From trade shows to catalogs, print continues to be a huge part of any company’s marketing mix, even in our digital age. In fact, having many marketing channels in the mix — including printing — makes it 26 percent more likely you’ll get good results from your strategy.
Maybe you haven’t spent much time on printed marketing materials beyond business cards lately. But there are several things you should keep in mind when planning your B2B printing needs. These tips can help you get the best product to help you wow potential clients at your next meeting.
Talk Budget
Start every print job by considering your budget. While a wide range of finishing options are possible, embossing or die-cutting might not be viable with a smaller budget.
Your printer can help you figure out ways to get some of that extra wow factor to fit within your budget by changing the paper, size, or printing process. You might choose a saddle-stitch binding over perfect or glossy cover over matte to reduce costs without reducing quality.
Top-Quality Files
Learn about the kinds of files and graphics used in printing as they’re quite different from digital marketing. For example, your art needs to be scalable when printing banners to ensure you can make a sign big enough to be easily read at a distance. A small JPG photograph doesn’t lend itself to a high-quality print in that case.
The final product is only as good as the file you send to the printer. Consider working with a designer that has print experience or letting the printer’s team take over. Color quality, sharp images, and proper proportions should be top of mind when creating your print project.
Track Results
Personalization is the buzzword for any marketing piece these days, and one of the reasons print often gets left out of the marketing mix. Happily, you can not only get hyper-targeted and personalized with your print projects now, but you have multiple ways to track each piece.
Consider adding unique QR codes to printed pieces to see which customers respond and when. While they’ve been around awhile, most people are more familiar with them these days, thanks to their use as restaurant menus. Targeted URLs provide another way to track the results and success of a print campaign.
Your printer should be able to help you with merging files to create the kind of targeted pieces you need to succeed.
Your One-Stop Source for All Your B2B Printing Needs
Print media continues to be an important marketing channel for any business but does have considerations you don’t run into with digital. Your budget dictates many of your project considerations, while the quality of your design and files impact how professional your project turns out. Working with a printer that can handle large-scale jobs and personalization gets all your B2B printing needs covered in one place.
Need more professional B2B printing? Contact us to discuss how we can help with everything from commercial signage to promotional items.