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Five things to think about if you’re going to design your own leaflets
June 24, 2010
You’re probably savvy enough to realise that you need to get the pro’s involved when it comes to creating your logo and website. But what about everything else? The reports, invoices, proposals and posters that you create yourself? Are they sending out the right signals, or do they chirrup “cheap! cheap!”.
The good news is that you can make some simple changes to the way you design your own collateral in-house that will make a big difference to how people perceive your business. Get it right and you’ll build more confidence and win more business. And you don’t need a graphic design degree or an expensive piece of software to do it. Here’s how…
1. Work out what’s important (it’s probably not your logo!)
2. Get some decent structure in place
3. Use fonts that enhance your brand (that means no Arial or Verdana!)
4. Use colours that engage and attract your ideal clients
5. Make sure your images are relevant and do you justice
1. Work out what’s important
With the exception of your business stationery, your company logo and name shouldn’t take centre stage – so move the logo away from the top! Think about what message your clients will respond best to and make sure that’s what stands out. Secondly, think about what you’re asking people to do. Your call to action also needs to be clear.
2. Get a decent structure in place
Don’t send your text from one side of the screen to the other! Use columns and grids to add structure and clarity. And remember, odd numbers are good – threes, fives, sevens. Feel free to “break the grid” and use text across two columns.
3. Use fonts that enhance your brand
Fonts are often overlooked, even by some graphic designers, but nothing will scream amateur more than a dodgy stock photograph coupled with Verdana! The point is that fonts subconsciously create moods and send your clients signals about your business. Ask your designer to advise you on what fonts will work best with your brand and use them for all printed material. Emailing something? Consider creating a PDF if it’s important.
4. Use colours that engage and attract your ideal clients
Colour psychology is a powerful thing. Using the right colours will have a big impact on how your clients and colleagues perceive your business. And it’s not just about the colours you use – think also about the tones and how they all fit together. Ask your designer to recommend you a colour palette and make sure you use it!
5. Make sure your images are relevant and do you justice
Images can make or break your design. Try and avoid the temptation to use over-used and cliched “clever” images that you have to shoehorn a headline around. Instead, pick images that are in content relevant to what you do and are also visually pleasing.
And finally… let’s not get things out of perspective. I’m not suggesting for one moment that these simple tricks can replace your fabulous graphic designer. But I’m a realist – I know you’re always going to need to design something in-house, so why not learn how to make it look a cracker!
Ten signs that you could do with strategic marketing advice
June 21, 2010
There are hundreds of potential marketing advisors for a small business owner. From design agencies, PR specialists, telemarketers, SEO experts, social media bods, media planners, and on, and on. It’s difficult to know who to talk, when and why.
Here are ten signs that you could do with some proper strategic marketing input:
- You’re not 100% sure where new business actually comes from – how do they find your site? What prompts them to pick up the phone, etc?
- You’ve done some work with an agency, but you weren’t too chuffed with the output – what was the brief?
- You get lots of leads, but they don’t seem to convert – what is the sales journey, and how well supported is it with powerful marketing content?
- You get enquiries for work that you don’t really like doing – is your business clear about what it does best?
- You’re always screwed down on price – does your brand and messaging set your business apart?
- When asked what your business does, your people all say something different – is your team clear on what you’re about?
- You rarely get repeat business or referrals – is your customer marketing and networking strategy creating advocates for your business?
- If one big customer left you’d be in trouble – is your business over reliant on one customer, or one market?
- You’ve tried telemarketing, PR, advertising or another tactic and it hasn’t delivered – do you have an integrated plan with momentum that all fits together and ties into your sales process?
- You’ve read the books and been to some courses – do you know that you need to give marketing some attention, but never quite get around to it when you’re back at the office?
These are all real scenarios that we’ve heard from small business owners in the last 18 months. Small businesses often make do with a ‘marketing-come-reception’ set-up, working with the marketing suppliers run by friends of friends, or the people down the road. And, there’s nothing wrong with that…if you know exactly what you’re doing on the marketing front. If you have an effective strategy clearly mapped-out, and a good grasp of the interplay of the key marketing tactics, you can indeed put together a top notch freelance team to deliver against your sales and marketing objectives. If, however, you’re feeling your way through the discipline, working it out as you go, then you’ll probably find that each supplier you speak to seems to sound pretty sensible.
You may struggle to find your way through all the ‘good ideas’ that they come up with to configure a watertight marketing operation that supports every step of your sales funnel.
In larger organisations it’s the job of the marketing director to pull all this together. Coming in on salaries upwards of £65k, most small business owners we meet simply can’t afford to have a hard-hitting marketing director on their team. So, what do you do? If you find yourself nodding in recognition at any of the statements above, it would be sensible to find yourself a strategic marketing partner who can be your marketing brain – working out what you need to say, to whom, when and through what channel.
- Article originally appeared on Clear-Thought.co.uk
Is Your Brand Old Hat?
June 18, 2010
Recently I was lucky enough to spend some time with a voluntary worker for Oxfam. He was a fascinating chap and gave me some really valuable input into how the charity sector works. One of the major challenges Oxfam has faced recently is the perception of it being old fashioned. The brand was seen to represent something the charity didn’t, and this was a major problem.
Oxfam’s solution was to identify ways to appeal to a younger audience and in 2006 it launched OxJam, a UK-wide series of music festivals. Every year local Oxfam branches team up with schools and universities in their area to organise the events, hunt for musicians and discover interesting venues. The results are impressive; not only has the charity used OxJam to raise awareness and money, but it’s also an effective way of recruiting the next generation of supporters.
This got me thinking about brand perception with traditional businesses. Now unless you are led by your demographic — SAGA springs to mind — being perceived as old fashioned could be a major problem.
There has been a lot of discussion regarding retaining customers and servicing their requirements, however the risk is your business grows old with your existing customers at the expense of the all-important new blood. Honda is another great example. During research in the 90s it discovered the average customer was over 50. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it was counter to the Honda marketing strategy.
As business owners, it’s important we understand how our brand is being perceived against the markets we are targeting.
Are you unintentionally growing old?
I can’t claim that I can solve the Vuvuzela crisis, but…
June 16, 2010
The Vuvuzela can be pretty annoying. It is the noise and talk of the World Cup. The constant barrage of that atonal hum is enough to drive anyone loopy. Just imagine what it is like in the concentrated bowl of a stadium setting, amplified and focused. Everyone broadcasting into the middle with a relentless stream of trying to be louder than the Vuvuzellist next to you may make for a charged atmosphere, but at the end of the day it is all noise and no respite — remind you of anything?
Now picture this. A large number of people all wanting to be heard and throwing out their constant and near identical marketing message — all in one concentrated area or bowl, such as Twitter — just hoping that in a sea of similar noisy messages someone will listen, take interest and give you some money for your product or service.
I can’t claim that I can solve the Vuvuzela crisis, but I can certainly recommend that we all take a look at our own trumpeting.
- Consistency of message is very much different to sending out a constant message.
- Broadcasting is not this year’s model. Today we engage. Why? Because it works, is more involving and the tools we use are geared up for a two-way communication.
- If everyone makes the same noise then we are all the same. Be different and make your ‘difference’ stand out clearly.
- If the Vuvuzela had some tonal variation it would be less irritating. How can you make your message have more than one note?
Crafting the email
May 21, 2010
Emails are the lifeblood of your communications.
- You want people to read your material and respond.
- You want people to feel good about seeing an email from you in their inbox.
- You want to give your readers a reason to open your email.
That is all your email has to do.
It doesn’t have to close the deal. It doesn’t have to take the payment. Leave that for your website to do.
Then your reader has the option whether to click on the link and take it further or just consume the information you have provided.
To test the sort of content that is right for you, call a couple of prospects or clients and give them the information you want to send in an email. If you find your hands going clammy at the thought, then perhaps your message is not right at this time.
People will buy when they are ready to do so. There is nothing you can do to get them to buy quicker or differently to the way they will do so. It is your job to understand how your prospects buy and map your communications accordingly. A couple of things will happen – less of your emails will be found in the spam box and the number of sales will increase.
This blog post by Karen Purves originally appeared at HaveMoreClients.com
The general election: marketing lessons for small businesses
April 22, 2010
The general election attracts media and public attention on a greater scale than most small businesses could ever dream of. Nevertheless, there are a couple of lessons to be learned about the importance of being properly prepared when marketing your business.
Understand your business
When politicians step into any public forum, they can expect a grilling on their policies. If they can’t answer a question about how a proposal will work or offer evidence to support their claims, they’re in trouble. At the very least, they’re going to look evasive.
So, what does your business offer? What are your key services and policies? Before you can safely embark on any kind of marketing effort, you must know your business inside out and be prepared for any curveballs the media, or clients, could throw you.
Write yourself a Q&A, outlining every area of the business clients or the media might ask about. This will also help you weed out any awkward questions and work out how you’re going to address them so that you don’t get caught on the back foot.
Understand your market
You’ll often hear the media talking about which group of people a party is currently trying to win over. For example, earlier this year it was reported that Gordon Brown was targeting Mumsnet in an effort to woo female voters away from the Tories. Labour focused on George Osborne’s plans to cut tax credits for families with incomes over £50,000, warning Mumsnet-ers that they would “get less than they bargained for” under the Conservatives.
So, who are your target customers? Where can you find them? How is your product relevant to that specific market? Why do they need what you’re selling? How do you address those needs? How do those needs change, and how are you positioned to adapt to these changes? It might take some research, but the answers to these questions are vital.
To stand the best chance of being effective, every marketing message you put out must aim to address the needs and interests of your potential customers – after all, it’s their opinions that matter to your bottom line.
Emily Cagle is director of Emily Cagle Communications
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