PrintPlace.com Blog

These days everyone is looking for a way to promote their brand or business with inexpensive marketing ideas. Of the many economical options for printed marketing materials, one is sure to stay with your customers all year long: a print calendar. Calendars are versatile and can be customized to any brand or business for any market. Here are some ideas to promote your brand or business with calendars.
 
Recognizable Design

The number one trick for promoting your brand with print calendars is to have a consistent, distinctive design for your print calendars. Photos, products, and captions change from year to year but maintaining your company logo and the subject matter and style of your images will be the continuity that customers recognize and come to expect. Be sure that your logo appears on each page and that the overall design of the calendar is consistent with your other printed marketing materials.
 
Captions

The greatest benefit of print calendars is that your customers can use them every day of the year. Of course a compelling design is needed to make customers choose your calendar as the one they hang up. It is best to be able to tie each image used to your brand or products but this does not mean that the images must be of your product. The trick is to create a print calendar with striking images and use the captions to show how your company relates to or is like the visually stunning illustration.

Any business can choose beautiful photography of national parks, distinctive cities, or iconic landmarks and add a caption that demonstrates how your brand or a particular product supports the subject of the photo. For example, if you choose photos of protected national park lands, your captions can share with customers the environmentally friendly practices of your company in an effort to keep all of our country beautiful. If you choose photos of great bridges your captions can talk about the ways your company is the bridge between their problem and the solution.
 
Emotional Images

Professional images of various products in use shot in such a way as to invoke an emotional response is another option if your brand and products are conducive to this format. Think of a dramatic image of a welder, sparks flying. He could be at the top of a tall building or in a dark area so that the sparks are the illumination. Your tie to the photo could be the welding service, the welding gun, the solder, the safety equipment, the training, etc.  Use the caption to solidify the emotional connection the image evokes in viewers with your brand.

Don’t Forget:

Here is a quick checklist for promoting your brand with print calendars:

• Design for your audience – choose a theme they will enjoy and will keep.
• The theme of your calendar should be relevant to the industry.
• Use print calendars to sell the benefits your brand or business offers (sell products in a catalog).
• Offer your customers extra value by including coupons at various times throughout the year.
• Use the corporate or brand identity on each page of the calendar whether conspicuous or inconspicuous.
• Order extra calendars to have extras available to hand out throughout the year.
• Send customers on your mailing list a calendar at the end of each year.