Just got a piece of literature through the post from a printing company. It’s always good to get something in the actual mail these days rather than the email, isn’t it?
I just realised how much promotional material we get through the email but that is another blog topic for another day, eh?
I decided to write a quick blog about the piece of literature I got…because it got me thinking about promotional literature – whether it helps or hinders your brand?
Can you answer me in a New York Minute if your promotional literature works or not?
This particular piece of literature was printed on heavy stock, was folded in the middle, introduced the company and it’s services.
However.
The company logo was misaligned. For the sake of anonymity, I’m going to suggest that you think of a square as the logo. Half the square was on one half of the fold, the other half on the other side. It was supposed to match up but it didn’t.
There was also no text on the back cover, no address, no contact details. Nothing. Nada. Only blank space.
As a printing company, it did it’s job. It showed the quality of the print job.
But.
As it offers a design element, it didn’t do it’s job. There wasn’t a quality check to ensure the logo was misaligned and there wasn’t a correct use of the brochure.
Please take this advice – do not print promotional material if you are in any doubt about the effectiveness of the literature.
Whether it’s a postcard, one page mailer, folded leaflet, greeting card, 4 page brochure, 12 page brochure, whatever, please ensure that it is on brand, that it suits your audience and serves a purpose.
Back to your answer – does your promotional literature help or hinder you? Do you know?
If you are unsure at the moment, then the next time you write and design any promotional literature, you must TEST, TEST, and more TEST. It’s too expensive to not test.
You should have been able to say to me in a second that yes, your literature works. Can you?
