Business Growth & Marketing Ideas
May 24, 2021
Printed sales and marketing collateral are an essential part of driving new business, leads, and sales. However, over time the information can become stale or outdated, ultimately leading to collateral that can cause frustration and confusion.
There’s no actual time frame as to when you should update your printed marketing collateral. Some pieces, such as sell sheets, will last for a very long time, while others can be outdated in a matter of months.
Read on to learn more about when it’s time to get a print collateral refresh.
When was the last time you looked at your marketing collateral with a critical eye?
Experts recommend that you perform an audit once every three months. This will allow you and your marketing team to catch any potential issues quickly.
You can also align with seasonal trends in your industry while ensuring that the information is as current as possible.
There are several other essential times to review your collateral:
If you haven’t taken a good look at your marketing collateral, there’s no better time than now to start. When reviewing, consider how the information impacts not only your business but your sales team as well.
For example, as more businesses start to re-open their doors and offices, perhaps your company has implemented new social distancing policies.
By updating your sales material to reflect this new info, you’ll provide prospects with peace of mind that you’re doing all you can to help ensure their health and safety.
While you’re conducting your audit, there are a few things that you should keep in mind:
Have you updated your brand over the past few years? Does the style and look of your materials align appropriately with your brand? For example, perhaps you’ve added a new social media channel to showcase your work or services. Have you included that information in your marketing collateral?
Your customers and prospects should quickly and easily identify that the materials they have in hand are from your company. Many businesses tend to overlook the branding aspect of their sales materials, and that is highly ineffective.
Consider the images you have on your printed materials. If there are any human beings in them, are they wearing modern clothes, or do they look like they stepped out of a time machine from the 1980s?
As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Outdated imagery can give off the wrong impression about your business. With advances in modern cell phone technology, you can easily take professional-looking photographs without hiring an expensive photographer.
You should also look at the race, ethnicity, marital status, lifestyle, and gender of your images. Try to use photos that make people from all walks of life feel like they’re represented.
If your materials are not speaking to your target audience, there’s a 100% chance they will get ignored. The text should use customer-centric messaging to make a persuasive point about your products or services.
What are the needs, wants, desires, and challenges of your customers? Craft your marketing message along the lines of your product or service, solving their pain points.
Have you come out with a new product or service since you last updated your printed collateral? The chances are that your current offerings are not the same as they were six months to a year ago.
Remove everything that you do not currently offer as it will only serve to confuse and frustrate people. Now is a great time to switch out seasonal services or products to keep things as fresh as possible.
Allow your clients and prospective customers to connect with your business and brand digitally. Be sure to include all social media, email, and other important digital marketing channels on your printed marketing materials.
QR codes and pURLS offer people a way to take the leap from a printed brochure or catalog to your online website quickly and easily. This will allow you to capture their information via an online contact form, or you can send them to your online eCommerce site.
Auditing and refreshing your printed marketing collateral can help improve sales and brand recognition. If you’re struggling to update your materials, or you’d like to talk to someone about a question you have, give the experts at AlphaGraphics of Alexandria and Arlington, Va., a call.
We’ve helped countless Alexandria and Arlington businesses and organizations over the years design and create the perfect marketing collateral. If you’d like to learn more about our design or event sign services, give us a call at (703) 549-2432 or contact us on our website.
