Powerful print marketing
The very first step is your business card.
When you’re starting out there are a lot of first steps. As an entrepreneur, you’ll need to build your network so you can start to get your message out to your audience. This is part of the process of building your brand.
Getting your messaging right is key, as you need to try to change your status from totally unknown to acknowledged and trusted. Your unique value proposition combined with an image or design is the pathway towards building a brand. Creating a smart and professional business card design is the perfect first step, and can often be the gateway move to many crucial tasks; applying for funding, getting clients and meeting potential partners who can help you drive new business.
How do brands shine?
First of all you need a unique and clear design – design is the combination of imagery with copy and this needs be on point. Good, clean creative will make you look professional and credible immediately.
Once you have a unique design, you need to distribute and enrich your content, explaining what you are offering and how exactly you will meet your customer’s needs.
A website or blog is essential – but as you are meeting partners, fulfillers, associations and finally customers in real world – you are in need of a business card or a leaflet like a postcard or a flyer to have a professional setup.
To let your brand really shine ensure you have design consistency across all of your communications. Your website and print marketing should all look like they are from the same stable so that customers know that they are interacting with you whether they receive a leaflet, meet you at a networking event or find your website online.
Once you have a unique design, you need to distribute and enrich your content, explaining what you are offering and how exactly you will meet your customer’s needs.
A website or blog is essential – but as you are meeting partners, fulfillers, associations and finally customers in real world – you are in need of a business card or a leaflet like a postcard or a flyer to have a professional setup.
To let your brand really shine ensure you have design consistency across all of your communications. Your website and print marketing should all look like they are from the same stable so that customers know that they are interacting with you whether they receive a leaflet, meet you at a networking event or find your website online.
Why your business card is essential?
The business card is still an essential part of every company’s printed marketing material and are a great way to express your personality as well as provide people with your ever-crucial contact details. Sometimes young startups use a postcard as a quirky way of achieving this, especially at events when you need to get noticed.
But the truth is, business cards in standard design format with special finishing and paper are even better, as you distribute them every day.
Special finishing is i.e. embossing, foiled areas or having ultra-thick paper make an impression so spend a little time researching how you want these to look or feel. A really tactile business card can really stand out from the others.
Get the look and the finish right, the world will know you and soon you will see your inbox is filled with requests.
So, distributing your business card is essential during the early stages of your business, and you should be distributing them to anybody you are talking to – spread your word!
More print marketing ideas
For a professional setup, you need professional sales-tools.
Especially in sales you need to show your audience you can be trusted, you’re knowledgable and you have a great product. If your product is digital and you are selling it via meetings (think of how you would sell a unique B2B software technology) you are in very big need of leaving not only a business card and presenting a deck – you should create a printed leaflet, which can be left with customers after your meeting as a parting gift.
The following are ideas of print marketing materials supporting your business:
- Presentation folder
- Pens with your logo
- Postcards with your brand message
- Small or big flyer
- Brochures, explaining your detailed message
- Labels to put on desktop-printed memos
The above are only a few ideas to inspire you on how printed marketing materials can help you achieve your goals. The most important thing is that you decide to distribute and actively use your printed materials, so that the world knows you and understands what you are offering. The more you get your brand out there – the better it is.
How and where to get professional printing?
99designs and Vistaprint Corporate have partnered to create a print portal with essential printing needs for you company. Once you get your design, you can order your desired product right away and get it to your door within days.
We advise you to let a professional designer create your very first printed products and invest into design.
As described before, the unique design matching your value proposition and letting your brand shine is important.
After you have decided on which printed products you want to use and let a designer creating designs and files for that – you can easily order and even re-order.
We advise you to let a professional designer create your very first printed products and invest into design.
As described before, the unique design matching your value proposition and letting your brand shine is important.
After you have decided on which printed products you want to use and let a designer creating designs and files for that – you can easily order and even re-order.
Be your company!
There is no-one else presenting your company better than yourself. You are your company, and you are a marketing channel in yourself. The above should help you to get an understanding of print essentials you may need to support you. But at the end of the day it is you, who is the best promoter for your brand and all the rest - website, blog, business cards and professional marketing collateral is all in support of YOU.
So what are you waiting for? Go get ‘em!
This article was provided by Vistaprint Corporate. Vistaprint Corporate is partnering with 99designs for their high-quality printing portal, where you can buy your print-marketing-material right after getting your design.
With the below voucher code, you will get 30% discount on the 99designs print portal – by Vistaprint Corporate!
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