As you can imagine, we’ve seen a lot of marketing materials over the years from a variety of sectors and business sizes. A common theme we have identified are the small print marketing mistakes people make that, in reality, are usually a result of oversight, tight deadlines or lack of creative eye.
We’ve picked four of the most common errors we see and offer solutions so you can avoid making these print marketing mistakes in future.
Using Stock Images
Don’t get us wrong, stock images certainly have their place, but let’s be honest, they can be a bit vague and dull. If you work in a niche sector, good quality stock imagery may be hard to come across and when you do, what’s the bet it’s already being used by a competitor?
Tip 1:
We highly recommend having a bank of great quality, in-house photography that’s unique to your brand that can be used not only in print marketing but also on social media, your website and email.
Failure to convert to digital channels
In an age of everything being online, having a clear route to your digital channels should be considered. Print marketing is extremely useful, but adding in that digital step can sometimes give the user journey and experience that added edge.
Tip 2:
Make the digital route as easy as possible. It can be as small as including your social media handles (especially if they differ slightly from your brand name) or maybe even a QR code that takes the recipient to your site, a download or similar.
Forgetting to Proof
The beauty of online information is that if you spot a previously undetected error, you can nip into the site, make that change and readers are none the wiser.
Sending your marketing to print with a spelling or grammatical error is a costly mistake; not just the re-printing costs but if those mistakes are noticed by your intended audience, it can harm your brand credibility.
Tip 3:
We’d always suggest running your copy past a couple of pairs of eyes before you send it to print. Even better, have it checked by someone who had nothing to do with the design or copy of the piece as they won’t be anticipating what to read and can make sure the message is clear. Alternatively, tools like Grammarly can help you fine-tune your copy and pick out even the most inconspicuous grammatical errors.
Using Colour Correctly
Hopefully, your brand is already using colour effectively, even if it’s just in your logo. Your print marketing should be an extension of your brand.
Learning how colours work together is important; there’s nothing more displeasing than laying a logo over an image with clashing colours; it’s clunky, amateur and, well, ugly.
Tip 4:
If you’re having trouble finding the right brand extension colours, try using a free tool such as Canva’s Colour Palette Generator for some inspiration. (We take no responsibility for the time you spend ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’ whilst clicking through the endless options!)
These are just 4 of the most common print marketing mistakes we see
There are plenty of other print marketing mistakes out there, such as using fonts that don’t quite hit the mark, getting your messaging confused and trying too hard to be ‘edgy’, but perhaps we’ll save that for another read..!
In the meantime, why not check out our advice on how to create stand-out print marketing material.
