Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Is Reinventing Your Brand Right For You?

People judge you by the way you look. Even in your ads. It does matter a lot if your ad was produced by a professional commercial color printing company or printed by the most innovative equipment. Why? Precisely because the way you want your clients and prospects to see you depends largely on how professional your ads look. To increase your chances of getting your leads, you need to be professional in your brand and image.


So when do you need to do a makeover? It depends on your needs. Sometimes re-branding can be your solution to a flagging marketing campaign. But at times, it can also be your business’ downfall.


You have to remember that your brand is a representation of your business; it’s not something that you use so you can reflect the image you would want to be projected. It must always be what you are as a business, and not what you hope to be.


Hence, you have to make sure that what you have to offer supports the image you would want to have. The experience your clients have with you should equal if not surpass any expectations you and your clients have about your company. If not, then no amount of reinventing will work to revive your ad.


The bottom line is to have something different that will make you stand out from the rest of your competition. You have to offer something unique in terms of your service, your product, and your company as well. Unless your image was not captured correctly the first time you did your marketing ad, then a makeover may not be the solution you need to reinvent your brand and image.

Posted by sedated at 21:07:41 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Saturday, February 23, 2008

The Right Business Card

Your custom business card is one of the most important tools to have in your marketing arsenal. With its small size and affordable cost, your cards work the most when it comes to providing your target clients the right image for your business.


However, with its size, you don’t expect it to tell a lot of things especially your whole story. What you probably should expect from it is a reflection of the right image and impression to your clients and prospects. It may be little, but your cards pack a big punch that people will remember. More than your personal appearance, your full color business card is an expression of your kind of service and business values.


So what does your card tell your audience? Does it convey the right message to your target audience? Does it present the right image you would want to be known for?


Often, the right cards can make your business grow to the heights you’ve always imagined. When choosing the right card for your business, you have to look at the style. The style makes your business cards the right one for you. Select a card that is appropriate for your business, as well as the industry and personal style of your company. You wouldn’t want to hand out inappropriate cards that would make a mockery of what you stand for, right? The best card for your business is probably the one that could tell your target audience the right message and the promise that you can deliver. So choose your cards wisely. The right one can be your best tool in your arsenal.

Posted by sedated at 01:55:21 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Monday, February 18, 2008

What’s With Your Print Ad Copy?

Even if your commercial printing company did a god job to make your marketing collaterals aesthetically attractive, it won’t do you any good at all if your pint ads cannot compel your target audience to buy from you.

Without a convincing copy, you’re just wasting precious money, time and energy printing your collaterals because they won’t be able to accomplish what you have set out to do – to make a sale. A marketing campaign that does not make a sale is a useless effort on your part.

So how do you provide compelling copy in your marketing collaterals?

By writing a headline that grabs your prospects’ imagination and emotions, for one. Your headline is one of the most, if not the most, important element in your print ad. So don’t waste your opportunity to shine with lackluster headline that bores your target audience to death. Make your headline so loud by providing the benefits of buying your products. An increase would definitely be in the offing.

Two, always talk about the benefits and not about you. Marketing is all about your clients. It’s not about you. You should do well to remember that always. What’s in it for them? That should be the ultimate question that you should be able to answer in your collaterals.

And finally, ask for a response. This part might be moot, but you’ll be surprised how many clients and prospects don’t act on a print ad just because you don’t make it clear what you need them to do after. Call now. Come in today and get your free gift. Stock up now and get 50% discount. The key is to spell it out for them.

Posted by sedated at 20:30:42 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Get Response With Your Copy

In addition to getting the best commercial printing company to produce your marketing collaterals, your promotional ad should not only have a great design but most importantly, words that capture the attention of your clients and prospective customers. Without words to convince them to buy from you, your marketing efforts are just a waste of your time, money and energy; not to mention that you’re also wasting precious time of your target audience.

Your marketing collaterals should do more than attract attention; more than that, your marketing collaterals need to bring in sales to grow your business. But what good does your print ad do if all they can accomplish is to look pretty and get noticed? They can get you noticed, but other than that, nothing follows.

The bottom line is that you’re investing hard earned money, not to mention much of your time and effort to your marketing campaign. So why not go the distance and provide a compelling copy to convince your target audience to stay and keep your collaterals? Make them want to do more than look. Make them want to stay and read more of what you have to offer. This way, not only do you give significance to your marketing collaterals, your target audience would also give value to your print ads because it provides them the information they need and want.

Posted by sedated at 20:29:23 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Advertising That Works

When it comes to choosing the best advertising vehicle for your business, with so many options available out there, you probably would have a hard time deciding where to put your hard earned money.

So if you want to start your very own advertising campaign, the first thing you have to consider is to hire a professional to work with you. It really helps to have professional people like an experienced color printing company working with you to accomplish your goals, promotional-wise. An expert can help you select the most appropriate media vehicle, as well as one that you can easily afford.

You also need to realize that you advertise not just once or twice, but all the time. That’s why before you begin, you have to understand that you need to invest not only your money, but also your time and energy. You don’t stop marketing your products and services just because you don’t feel like it. Even if you feel that you don’t need it, you still need to advertise in order for you to have continuous flow of clients.

And it also doesn’t mean that you consistently advertise without thinking about your customers. What do they need, want or desire? What can you do to make life easier for them? What solution can you provide that will solve a problem or an issue?

Finally, provide a clear message that is not confusing or cluttered that your target clients find it hard to understand what you have to say. You’re going through all the trouble anyway so better create something that would be worth your time, money and effort.

Posted by sedated at 00:34:09 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Less Is More

Oprah has a special episode where they help people to clear up things and basically un-clutter their lives. The episode especially promotes the attitude of getting rid of the clutter, which eventually result to a simpler and clear life where one can accomplish dreams and objectives.

This principle can also be applied to good design. In marketing, a good design has this basic elements - must be practical, systematic and easy. It just goes to show that good design means less is more.

Marketing is all about making it easy for your customers and prospects to get in business with you. It’s all about providing an easier time for them. If your target clients can understand your message in your print ads without any trouble or difficulty, then the better for you.

Good design is all about simple and clear design and layout. These elements will provide the difference between success and failure in your print ads even if you choose the best color printing company to print them for you. Try to remember that a good design always outweighs a creative print ad. The less décor you put in your print ads, the better it is for your target clients to focus on what is important – your message.

So choose to do less, because eventually, less is more.

Posted by sedated at 20:49:19 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Build Credibility With Quality

Marketing collaterals are a dime a dozen. In fact, everyday weʼre bombarded with so much advertising, print or otherwise, that most of our ads get considered as junk mail or thrown in the garbage. This is no surprise when most of the time we do give our target clients advertising campaigns that are less than what they want and need.

Your clients are smarter and wiser than you think. They donʼt just accept whatever message you put in your print ads, even if you get the most expensive color printing company to produce your ads for you. Even when you use intelligent copy, it doesnʼt guarantee you the leads you need to generate sales.

Take for example the use of the word ʽqualityʼ in every print ad and commercials. Quality has been used so many times that the word itself has lost its credibility. When you use quality in your print ad, your customers are not so gullible anymore that they believe it readily.

In order for you to gain credibility, you can only assume that a responsible and smart client would look for quality in your results. If youʼre a color printing company yourself, when you say quality, you got to have the best postcards or only excellent quality flyers mailed out to your customers. If youʼre a designing company, you got to show nicely designed pictures in full and vibrant colors.

What Iʼm trying to say here is that when you want to be credible in the eyes of your clients, you got to walk your talk. If you say you got quality, well, you better be able to provide the best results. If not, your clients would just go to your competition in a snap.

Posted by sedated at 00:43:25 | Permalink | Comments (1) »