point them to a product page of the advertised product with an easy link to a shopping cart.

4. Extend the ad online. Whatever your ad looks like in print, carry that design and feel to the URL you’re sending consumers to. If you’re showing a car out on a curvy country road, continue that road and country feel on your landing page URL.  By creating continuity and consistency, you’ll encourage consumers to make a purchase or find out more information.

One of the most common direct mail pieces is a postcard because of the low-cost and ease of design.  Often, a company will not send a postcard only once but rather several times in waves because many know that reaching an audience requires persistence.  With this in mind, it is important that your postcards consistently convey your brand no matter the design or layout.

Your brand is what tells faithful consumers that they can trust your product.  Being consistent with your brand design will help when creating loyal customers.  Your brand should always have the same feel and look so that it sends the same message whether on a product label, brochure, or postcard.

A logo, colors, tagline, fonts, or images that always portray a certain message are all a part of branding. Depending on your company brand, each should be considered when designing your postcards:

• Your logo should remain basically the same on all of your postcards, except for changing the size when necessary.

• You may not want to use the same color scheme for every postcard, unless color is a large part of your brand, such as with Coca Cola. You will want to use colors that create the same feelings, though.

• A tagline will need to convey the same idea but can vary in wording every so often.

• Using the same font type each time can also help consumers to easily recognize that a postcard is from you. Be sure that the font is easy to read in most sizes.

• You do not need to use the same picture for every postcard. Change your photographs but use those that have a similar idea. If you want to be seen as a family-friendly company, use pictures that accurately portray this image.

Consumers want brands they recognize and can trust. So, always tailor your design to your brand so that when your clients receive your postcard in the mail, they want to know what you have to offer.

Designers are communicators, plain and simple. They just don’t communicate in the way people usually think of first: with words. They communicate with images.

Just because designers think with their right brains most of the time doesn’t mean they don’t have the ability to tap into their left brain strength from time to time. I’m pretty sure they didn’t get through school by drawing their term papers!

The seeds of writing have been planted in designers’ brains since learning their ABCs; creative weeds have just overgrown the writing plant. But, with a little nurturing, designers can grow their writing plant. And there’s no better time to do that than in the present.

In today’s age of dwindling creative budgets, designers may be called upon to write and design everything from brochures to direct mail postcards to posters for the big wig’s presentation. It can be intimidating, but for those who take the risk it can be quite rewarding. But as with anything, it takes practice. Writers aren’t born with innate writing talent (at least not most of them anyway). They have to practice their craft every day. So designers can practice their writing skills and become good, if not great, writers.

Here are some tips and techniques to try out to get that left brain pumping:

Sketch words. To designers, it feels more comfortable to start brainstorming an idea by sketching out images and then adding words as they go along. But instead, try starting with words first – write whatever words and phrases you think you might need to create the message you’re trying to come up with. Words will help you focus on a concept and then you can create images that complement those words.

Review marketing materials or magazines or whatever medium you are trying to write for. By carefully reading high-traffic Web sites or popular catalogs, you can gain insight into what good writing reads like. Note the techniques and tone used in the various formats (brochures, postcards, magazine ads) of which you might be working with. Just getting familiar with the different styles of writing will help you become more comfortable with writing that way.

Brainstorm with a mind map. A mind map is a diagram that represents words, ideas and other items that are linked to a certain key word or idea. Start with the one idea you’re trying to write for, say sales. You’d write “sales” in the middle of a piece of paper and then you would write whatever words come to mind based on the word “sales.” From there, you do the same with the new words you’ve just written down. Wikipedia has a good example of a mind map: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mind_map. You can get a lot of ideas from a mind map by writing down every single thing you think of – there are no wrong answers! Besides, you’re the only person who’ll be looking at this. There’s no one to judge you, except yourself. And that’s a topic best left to another blog.

Just write. When you sit down to write, just write whatever comes to you. You don’t even have to write in full sentences. Just let it flow. Then you can go back and … 

Edit and organize. Or organize and edit. Whichever seems easiest to you, do first. Read through what you’ve written and put a star next to the ideas and phrases that are on the same topic. Use another symbol for all the paragraphs or sentences that have to do with another topic. Then group them all together and edit what you’ve got.

Remember, the fewer the words, the better. Don’t use five words when you can say it in three. As Walt Whitman said “The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.