Marketing Manner

With the economy now officially in a recession, the outlook for print advertising budgets looks grim. But according to Robert Thomson, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, advertisers are “slowly returning.” Thomson told the Reuters Media Summit in New York: “You’re starting to see them emerge in the sunlight after this period of darkness.” Thomson believes that advertisers are looking to use more conservative, comfortable outlets to communicate with consumers.

With the instability of the Internet, “People are looking for a safe harbor in times of turbulence.” If this is true, newspaper and magazine publishers would welcome the news, since they’ve had so many cutbacks in advertising budgets in the past year. The advertising budgets were already scarce enough before this sluggish economy.

Newspaper and magazine circulations have been declining since people get their news online anymore. So many advertisers have cut print budgets in favor of the Internet that some analysts think that some U.S. newspaper may even fold in 2009. (I know I’ve seen headlines just this week about weekly newspapers folding, so dailies might not be too far behind.)

Digital information is still big business for many companies, including WSJ parent Dow Jones & Co. But at the same time, print advertising is still a valuable moneymaker for many companies. Although display ads on Web sites are reaching a lot of people’s computer screens, that doesn’t necessarily mean that people are paying attention to them. Thomson believes that advertisers are starting to recognize that people ignore display ads because they are looking at other parts of the screen that sap their attention. Newspaper and magazine ads may be more valuable because you can’t click out of them like you can online ads. Print ads aren’t as intrusive as many Internet ads. It’s easier for people to get distracted, surfing from page to page and it seems that if they notice the ads at all, it’s only because they’re annoyed by them.

Advertising in the luxury market haven’t been hit too bad, but it’s inevitable according to Nick Brien, who is the CEO of Interpublic Group’s Mediabrands, a holding company for media buying and planning agencies. Even millionaires and billionaires are losing money, which doesn’t mean much to the average Joe, but going from having 1 million to half a million is still a loss.

As a result, advertisers will be hitting print – it’s been the reliable advertising venue for years and in this unstable economy, advertisers don’t want to take too many risks.

The concept of a print and mail service is simple: you send a digital ad file to a company that will print and mail your ad, usually along with many others to make up a packet of ads, and the company will use their own mailing list for your ad. Bam! – thousands of new clients, just like that. You pay them one fee and they do all the work. If you use a few services at a time, you could potentially mail your ad to thousands of prospective buyers within weeks.

Sounds good, but unfortunately, it doesn’t work quite that smoothly.

Many print and mail companies don’t have a high level of return on the offers they churn out. I say churn because these companies often take as many advertisers as they can without care about the quality of the ad presentation. That means that you’d have to reach tens of thousands of people to get the same return on your offer that you would if you mailed out your postcard or print ad yourself. If you get a 3 percent return from mailing your offer by itself, you can expect to get about .5 percent return if you use a print and mail company, and oftentimes it’s even lower than that.

Why Such a Low Return?
The reasons for the low return rate are speculation from many differing Web sites and marketing experts. No one has done any official research into why the print and mail companies have such a low return rate. Here are a few reasons:

They have a non-targeted mailing list.  For products or services that only a chosen population needs, a print and mail company’s list won’t do just because it’s not targeted. The list might be geographically targeted, but that’s about it. The mailing list is one of the most crucial, if not the most crucial, part of a successful direct mail campaign. Your ad can’t do any good if you don’t get it into the hands of the people who are likely to be interested in it.

Poor quality materials. Many print and mail companies use the thinnest paper they can and don’t use quality inks or quality printers. Many of the ads come out looking amateurish or even worse, smudged from the printer.

Double-sided printing. To cut costs and make a bigger profit, many print and mail companies will use double-sided printing, with two ads on one piece of paper. This makes the consumer have to choose between the two ads if there are coupons on each side: which one will the consumer give up? There’s a good chance it’ll be yours unless your product or service appeals to everyone, which is pretty hard to do.

Dishonesty in number delivered. There is no way of knowing if the company actually sends out as many ad packets as they say they do. If the company says it’ll charge only $3 per 100 ads sent out, how do you know that they are actually sending out 100 ads? Many companies cut costs and pocket profit by sending out a smaller number of ads than promised. 

With all of these negatives associated with print and mail services, it’s smart to research the company before you hand over any of your hard earned money. Your best bet is to look for complaints on forums and Web sites and to compare the price of the print and mail service with the separate prices of using an online printing company (which is generally cheaper than an offline printing company) and mailing the ads yourself. It might take some time, but time is money and you don’t want to waste either element.

I don’t know the future and I don’t know what will ultimately become of the print medium for advertising. Perhaps in enough years color printing truly will be a thing of the past that no worthwhile marketer will bother with.

I do know a few things about history though that would suggest it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. After all, radio ads didn’t put it to rest, nor did TV commercials topple print advertising as the king of marketing. Now online advertising is making a play for dominance over the world of marketing, but based on what I’ve seen in the past, I have a feeling that the print world is more than up to the challenge.

Why has traditional marketing survived this long to still stand proud in the world of marketing? Radio and TV didn’t topple it for the same reason that the internet isn’t going to right now.

Not everyone had access to a radio when it was first introduced, or not everyone really cared to listen to one. That meant anyone who didn’t have a radio was automatically not going to hear that ad, which meant you were cutting yourself off from a certain part of the population.

The same is true for TV. It took a lot of years before they spread to be in nearly every home, yet even now they aren’t really in every single home there is. And even in the homes that do have a TV, not everyone watches it that much, or pays attention to the commercials on it.

The same is true for the internet. While computers have spread rapidly over the past ten years, not everyone owns one, and even fewer people actually have an internet connection. I’d say that yes, the majority of homes probably have some form of the internet these days, but that still isn’t all of them, and that’s still a portion of the population you’d be cutting yourself off from.

Here’s the thing about print advertising: a person doesn’t need to have anything in order to be handed a flyer on the street. They don’t need to pay a single cent to buy a computer or TV in order to pick up a brochure. All of those other forms of marketing require a person to spend money in order to get the equipment needed to view the marketing.

With printing you’re footing the bill for all of it and simply handing a person the advertisement. You do all the work and they get to benefit from it by reading what you have to say. The world of print advertising requires the least amount of effort from a person, and that’s why it has stuck around for so long.

Maybe that will change, but I don’t see it happening anytime soon.

As a small business owner, you have to balance cutting costs and remaining lean and efficient.  Brochures are one of those indispensable marketing and advertising tools.  So, how do you decide at what point you should try to take the do-it-yourself approach to designing and printing brochures, or to hire professionals to do the job for you?
 
First step – know the numbers
How many brochures do you actually need?  This depends on many factors, most important of which are your budget and your customers.  If you have hundreds of customers that you can reach through trade shows or simple meet and greet opportunities, you may want to cut costs and limit your brochure design expense.  In this case, go to a professional printer who can quickly and easily develop your brochures.  But if you have a small customer base, consider a more elaborate design that you may be able to print and design on your own.
 
Second step – know your customers
Your customers need to know how your products and services will make their lives better.  You already have an intimate knowledge of what your customers need, now show them through your brochures why they need you.  If your customers need to see a flashy, brilliant brochure, then consider professional printing.  It is difficult to use small office equipment to create high-end brochures.  If you can keep it simple, your home-based printing equipment may be all you need.
 
Step three – know yourself
This process of “showing” your customers why they need you often requires the special touch of a professional designer.  Do you really have the expertise and patience to develop professional brochure design?  This is a question only you can answer.  If you’re confident in your experience and equipment, save yourself a great deal of time and headache and develop your own brochures.  Otherwise, save yourself the time and headache and hire a professional.

At business conventions, marketing events, or any other advertising venture, business cards are handed out in droves. To make sure that yours does not get lost in the stacks of personal cards that prospects take home, create a unique design that sets your business card apart from the rest.

Plastic cards
Instead of the conventional glossy paper stock, try printing your business cards on plastic. Although considerably more pricey than regular stock, plastic business cards certainly stand out from the regular paper cards. Print your information on only one side with no or light background color for a transparent effect.

Magnetic cards
For business cards that can be displayed 24/7, print on a magnetic stock. Magnet business cards provide clients with an easy way to display your information both in the office on metal file cabinets and at home on the refrigerator. The only downside is the back side cannot be printed upon.

Unique shape
Some printing companies provide the option of rounded edges, which sets your business card apart from the standard square edges. Some printers even offer several sizes of rounded edge cuts from which to choose. Another interesting shape for business cards is the fold, providing more space for extra information yet is still able to fit into a wallet or business card holder. Use half of the folded business card for a tear away ticket to a door prize drawing or an event.

The purpose of a business card is to provide clients with your information and to also create a reminder of your conversation. Often, if a card is of standard design, prospects forget the face to which the card belongs. Try a unique design for a business card that cannot be forgotten.

If you haven’t created a poster for a trade show, or haven’t thought about creating a poster, you should read on to pick up some pointers on how to create a great poster.

Trade show posters work well because the colors and the text draw people in. You can draw people in to your booth in other ways – hosting a game or giveaway, or showing a video demonstration of your product in action – but these options take time. Posters don’t take up a lot of time – people can look them over at their leisure and then move further into your booth to find out more info.

Here are some pointers for your next trade show poster:

The title of the poster should be at the top of the poster – don’t try to get too creative and put the title across the bottom or down the sides. By putting it at the top, in a simple font, it’s easier to read. Make sure it’s big enough to be read from 15 to 20 feet away.

Create an intro and a conclusion for your poster(s). If you have multiple posters, or if your poster contains a lot of text information, consider adding intro and conclusion sheets. These can flank both sides of your poster so that people can decide if they want to read the rest of your poster(s) and if they don’t have enough time, they can just read the conclusion to get the important parts. The conclusion should be a bulleted list of takeaway points that you want people to remember from your poster(s).

Number your poster sections. You should always design your posters so that the information flows in a logical sequence. However, not all people are logical, so to help those people out, use large numbers to number each section. I think it’s safe to assume that people will know how to follow the numbers (at least I hope so)!

Design the poster to be self-explanatory. The main points of the poster should stick out even when you are not there to point them out to people. Don’t get too detailed though – just give people enough info to understand the concept you’re trying to get across. People can ask questions when you are at the booth, or you can leave a pile of business cards by the poster (or even in a pocket on the poster) so that people can contact you later with questions.

Whatever photos or illustrations you have should be explained. Each graphic on your poster should have a caption that explains it or labels it.

Practice a 2 to 5 minute poster presentation. When people come up to you and your poster, don’t just read the poster to them. That’s like being in a bad high school class all over again! Instead, figure out what you’re going to say about the poster ahead of time – what points you need to clarify or expand upon and try to anticipate questions and answers to those questions. Practice your presentation in front of colleagues or family members. Keep it short and sweet so people don’t get bored.

By following these few tips, your trade show posters will earn its cost back through all your new sales and leads!