Companies around the country send out millions of brochures, leaflets and marketing material every day, but how many of them actually get opened or read? The truth is, unless your printed design stands out from the crowd, you run the risk of your business collateral getting ignored or even binned.
At Russell Printers, we’ve used our years of experience to come up with the top five reasons how you can ensure that your printed items make people stand up and take note.
When it comes to marketing material, less is often more. By overloading the recipient with information, offers and deals, they’re more likely to feel overwhelmed and be less inclined to read it. Keeping your printed items clear and to the point means that it doesn’t take much effort to read and that your business or event offering is obvious.
Investigate the psychology of colour further before you send your items to print. For example, red can often be used to indicate urgency, such as in a sale, and blue is often used by corporate organisations who want to offer a sophisticated and trustworthy image. Colour can send messages to the recipient before they’ve even had a chance to read your blurb, so make sure your palette ties in with your end goal. In addition, using too many colours at once can bombard the senses.
Gone are the days of clip art and comic sans, good design is all about powerful, attractive and fitting imagery. Try and find images that really suit the topic you’re talking about and that match your colour scheme. There are plenty of paid for royalty free photo sites, but you can also access royalty free ones on sites like Pexels and Unsplash.
So you’re design is clear, the right colour and has your reader’s attention. But what if they’re then faced with a page of waffle? Well written content is just as important as the overall design and can clinch a deal.
We’d always recommend hiring a professional copywriter to craft the perfect wording for your marketing collateral. They should have a good grasp of grammar and spelling, as well as an ability to write to motivate and influence people to do something (such as ring you, or buy your products).
Having dealt with all the visual elements, it’s then time to turn your attention to how your printed material feels. It’s no good spending time and money creating a fantastic brochure or leaflet, only for it to be printed on cheap, flimsy paper. Speak to your printer about the look and feel you’re going for, and they should be able to advise on what the best paper stock would be.
Whether you’re looking for printed brochures, leaflets, flyers or anything else, we can help. With more than 100 years of experience in printing, we know what we’re doing and always strive for perfection. We are based in Birmingham, but work with clients far and wide.
Call us today on 0121 236 2784.
At Russell Printers, we are experts in leaflet and flyer production and can make any number of leaflets in any format and size. Leaflets can be used for all manner of publicity and marketing, and can be distributed in many ways. Cheap to produce and easy to distribute, they are a valuable tool for any business. But have you thought of putting them to a slightly different use? Here are a few ideas that might not have occurred to you, but could really reward your business.
Inserted into a customer order, the flyer can be used as a means of winning repeat business by offering something extra – such as discount on the next order, a credit on the account or a choice of small gift with the next order.
All companies should encourage customer feedback – it is one of the easiest ways of improving your business. Of course, it is always best to ask for feedback via a range of methods, so that you get the full picture from a varied customer base. Leaflets are versatile as they can be used as a quick response form, or as a call to social media or the company website for online completion.
Though not possible for all businesses, those that are smaller often use the leaflet as an insert and this is then used as a means of thanking their customer. Using a personalised message, signed personally, or even handwritten, can really influence your customer and induce loyalty. This need not be an onerous task if it is done in a specific way such as for every third purchase, or larger purchases only etc. The personal touch will build brand and company loyalty especially if done consistently.
If you would like to know more about the range of leaflets and flyers we can produce for you then visit our website or call us on 0121 236 2784.
Business cards are an excellent cost-effective marketing tool, which you can use to advertise and promote your business to potential clients. Well-created business cards will have clear, concise details on them, and will reflect the image of the company really well. Logos, pictures and various graphics are often used in a high quality format, so that they appear clear and undistorted on the business card itself.
Business cards will often give a first impression to most people about you and your company, so it is important that they are well created, and aren’t too over the top, or too plain and boring.
There are a few common errors that some businesses make when they create cards – these are fundamental mistakes that should be avoided. Here are a list of the top 10:
1. The Wrong Spellings, and Wrong Details:
As silly as it may sound, this is a common mistake businesses make when creating cards. More than often, names are misspelt or the wrong details are entered. It is important to check the names, addresses and other relevant details are correct.
2. Poor Quality Card:
Compromising on cost for a cheap, and affordable card will often show in the card itself. Other people will be able to tell that it is cheap, because it will more than likely be flimsy and have a poor quality print on it. If you have chosen a cheaper option, that’s fine but ensure that the material being used is of a high quality.
3. Proof read what the printers send you:
If you are using a professional printing company, they usually send you a copy to proof read, to ensure that all the details are correct and so that the final design is what you want. It’s no use skimming over this step in the process, because when you come to pick them up and if you are unhappy, you may still have to pay for them. It’s always important to check the proof copy the printers send because you can always have amendments made at that stage.
4. High Quality Logos, Images and Graphics:
If you are including your company logo, or any picture or design you need to make sure that this is of a decent quality. Compromising on quality would mean that the image could be distorted or look as though it has been stretched. It won’t look professional if you use this on your cards.
5. Writing On Top Of The Business Card with a Biro:
Whether the name has changed, the company has changed or details in general have changed – it’s a real shame when a lovely business card is spoilt when somebody has used a regular pen to cross details out, or write their name at the top if it’s not been included. This appearance is unprofessional, and will spoil the overall look of the card. It would be better to get a set of new ones made, rather than write over the existing ones.
Business cards are an important feature as they promote your company, they should accurately represent your business and should be carefully considered in terms of what is put on them.
Russell Printers have experience in creating professional looking business cards for a range of clients. For more information you can visit russellprinters.co.uk/business-cards
In recent years, many people have turned to large online suppliers of printing services for their promotional and marketing materials, due to their capacity to offer large discounts. However, this bubble seems to have been burst. People are now turning back to using local printing firms, as although the cost may be slightly higher, they can be sure that the quality is likely to be a marked improvement from cheap alternatives.
Many cheaper printing companies are no longer able to maintain their large discount pricing structure. For example, Vistaprint have brought in a much lower than expected quarterly revenue of $286.2 million compared to the estimated $310.7 million, with shares falling by as much as 21%. This considerable drop in revenue can be attributed to their shift away from giving large discounts. Without the discount that companies such as Vistaprint previously offered, the quality of their work no longer stands on its own, leading many customers to look for quality over cost and look for local printing companies.
Whilst some large businesses are unable to maintain their cheap pricing structure, increasing numbers of customers are beginning to realise that although prices are slightly higher, local printing companies can provide bespoke print services, often with a quick turnover time and excellent quality results. One of the biggest advantages of ordering from a local printing company is excellent customer service. As ordering printing materials can be somewhat unnerving, it helps to order from a company that can provide you with end to end service, to give you piece of mind that the product that you ordered will be the product you receive.
Local printing firms offer a more personal service to customers, offering them the option to call in and properly discuss their requirements, rather than simply filling in a form or uploading artwork to a website. Regardless of whether they are a small start-up business, or a large established firm, customers can expect to receive expert advice and guidance throughout the print process.
If you are looking for local printing services in Birmingham, you can visit the Russell Printers website.
Here at Russell Printers we are pleased to announce that we have a new member of the team! Jenny Howard-Niblett came on board this month to take on the role of part time Sales Representative to help us to promote both the print side of the business as well as our new corporate workwear line.
At Russell Printers we have a wide client base, with customers ranging from financial advisors to car manufacturers. Some of our customers simply need a re-run of their business cards, whereas others are undergoing a total re-brand and wish to have their business stationery completely redesigned and printed. Of course, we now also sell embroidered corporate workwear to complete the re-brand package – having employees wearing corporate t-shirts or uniforms is a fantastic way of increasing brand awareness.
New customers may feel a little daunted when placing their first print order, but it really couldn’t be simpler. Our advisors can talk you through what your requirements are, and will explain the details such as the recommended weight of the paper or card plus the best format in which to showcase your business. Artwork can be saved to a PDF and can then be emailed over to us, provided that the file is no larger than 10mb. Once you’re happy with everything we can print your document to the number of copies you need and then we can get over to you as soon as possible.
Jenny plans to work hard contacting our existing customers as well as going out to see potential customers in and around Birmingham, so if you have any enquiries regarding print or perhaps having some company t-shirts embroidered with your logo, Jenny is the person to speak to. She’ll be happy to come and meet you to discuss your requirements at your own premises at a day and time to suit you.
If you would like to speak to Jenny or any member of our sales team, feel free to give us a call on 0121 359 0783 or visit the Russell Printers website for more information.
