For clients who are in need of simple marketing print materials, the first hurdle is always figuring out what type of print piece to choose…. there are a lot of choices to chose from. In this weeks edition of Manic Marketing Monday, I’ll give you my thoughts.
As we all know, there are lots of different strategies for marketing. The same is true for print marketing. There are multi-page pieces, postcards, brochures, specialty custom pieces, and lots more. But I have found a sort of “sweet spot” when it comes to effective, budget-friendly print marketing. This particular strategy integrates a simple but direct message with an easy and cost effective print piece. Something that can be used in lots of ways and situations.
For years the brochure was the king of cost effective print marketing. The brochure was this piece that felt like a catalog but simply printed on a piece of paper. The genius was found in the folds – they gave the illusion of pages, but wasn’t as clunky and as big as a piece with pages. The brochure could give you the option of having different messages in different sections that were a part of the bigger message. You could have a quick bio section, a services section, an ‘about us’ section, and even a section for pricing, etc. Still all the while, keeping it fairly cheap and simple. The question for today’s day and time is… is it still viable?
Maybe the time for the brochure has been played out. Really, if you think about it, the invention of the website has kinda taken over the role of the brochure. We build sites that have multiple messages/sections that are a part of the bigger message, sections like: about us, services, pricing, bios, testimonials, etc. And websites don’t have to be handed out, they are readily accessible to everyone… everywhere. So, what about the brochure? And if it’s dead, what takes it’s place?
Here are my thoughts – a simple front and back card design piece has filled the empty spot nicely. It has taken the place of the brochure as the quick, cheap, effective marketing piece. Today’s consumers want info quickly. They crave simplicity and something that tells them what they need to know as quick as possible. They would also like for it to be aesthetically pleasing as well… it needs to look good. So, with that in mind, a simple front and back card can easily do the trick. A well designed card can tell a very quick story about your business and then lead a potential client to want more info. That is the goal: design a piece that is more of a ‘teaser’ that will leave consumers wanting to know more about you… so much so that they go to your online brochure (your website) to dig deeper.
So, in my humble opinion… a brochure print piece is a bit of a waste of time and money. My advice: get a website designed (if you don’t already have one) and then have a simple but effective print piece designed to lead potential clients to your site.
scottJ
owner/artist Brown Cow Design
