Are you consistently kicking goals when you spend money on print marketing?

Do you get noticed by the right people? Just as importantly, do they take action when they hear from you? Or do most of your messages go straight to the rubbish bin?

Perhaps you’re not really sure.

If you’re using the throw it against the wall and hope something sticks method of developing your marketing messages, there is another way.

Last month we printed a batch of print collateral for Loans USA. They exhibited at an investor expo in Sydney, handing out a tips booklet targeted very specifically at the show audience. More than one in five recipients attended a followup sales seminar.  What a great result. They’re thrilled, and looking forward to repeating that success in Melbourne in a few weeks.

Not knowing what’s working and what’s not is a common frustration amongst small business owners, many of whom DIY their marketing efforts, and so are often shooting in the dark. This happens both online, at point of sale and in print.

If that’s you, have a look at the last piece of promotional material you printed, and think whether you asked these questions below before you went to print

Purpose

What did success look like for this product/campaign? What outcome were we trying to achieve?

Target Audience

Exactly who was it for? What’s important for them? Did what we printed answer any of those needs?

Message

What was the key message/content? What did we want the recipient to think, feel, and do? Did we encourage them to take action?

Design/Branding

Was our design and branding clear? And was it consistent with our other print messages and online marketing?

Print Format

Were we aware of all the print format options for this project? Did we consider purpose, audience, message, design and distribution before we chose our print product?

Distribution

How was the product delivered to the recipient? Would a different product style have made this easier?

Measurement/Success Indicator

Did we have a response tracking method? Did we set a goal for ROI on this product/activity?

If you’re sick of throwing good money after bad when you print, let’s talk and find out why – and more importantly, discover how you could improve your chances next time