Elevate Your Marketing Campaign with Postcards!

 

Happy New Year! How crazy it’s already 2022! How was your 2021 marketing strategy? Whether splendid or slightly lacking, any marketing strategy has room for improvement.

In the new year, try incorporating (or reincorporating) direct mail marketing strategies. This long-standing proven method, with added new technology, is a perfect way to hit the ground running in 2022.

And the best part? It can start with a simple postcard.

The Many Benefits of Postcards

Postcards are highly effective.

Did you know that 86% of customers take the time to read through their mail? Due to postcards’ higher visibility, you can expect a higher response rate than any other marketing medium, along with a 70% higher brand recall.

This translates into a high return on investment.

Every $167 spent translates into about $2000 in goods sold. That’s a great investment! Increase your benefits by incorporating a fantastic postcard design. 

The Postcard Design

The postcard design is important and should complement your message and marketing strategy. Here are a few aspects of postcard design to keep in mind.

The material is part of the design, and it reflects on your company.  For example, if environmentalism is essential to your company, share that value with your customers by using recycled material. Or, if you want to send a message of quality, then use heavier material. If your postcards are high quality, then your customers will believe your products and/or services to be high quality as well. 

The size of the postcard is important too. Average-sized postcards are great and effective, but more oversized postcards will stand out due to their inherently larger nature. Try giving the 6-inch by 11-inch postcards a try. 

The two main finishes are glossy or matte. A glossy finish portrays elegance, while matte seems more professional.

A well-thought-out headline is important! You want the headline to sum up your main idea while prompting the customer to keep reading.

A call-to-action prompts the potential client to react in response to the postcard. Examples include requesting that the customer call, visit the store, explore the website, or like/follow social media.

Call-to-actions are most effective when there is a deadline associated with them. Therefore, many companies find it beneficial to offer limited-time deals. Along with driving customer interaction and sales, a call-to-action will help you determine the effectiveness of your postcard campaign for future use. 

Developing a Plan

According to Benjamin Franklin, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Set yourself up for success by planning your postcard campaign.

Set SMART goals. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. 

Set a budget. Don’t break the bank, but invest enough to see results. 

It’s important to be aware of the static and dynamic postcard costs. Static costs don’t change, while dynamic costs depend on the number of postcards you decide to send. The more postcards you send, the overall cost per card is lowered. Static postcard costs include copywriting and design, while dynamic costs include printing services and postage fees. 

Sending the Postcards

Next, you need to decide where you are sending these postcards. 

• Send the postcards to existing customers. Given that they already have shopped at your business before, these postcards would mainly promote another sale.
• Create or rent a new mailing list. This strategy will reach new customers, generating new business. When you create or rent this new mailing list, ideally, you’re going to try to find households within your target market demographic.
• Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM): In this strategy, you mail a postcard to every household within a geographic area. Sometimes specific demographics congregate in neighborhood clusters. If you can identify your target market within a neighborhood, this strategy is useful. If your business is close to a certain neighborhood, it may be helpful to let the locals know about you, and they may love your business out of proximity convenience. 

Repeat!

Send follow-up postcards.

Potential clients need to hear your company’s message about seven times before they decide to buy. The more familiar your business becomes to the customers, the better off you are. In marketing, familiarity generates sales because people are drawn to the familiar.    Contact us today to get started! 516-561-1468 or FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY OF OUR MARKETING PRODUCTS GO TO: www.printcafeli.com

 

Do Millennials Still Buy Print? [With Statistics]

 By Haidan Dong

Print has been around for hundreds of years (arguably even thousands), but with the rise of new digital technology, many print professionals are concerned about the future of print demand. A new demographic is moving into the market. They’re Millennials, the generation that reached adulthood between 2000 and 2010. They are estimated to have a buying power of $1 trillion by 2020, when they will make up a third of the American population. Despite having grown up in a time when smartphones and social media were still rare, the Millennial generation is now a major user of digital media and it readily embraces technology. This begs the question: do Millennials still buy print? The answer will affect the future of the printing industry.

Let’s take a look at the data.

Do Millennials read printed books?

To begin, we first looked at how Millennials feel about traditional printed books (as opposed to ebooks or audiobooks). Neil Howe, who coined the term “Millennials”, cites the following numbers in his article Millennials: A Generation Of Page-Turners:

• 92% of college students prefer reading print material to digital material
• If the cost of the print and digital copy of a leisure book were the same, 80% would pick the paper version
• Young adults are no more likely than their elders to read digital books exclusively (around 6%)

So we know that Millennials are still buying print in the form of books, but what about their relationship to print in advertising? With Millennials becoming 50% of the world’s workforce by 2020, they’ll be making key buying decisions for businesses. Would they still invest in print advertising? Let’s look at the results of print marketing to Millennials.

Do Millennials respond well to print advertising?

There have been a number of studies on the Millennial’s relationship with print advertising, but they have all come to a similar conclusion. Take, for example, the Quad Graphics customer focus study Millennials: An Emerging Consumer Powerhouse. The study found that Millennials like to “hold print in their hands, read it, smell it, use it to link to a video or coupon, save it, take it to the store with them, and share it with friends.” Furthermore, they pay attention to print, as shown in the following graph from their report:

The next chart tells even more. Here are the types of ads that Millennials ignore:

It may not come as a surprise to you that Millennials pay attention to direct mail. After all, USPS published a study that found that Millennials were actually more likely to engage with direct mail than non-Millennials. The graph below was taken from their study:

In addition, the same study found that:

• 50% of Millennials ignore digital ads but only 15% ignore direct mail
• 90% of Millennials think direct mail advertising is reliable
• 57% have made purchases based on direct mail offers
• 87% of Millennials like receiving direct mail

Why?

These findings had researchers asking the next question to better understand the relationship between Millennials and print. Why do members of this tech-savvy generation still prefer paperback books and glossy brochures snail mailed to their homes?

Because of Neuroscience

The science behind print helps us understand why. Canada Post published a fascinating scientific study behind how the brain reacts to print. They found that it requires 21% less cognitive effort to process printed direct mail than digital media. Hence, it is also processed quicker. Together, these factors make printed materials more persuasive and therefore likely to drive behavior. In fact, 23% of Millennials say they bought or ordered something as a result of receiving direct mail in the last 12 months, as reported by Royal Mail MarketReach.

Because of Trust

Another reason is simply that as a society we tend to trust print more, and that Millennials are no exception. MarketingSherpa’s Customer Satisfaction Research Study found that US internet users still trust print ads more than any other type of advertising (see graph below).

It’s therefore little wonder why Millennials love print, and why most of the population does too, even in the age of digital advertising.

Yes, Millennials still buy print, and will keep buying print.

Based on numerous studies, it is evident that Millennials still buy print and continue to be influenced by print. As they gradually make up more of the workforce, they will likely translate their positive views on print media into purchasing decisions. The demand for print is here to stay, at least for another generation. Contact us today to get started! 516-561-1468 or FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY OF OUR MARKETING PRODUCTS GO TO: www.printcafeli.com

Is Your Marketing a Work of Art? 

Why You Need a Professional Designer

 

Do you marvel at beautiful artwork? Are you dazzled by the use of exquisite colors? And are you perplexed as to how images are chosen for certain marketing efforts?

That’s the job of a graphic designer.

Designers have training in choosing colors and images; they make the ordinary a work of art. 

Why You Need a Graphic Designer

Even if you have ideas of what you want, a graphic designer can bring that vision to life. That’s why it’s best to leave the execution to the experts.

Graphic designers know the rules and how to break them to create a compelling message.

They are trained in color, form, line, shape, size, space, and texture. And the principles they must learn have to do with: balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, proportion, and rhythm.

Graphic designers adhere to the principles of design.

These basic principles achieve effective composition in creating balance and stability for the work. Most of us haven’t been trained this extensively, and that’s why we lean on the experts.

Graphic designers help with your professional image.

And that’s why we are here to help you improve your image and marketing materials.

Working with a graphic designer is fun and can be a great time to brainstorm together and come up with something that hasn’t been done before.

Designers are artists and have wonderful ideas. Our graphic designers are ready with fresh ideas and new artwork that will surely dazzle your eyes and help your business image improve.  Contact us today to get started! 516-561-1468 or FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY OF OUR MARKETING PRODUCTS GO TO: www.printcafeli.com

      5 Easy Ways to Refresh a Brand Using Print

Brands and their logos help consumers navigate to their favorite products and services. Restaurants, nail salons, car repair shops, and plumbers all use their logos to stay visible, reminding the market to think of them. Over time, logos and mascot characters take on a life of their own. Sometimes, brand owners become reluctant to make changes out of fear that customers won’t recognize them, keeping them from refreshing and modernizing their look. This is a great time to remind them that a new year brings new possibilities!

Remember that a brand refresh is not the same as a rebranding project. With a refresh, the name remains the same - you simply make subtle updates like new shades of existing colors or a more modern, cleaner font. Forbes magazine tells us that “a brand refresh is critical to maintaining and even earning relevancy in the market.” They suggest that the age of the current brand assets might start the conversation; it is the changing tastes of consumers and the market that should drive the marketing programs. Refreshing lets a company re-examine its assets to ensure they have the best sizes, proportions, and formats that allow the marketing team to engage in the best way for new market conditions. 

To start, look at these common assets to help customers build a brand refresh that will work for them:

1. Business Cards: The test often used by consultants is to ask everyone in a meeting to put their business cards on the table. It is common to find that everyone working for a company has a different version. Logos, typefaces, and the position of vital contact details may change over the years, but no program was in place to ensure that everyone carried updated cards. Help your customers standardize how they look to their clients with a dash of panache. Suggest a refresh that uses textures, finishes, and even card weight to change how clients perceive that essential business card.
   
   
2. Signs: If the signs aren’t kept up to date, they become like wallpaper. They are in the background but not contributing to the forward momentum of the business. Signs at the front door and throughout a shop are the essential visual elements that guide customers on their buying journey. For restaurants, it may be their association with well-known food and alcohol brands. Car shops may want to focus on partnerships with their key brand partners, while other shops will want to spotlight products and services created inside their building.
   
   The good news is that signs are easy to produce and come in every size and shape you could need for indoor and outdoor locations. From window clings to wayfinding signs, you can build packages that allow a company to refresh their image in all the places they need visibility at one time so that the brand look becomes consistent.
   
   
3. EDDM: Mail is an effective way to spread news and engage customers. EDDM lets customers amplify their brand visibility by ZIP code, eliminating the need to buy lists. Instead, mail to ZIP codes that meet demographic requirements. It’s a great outreach to get your community’s local customers seeing your business in a fresh way.
   
   
4. Promotions: Create packages that link cards, notebooks, magnets, and other giveaways that keep the brand visible and celebrate the brand refresh. And, don’t forget the stickers and calendars to keep the brand visible year-round. Some customers may appreciate the option to create custom gift boxes for  the cards and promotional items, so don’t forget to mention the option.
   
   
5. Booklets and catalogs: For clients selling products and services, booklets and catalogs with refreshed branding can drive continuing sales. As much online shopping as people do, a handy desk reference for regularly purchased items and adjacent items is appreciated and used. 

Brand refreshes can be offered to every client in your book of business and advertised to prospects as a value-add you can bring to them.

           Contact us today to get started! 516-561-1468 or FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY              OF OUR MARKETING PRODUCTS GO TO: www.printcafeli.com

7 Things for Customers to Consider 

When Designing Packaging

Are you marketing Packaging to your customers? Here are 7 things that they might want to consider when designing their Packaging in order to give their respective brands the boost they so rightly deserve:

1. Does it stand out? There are a lot of products out there. And there are likely a lot of products similar to your customers’ products. Surely your customers are the best, but how will their shoppers know this? Your customers should make sure their packaging stands out on the shelf (or wherever it’s being sold) among its surroundings.
   
   
2. Who’s the buyer? Is the target market male? Female? Do they tend to be into sports, art, music, all of the above? These are all important things to consider when designing packaging. The design should appeal to your buyer.

1. Is it press-friendly? Think about it. Publicity is one of the number one marketing tools around. A few good write-ups in established publications (or on popular blogs) can result in huge spikes in the sales of a product, not to mention a brand’s credibility. Having packaging that photographs well and is appealing to online and print editors can be a critical factor in a product getting the press it deserves.
   
   
2. Does it meet legal requirements? A product’s packaging should inform the buyer of what’s inside. For example, the weight, materials used, ingredients (if food), where it was made, etc. are all key pieces of information sometimes required on a product’s packaging. Make sure your customers are also following the standards for the country in which they’re selling their product. Each country has them. As long as they’re being followed, your customers should be good to go.
   
   
3. Does it include instructions? If a product requires assembly, many customers will want to see at least a basic outline of how the product is assembled. It’s advantageous to your customer (the seller) if their product is easy to put together. If such is the case, this should be reflected on the package so your buyer knows that it’s user-friendly.
   
   
4. Does it protect the contents? Physical construction is super important because, of course, customers want their precious products to be protected. Your customers want to protect their awesome inventory in well-constructed, sturdy packaging that will hold up during shipping/transporting/handling. They’ll be grateful they did once their businesses start to see serious action.
   
   
5. Does it reflect your customers' brands? As far as packaging is concerned, this is probably the most critical when it comes to the long-term success of a business. Packaging should reflect the spirit of the brand and contain key things like the company logo, company colors, etc. Your customers should be thinking like a customer and considering what kinds of visual packaging characteristics are responsible for brand recognition. Think about it. With Apple, it’s the apple with the bite taken out of it, often coupled with an Avenir typeface and lots of clean white space. The colors yellow and red are often associated with fast food. You get the idea. And if your customers can establish a brand identity early on and use it consistently in their packaging, they’re in great shape! Contact us today to get started! 516-561-1468 or FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY OF OUR MARKETING PRODUCTS GO TO:www.printcafeli.com

10 Tips for a Memorable Business Card

You’re at a new business or a social event.

You look around in the sea of business people and wonder how to make the best first impression. Then you look down at your hand, holding your business card.

What do you feel next?

Are you excited to show off your business card and how it represents you? Or do you fear they will underestimate you based on your card?

Here are ten tips on creating a memorable business card that shouts, “Work with me!”

10 Tips for a Memorable Business Card

1. Make sure your design represents your business.

If you are a fun, quirky business that dabbles in creativity, make sure your business card reflects that mood. On the other hand, if you are a serious, no-nonsense business, make sure your business card is sleek, simple, and uncluttered.

2. Choose the right font and size.

Do not go smaller than 8 point type on your card. 

Try to enlarge the name of your business, so it is clear who you represent. If you have a website, try to match some fonts to create consistency.

3. Pick the right shape.

You don’t need to stick with the basic rectangle anymore.

Try a square or add rounded corners to make your card stand out in a pile of collected business cards. Not only will it stand out physically, but it will also create a mental note that you are up-and-coming and not the ordinary business.

4. Create the right images.

Use new printing techniques to make your logo or image pop off the page.

Try spot UV coating to make it shine or foil accents that add a touch of sophisticated shine. Or try embossed gloss to create a raised, glossy coating, giving your cards a hard-to-forget 3D feel.

5. Organize your information.

This sounds simple, but many people try to put too much information on their business cards.

Keep it simple.

Put your name prominently on the card. Then add your contact information in a place that’s easy to find: phone, email, and website.

6. Use the back of the card.

Go the extra mile and put something useful on the back of the card.

If you own a restaurant, add a drink mix on the back. If you take appointments, add an appointment reminder. If you offer many customized services, list them here. But try to direct them to your website if at all possible.

7. Be deliberate.

Use the same colors your other marketing materials and website use.

Be different by using the front of the business card to solely have your logo, with contact information on the back.

8. Make sure there is enough white space.

Don’t clutter your card with information. Just add the basics. They can contact you for the rest of the information.

9. Choose papers wisely.

Extra-thick paper adds an instant luxurious touch, and recycled kraft paper tends to have an organic feel. Think carefully about what you are trying to convey.

10. Include a call to action.

This isn’t a game-breaker if you have used up all your space. But if you have room, add a QR code or an invitation to contact you.

No matter what steps you take, rely on print communication experts to ensure that the finished product will be what you anticipated and something you can be proud of.  Contact us today to get started! 516-561-1468 or FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY OF OUR MARKETING PRODUCTS GO TO:www.printcafeli.com

 

How to Write an Effective Email

Communication is the key to running a business, and writing emails is one major way we communicate.

So it is worth saying that writing a good email is key to getting your initiatives out and in keeping customers happy.

Here are some tips to consider when writing an email.

Think of Your Audience

Who are you writing to?

Is it your coworker? Your boss? Your friend?

These all deserve a well-written email, but the tone of your letter will vary depending on whom you are writing to. Keep the tone similar throughout the email.

For example, if it’s for a friend, it’s okay to be light-hearted and funny. But if it’s your boss, and you’re inquiring about something for work, you probably want to keep the tone professional and more serious.

What do you want your audience to do? Make sure you keep your goal in mind while writing your email. This will help you not to wander and get off track.

Proofread Your Email

Don’t just send your email right after typing it.

Look it over again to make sure that nothing can get misinterpreted. Emails are hard to determine tone sometimes, so choose your words wisely. Read your email again, but think of it from an outsider’s perspective. Pretend you don’t know what your email is about, and read it with fresh eyes.

Use Spell-Check

For that matter, use grammar check if you need it, too.

You don’t want to look incompetent if there are misspelled words or grammatical mistakes. People will judge you on your wording, so be thoughtful.

Be Courteous

Use an opening and closing that is appropriate and kind. You want to build relationships through your writing.

The Email Basics

Here are the basic parts to a great email:

1. Subject line

Make sure your subject line matches the text of the letter so that your recipient can know right away what it’s about. Not only that, but when you are hunting for that email later, you will be able to find it quickly.

2. Greeting

Have a nice greeting and closing statement to set the tone.

3. Body

Keep it to a few sentences, rather than a novel. Keep it succinct and focused on what you want to communicate. Save the extra’s for later.

4. Closing

You will want to have a friendly closing, such as, “thank you,” “wishing you well,” “take care,” or other closings.

No matter what your message is, you will have a well-written email long as you follow these steps. After all, good communication is important no matter whom you are sending it to.

We welcome emails from all our customers, and we respond quickly to your questions and prospective jobs. Feel free to shoot us email today to get started on your next project.

Contact us today to get started! 516-561-1468 or FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY OF OUR MARKETING PRODUCTS GO TO:www.printcafeli.com