Business Growth & Marketing Ideas
May 13, 2021
Printed marketing and sales collateral plays a crucial role in securing customers for your business. Unfortunately, many businesses use the “set it and forget it” method, and some pieces can quickly become outdated. It’s smart to get in the habit of auditing printed materials and refreshing them regularly.
Up-to-date marketing and sales collateral ensures that you accurately represent your brand to customers. These materials should communicate what your business does and showcase your current offerings. Out-of-date or irrelevant collateral can cause confusion or frustration for buyers. If your goal is to persuade customers to make a purchase, ensure your messaging is both accurate and up-to-date.
A routine audit of your sales material will help your team catch necessary updates. A good rule of thumb is to revisit these materials every three months, or once a season. This can allow you to capitalize on seasonal promotions and trends in your industry. There are other critical times to audit and update your collateral:
As you conduct your audit, there are a few important things you should look for to determine whether your marketing and sales materials require any updates.
All marketing and sales materials should be consistent with your current visual branding style. Customers should be able to identify your website, emails, social media, and all printed materials as belonging to your business. Refresh and modernize any outdated imagery and design.
Every collateral’s message should align with what your audience cares about – their needs and desires, challenges they face, and questions they ask. Make sure any photos used reflect who your customers are.
Consider things like age, race and ethnicity, gender, marital and family status, and lifestyle to ensure your customers feel represented.
Marketing materials are not effective without a prominent and clear call to action on every piece. Wording such as, “Visit our website,” “Call today,” or “Redeem this coupon,” drive customers to take your desired action. Use trackable coupon codes, QR codes, custom landing pages, or other tools to gain insight on whether your call to action worked.
Businesses are constantly evolving, and sales and printed marketing collateral should reflect what your business offers right now. Feature your newest or most popular products, and remove any products or services you no longer offer. It’s also a good idea to switch out products and services seasonally to keep your collateral as fresh as possible.
Remember to provide customers with a way to reach you by including your website, social media handles, phone number, email, and/or physical address on every piece.
As you go through the process of updating your printed marketing collateral, don’t forget to involve your sales team and ask what collateral they need to do their jobs better. Consult with them to find out what messages and calls to action they’ve found successful and integrate them.
Since customers are the key audience, it can be a good idea to survey your customers. Learn more about their needs so you can speak to those in your messaging and demonstrate how your business can solve their problems.
Keeping your sales and marketing printed marketing collateral up-to-date is essential for effectively communicating with your customers. If you haven’t revisted your collateral in awhile, now is a great time to make a plan and do a regular audit and refresh going forward.
For further information about AlphaGraphics Las Vegas and their capabilities, and setup and marketing strategy consultation with one of our sales team contact the AGLV team at 702-798-7557 or visit their website, AlphaGraphicsLV.
