6 Common Print Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

“Print marketing is dead!” Oh, really? Then, why do thousands of companies still send mailers every week?

Businesses just like yours are turning to print marketing to bring in more customers, and you should consider it too. Now, you can market with the same power as the big companies by putting print marketing to work.

That’s why we’re here to discuss 6 of the most popular print marketing mistakes we see from customers.

Keep reading below, and by the end of this article, you’ll be doing print marketing right and bringing more sales into your business.

1. Marketing Without Research

As we mentioned above, even the biggest companies still conduct market research. These companies budget it as a regular expense for their business.

Every month, or every quarter, these companies are constantly refining their target market. They do this to get the most “bang for their buck” when they spend marketing dollars.

Do your research on who wants your service or product, and have a target market or target customer in mind.

This will greatly improve the accuracy of your print marketing strategy. It will also help to keep print marketing costs as low as possible.

2. No Digital Option

Digital is the primary medium for communication these days. Give customers a way to communicate with you digitally.

There are several ways to do this. You can provide links to social accounts or your website URL.

You can even be as fancy as including a scannable QR code on your mailpiece or be as simple as just including an email address.

Whatever it is, give customers a digital option.

3. Too Much Artwork

Too much artwork in your design can make your mailpiece too busy.

You want things that are going to stand out, but if you get caught up using too many patterns, fonts, and images, your message is going to get lost.

This can result in a marketing piece that’s pretty, but not effective.

4. Using Stock Images

People can tell when you use stock images. Your customer can spot those cheesy stock “picture frame” photos from a mile away.

Use something unique that helps get your message across. You may have to pay a little bit more for production, but it will help you to get a higher response rate in the long run.

5. Not Proofreading

This seems like common sense, but it’s surprising how many of our customers skip this step.

In all honesty, we’ve been there before. You’re excited to start a new campaign and bring customers to your store or website. And in the rush to market to them, you forget some of the finer details.

Marketing with printing can be a big chunk of your marketing budget as it is, so you want to limit any extra expenses whenever you can.

When you think your mailpiece is finished, step away for a few minutes. Then come back and proofread before sending.

6. Doing It All Yourself

When you first start a business, money is tight. We understand. But, as the owner, there are certain things you shouldn’t be doing.

Printing your marketing is one of them.

In the very beginning, it may make sense to do the first couple of campaigns on your own. But once you start to bring in some revenue, that money should go right back into outsourcing your marketing.

That way you can focus on your strength: growing the business.

Print Marketing Mistakes in a Nutshell

Now you’re all set. Avoid these 6 print marketing mistakes and you’ll be well on your way to a successful first campaign.

For more information on marketing with print, pricing, or for help setting up campaigns, we’d love to help. Also, if you’re a smaller printing shop looking to sub out some of your existing workloads, we can help with that, too.

Whatever your printing needs, contact us today. We’re standing by to bring your marketing to life!