Filed under: advertising, branding, business cards, marketing, postcards, printing
Word of mouth advertising is effective because it is trustworthy. When a friend or relative recommends a product or service, you know you can trust their opinion based on the history you share with them. Word of mouth advertising fits well into any budget because it is inexpensive, but it does take a concentrated effort. Here are some tips on how to encourage word of mouth advertising among your customers.
Postcards or business cards are a great way to generate effective word-of-mouth advertising!
Give Rewards – The most obvious way to get your customers talking about your business is to offer them something in return. This should be a carefully thought out promotion or you may end up spending too much money in your promotional offers. Referral business cards or postcards are a great way to keep promotional offers within reason. Offer customers a few of your cards at checkout. For each new customer who comes in with a referral card, the existing customer named on the card could be given 10% off one item or 20% off a purchase of $100 or more. You may want to offer the same special to the new customers as well.
Start Conversations – Another obvious way to advertise your business with word of mouth is to talk about it yourself. Become knowledgeable about your business and products so that you can have interesting conversations about its place in the community, in the industry, or even in society at large. You may want to have a few of your referral cards handy during a conversation to offer friends and family. Create a sense of enthusiasm and purpose when you talk to others about your business – it’s contagious!
Involve Employees – Maintain a good relationship with your employees. Employees who are satisfied with their work environment and coworkers are far more likely to recommend your business to their friends, family, and acquaintances. Consider giving some of the referral cards to employees perhaps with a cash bonus reward instead of the discount you offer to customers.
Display Feedback – When you get positive feedback from customers, post it on your website, in your store, add it to the design of your card on the next printing. If customers give you positive verbal feedback, ask them if they would mind jotting a quick note to the same affect. You may want to offer them something if it seems appropriate, but handle such instances with the utmost appreciation and graciousness in order to maintain your integrity.
Filed under: advertising, branding, brochures, business cards, flyers, marketing, posters, printing
Marketing a non-profit organization with limited funds can be a challenge, but it is vital to the flow of contributions and therefore important to the impact your organization can have on its community. Marketing should be maintained on a regular basis to keep your organization in front of both potential donors and those who may be able to benefit from your services. Special fundraising or awareness-raising events require ramping up the marketing efforts in order to have the most benefit. This is why you should consistently be checking your brochure or poster designs for certain important elements.
As a non-profit organization, your marketing should have several key elements. Not all of these will fit into each type of marketing, but you should always review the list and analyze each item for suitable application to each of the advertising venues:
- A mission statement introduces your organization’s cause and the services you offer and how they positively impact the community
- A demonstration of what your organization has been able to accomplish with past donations with the use of graphics, statistics, and/or numbers. This demonstration should boost confidence in the responsible use of donations by your organization.
- Examples of individuals involved with your organization through profiles of beneficiaries, donors, and volunteers. Spotlighting these various areas exemplifies the importance of involvement on many levels and how each participant is vital to the success of the organization.
- A call to action is easy to accept when the previous elements have been delivered in a compelling manner. A call to action invites individuals to visit your website, attend your event, call your office, make a donation, or even accept the beneficial services. During key fundraising promotions, having a sponsor who will match donations made in a certain time period adds a sense of urgency for those donors who might otherwise wait.
With these elements in mind, here are some low-cost marketing ideas for non-profit organizations:
Signs – Widely used during political campaigns, signs can also be an effective way to advertise non-profit organizations, especially promotional events or services the organization offers. Producing a large number of small signs to distribute around town is a relatively low cost way to get in front of a large audience. Be sure that the physical location of the organization or event has a good permanent sign as well as a display of the promotional signs for best results. Pair a brochure printing marketing campaign with the sign distribution to maximize exposure.
Press Releases – Issuing a press release is one of the most efficient ways to communicate the message of your non-profit organization. Press releases can always be re-used in brochure printing.
Invite the Press – Let your local newspaper and news stations know about an upcoming event along with the ways that your organization helps the community, and invite them to come. Give them “backstage” access. For the best results, combine an invitation to the press with a special spotlight on several specific testimonials during your event and in the publicity beforehand. Use quotes from the resulting news stories in future brochure printing materials.
Radio Interviews – Contact local radio stations, especially morning shows, to see about featuring your spokesperson as a guest on their program. This is another great way to get your message in front of a large audience of people on their way to or getting ready for work/school.
Write Newspaper Articles – Local or free newspapers may be willing to publish stories submitted by your organization written on topics related to your non-profit organization. This is best done on a regular basis to help build a connection between readers and your organization.
Brochures – Brochure printing is one of the longest standing methods for marketing non-profit organizations. Brochures can be printed for consistent, informational exposure, and kept on hand to distribute throughout the year. Brochures can also be printed for special events or seasons when your services are most needed. Separate brochures may be needed for donors and beneficiaries to illustrate services available or services that require funding.
Flyers – Flyers can be used in some of the same informational capacities as brochures for events or service awareness. Leave a stack of flyers (or brochures) with related organizations or businesses who are willing to partner with you.
Posters – Posters are great for displaying in medical clinics, pharmacies, grocery stores, libraries, etc to maintain public awareness.
One final tip: If you are printing large quantities of marketing materials (such as over a couple hundred), use a reputable online printing company. This will always save you money while providing excellent results, making your non-profit organization look that much more appealing to potential donors and volunteers.
With the ever-increasing use of texting, instant messaging, email and other forms of modern communication, it may be easy to overlook grammatical errors in marketing materials such as brochures. However, business marketing is not the place to become lax in the correct use of language. In fact, an effective marketing message depends on the ability to communicate intelligently and confidently with consumers.
Use Correct Grammar
Brochure printing is a valuable marketing tool. Small yet informative, many people will keep color brochures handy for reference when making a decision related to the brochure topic. Incorporating informative and persuasive copy is the key to a successful marketing brochure. Informative and persuasive copy relies on the correct use of grammar to make a favorable impression on a reader who is developing their opinion of your business. Seemingly insignificant mistakes in grammar can adversely affect a reader’s opinion of your business and your ability to meet their needs.
Build Credibility
Your brochure’s information should build credibility with consumers in your business’s abilities to meet their needs. Use testimonial examples to demonstrate how consumers will benefit from using your product as opposed to the competition’s product. Build up the idea that your business is the best answer to the customer’s needs throughout the entire brochure. Consider what objections might be raised and preempt them with the facts supporting your superior product.
Include Calls to Action
Throughout your brochure, it’s important to insert various calls to action that lead the customer to contact your business. Rather than include every possible piece of information a customer may need, try to create curiosity and a desire to find out more. Keep the pages of your brochure neat and attractive by using one easy to read font throughout the body text and one for the headings. Make sure the alignment is orderly and consistent. Place a note on how customers can contact you every one or two pages. A well written brochure will have the majority of readers wanting to know your contact information, by website, telephone or email. Give them plenty of ways to reach you!
For this brochure printing project, and those printed marketing projects in the future, keep in mind the importance of correct grammar and customer testimonials as a way to build your credibility and create curiosity with consumers.
There are many forms of printed advertising available that can be applied to any advertising need: posters, flyers, brochures, catalogs, postcards, door hangers, direct mail, etc. But there is usually one significant factor that determines the direction of most printed advertising campaigns – namely budget constraints. For events or general awareness advertising, posters and flyers – especially paired together – can help you create a long-lasting, memorable campaign on even a small budget.
Poster Details
Poster printing can be used to advertise any business, organization, or event. Poster printing is perfect for advertisements or announcements that will be valid for a long period of time because they are usually securely mounted on a surface. They are also easy to switch out when it’s time to update your message without a lot of out-of-pocket expense. Posters are excellent for advertising a new business that is “opening soon” as well as an established business that wants to broaden its customer base. Poster campaigns are a smart way to get a message to a large group of people. All your audience has to do is pass by your poster locations. Poster advertising is an excellent choice when you want to keep your company in view of your target audience.
Flyer Details
Flyers are a quick and easy-to-use form of print advertising that can be customized for absolutely anything. Smaller than posters, their size lends them to a greater variety of distribution methods: left in stacks for anyone to take, handed out personally to passersby, direct mailed, and even hung or posted. Flyers can be used in conjunction with poster printing campaigns. For example, when your business opens, print up “now open” flyers and slap them over your “opening soon” posters. You still have the large space of the poster and the advance notice, but now with very little trouble you have changed the message of the poster with the simple addition of a flyer. Flyers can also be handed out with messages that reinforce your poster campaign’s message. And of course flyers can be used by themselves – and often are – for events like band concerts, garage sales, school events, church events, etc.
Use posters:
• As a hanging display to reach a large audience on the move
• When you need long term advertising
• To get attention of the general public
Use flyers:
• As a hand out, mobile advertising
• For short term advertising, right before the event
• As the final campaign before the event, to reinforce poster advertising
Pairing posters with flyers can create a long-lasting and memorable marketing campaign that can work with even the smallest budget!
Have you ever noticed an eye catching catalog in the mail season after season and wonder how each one can be so different, yet still so attention getting? Utilizing these three aspects of powerful catalog design, you can achieve this same result.
Design
When it comes to catalog printing, great design is a must. What makes the design of a catalog great is both subjective and situational, i.e., the layout for a tool catalog may not be as critical as the design of a fashion clothing catalog. If you have some hesitation, please consult a printing professional or graphic design specialist. With planning, hard work, and some wise counsel, you can design a fabulous catalog. And by utilizing a professional who designs everyday, your catalog can go from good to great. So ask yourself the question: Would you rather have a good boost in sales from your catalog? Or a great boost?
Images
High quality images are no longer just for the few exceptional catalogs. The bar has been raised and high-quality images are a minimum requirement for a great catalog. Don’t use text to just tell your customers how much they will enjoy what you have to offer – show the customer how much someone else is enjoying their purchase. A photograph of a customer who is completely content is always a big winner. Photos of people using your product is another great way to encourage believability in the quality of your offer. Whatever the message or whomever the audience, a great catalog always includes high quality images.
Printing
Professional printing will maximize great design and exceptional images. The do-it-yourself method might produce a good catalog, but as it is with design, using a professional can produce a great catalog. When it comes to advertising, trying to save money on the front end will usually cost more in the long run. Low quality printing will diminish the perceived quality of your products, resulting in fewer sales. Not only will printing with a professional improve the appearance of your catalog but can also be done far more cost effectively than you can imagine. Usually things like finishing, binding, mailing, unusual sizes, etc. can be worked into the quote. And of course, with an online catalog printing company, the more copies you order, the lower your cost per piece.
When it comes to creating a successful catalog, paying attention to quality in the areas of design, images, and printing is vital. Take the time and effort to make sure that every product in your catalog looks desireable and even necessary. Your sales require it!
