Designing Effective And Response-Generating Marketing Collaterals

The design of marketing collaterals, as they say, is both a science and an art. Here are a few don'ts on designing marketing collaterals such as brochures, flyers, coupons, calendars, etc. Read and learn a thing or two about how to design effective marketing collaterals.

1. Don't talk about yourself or your company: Sell, don't tell.

The most obnoxious person is a person that is so full of himself. You might have encountered this type of person who dominates conversations and does not talk about anything else other than his accomplishments. This is also true for your marketing collaterals. Your brochures, flyers or posters should not just be about the company or you. In fact, it should be the obverse. Your marketing collaterals should talk about your clients or customers. Experts suggest that your collaterals should talk about what your clients want or require. This way, it is more geared towards answering the questions in each of your client's mind: ‘Why should I part with my hard earned dollars for this product or service?' If you cannot convince them, then your collateral just failed the first and most important test. Hence, you should be wary of printing templates that are obsolete.

2. Use headlines, themes and graphics that your Clients will appreciate.

Studies suggest that the average reader takes less than 5 seconds to glance at a brochure, poster, or even promotional coupons, and then decide whether or not to read them. If your headline or graphics on the cover of your brochure for example, are boring, don't expect people to spend precious minutes to go over something that they don't find interesting at all. What you want to have is marketing collateral that is relevant to your prospective clients. For instance, printing samples should target a ‘niche specific design' to target specific prospective customers. This way, you get your collaterals noticed because they appeal directly to your target niche.

3. Suggest what you want your readers to do.

After you got the attention of your readers by a headline, logo or graphic that is appropriate for their market, it is now time to tell them what they should do. You have to have to take the next step: tell them what that they need to have your offer. Don't just assume they'll look for your phone number and call. If you don't tell them what action to take, they may take the wrong one - calling another merchant or service provider instead of you. Be cautious however when telling readers what to do. You do not want to sound so high handed that your sales pitch has become such a hard sell. A hard sell approach is always a turnoff. Of course, no one wants to be told what to do.

4. Give your readers a reason to act.

Give your readers a sense of urgency. You have already suggested what your readers should do (call now, dial now, SMS now, buy now), now you must give them a reason to do so. If you do not do this, your efforts in getting attention, building interest and desire will just go to waste. Some of the more common ‘lures' are special discounts that are only valid before a specific date, a free gift for purchases before a specific date, and rebates for purchase on a particular time. Others that don't involve discounts or giveaways are reminders to buy now because the quantities are limited (if they really are), or because prices will be increasing, etc.

These are just some of the things you can do to make your marketing collaterals effective. Try them now and see a huge difference in your target clients' impression of your marketing campaign.