Marketing is considered a necessary evil in business. You can hate it or love it, but be sure to use it right. After all, it is your way of keeping in touch with your customers, past, present, or future-of letting them know the who's, what's, when's, why's, where's, and how's of your business. Regardless if you choose social media marketing, traditional marketing, or both, campaign materials serve as your connection vanguards.
For the small businesspeople-who aside from having a business Web site, also have to run a physical establishment-information, education, and communication (IEC) materials are still being heavily used. IEC materials are popularly called by the specific type such as brochure, leaflet, catalogues, etc. They serve as means of reaching the still at large offline customers.
One way of saving on the cost of producing your IEC materials is to print them yourself rather than having them professionally done. Laser printers that run on toner cartridges such as the HP Q7553A enable you to produce quality output with crisp and clear images that last considerably long. If you still want to save more on the production cost, you can use black and white print. Contrary to popular opinion, you can make black and white print attractive for them to stand out. The following are creative tips when working with black and white print:
1) Choose designs that are compatible with black and white print. There are page layout software found online that allow you to make logos and designs by tweaking existing templates. Make sure to download graphics that print well even when using a black toner cartridge like the HP Q7553A. Tip: black and white graphics are different from grayscale ones as the former uses black powder whereas the latter, combines your magenta, yellow, and cyan with black to come up with gray prints. However, more often than not, they are used interchangeably.
2) Use quality paper. More than the print, people also notice the type of paper being used. Even good designs still come out unattractive when you use substandard type of paper. Choose thick paper that meets the taste of your target audience. For instance, if you are selling designer shoes for teenagers, you can choose neon colored paper. Aside from getting the attention of your target audience, the paper makes your campaign materials-which are printed using black toner cartridge such as HP Q7553A - stand out. Tip: glossy paper tends to use more powder during printing jobs.
3) Pay attention to other details of your IEC material. There are other aspects that make your campaign material stand out aside from its design. You can also focus on your content. Speak in the language that your target audience understands. Give them useful information they need to solve their everyday problems. Tell them how they can reach you in case they have questions that need prompt answers. By doing so, you project usefulness, sincerity, and dependability-which weigh more and are far more important than any design-in your business.
