When you build a business from scratch, you need all the resources you can get to market your brand and products or services. Distributing marketing material can help increase brand awareness and sales. Even if digital technology has taken over, we still shouldn’t entirely omit the use of printed material. Picture this scenario: You’re strolling in a mall, and a self-proclaimed marketing professional approaches you to introduce you to their company’s products. If they don’t hand you any material, such as a brochure or letterpress business card, wouldn’t you question their credibility and legitimacy?
That said, the purpose of marketing materials isn’t only to raise sales but also to boost your business’s credibility and legitimacy. Here are some marketing materials that work excellently for a small business:
1. Business Cards
Aside from serving their mentioned purposes, business cards also make you appear more professional. If you’re trying to make new connections, it would be more ethical in an entrepreneurial sense to exchange contact details through business cards rather than just dictating your number and address to one another.
2. Brochures or Flyers
If you’re participating in trade shows, fairs, and the like, distributing brochures would be useful in attracting attention and increasing brand awareness. Flyers, on the other hand, is closely similar to a brochure, only they contain more straightforward information and are single-sided. They can also be distributed at corporate events.
3. Banners and Flags
Displaying banners and flags outside your store will help in calling attention. Make sure they’re large enough to be seen even from afar.
4. Billboards and Signage
A sign outside your store is highly essential as it makes people easily spot your location. Posting billboard ads can also catch attention and win interest, as long as it contains only clear and concise information because you only have about five seconds to make an impact with a billboard ad.
Design Recommendations
It is highly recommended to hire a skilled graphic designer to design your marketing materials and a commercial copywriter to compose your business “literature.” Your brand’s logo also has to be designed professionally. Maintain your logo for at least ten years to mark your identity in the market.
It would also pay to educate yourself about the principles of graphic design. Doing this will help you form better design ideas and understand the value of each design element, such as colors, fonts, write-ups, etc. For example, filling a marketing material with too much text may bore your customer, as opposed to using more illustrations or photos. Learning graphic design basics will help you avoid such mistakes.
Keep a uniform look on all your marketing materials. The key is to make your brand easily distinguishable despite using several kinds of marketing material. If your flyer’s design is entirely different from your brochure’s, for instance, you may lose brand identity.
Hiring professional photographers would also help. Professional-quality photos can boost your credibility, and your customers may equate it to your products’ or services’ quality.
Lastly, be diligent in keeping up with the trend. Hire a marketing leader if you need to, and put them in charge of anticipating and predicting your business’s future needs. Your marketing materials would need to be updated as new trends are introduced or as you launch new products. When you come up with new marketing materials, prepare a written rationale, audience/market profile, and content outline.
Every marketing material needs to be carefully thought out, because when they’re designed powerfully, they may even stir the emotions of your customers, motivating them to support your business.
