The New Year is a time that everyone looks forward to, simply because it signals a fresh start: a new opportunity for you to put your best foot forward and kick off the year right. It is a prime time to consider approaching your sales and marketing materials with fresh eyes and a plan for the future. For many, this means making updates accordingly so that you’re ready to sell, sell, sell over the next calendar year!
Don’t let these common design mistakes derail your efforts:
Problem #1 - Using old information
To compete in any competitive market, your products and services must rapidly evolve to meet the demands of your customers. As a result, the information associated with your marketing is constantly changing too. It’s a good problem to have, but difficult to manage on a regular basis.
Having up-to-date materials and information is essential to the sales process. Utilizing outdated brochures risks providing prospects with inaccurate information, which can lead to miscommunications during the sales process or worse, a lost sale altogether. If your business depends heavily on new sales to fuel growth, these are troubles you can’t afford to have.
Well executed marketing materials enhance your sales in a powerful way by communicating timely and accurate information. By having an updated suite of marketing materials (like flyers, brochures, and booklets) complete with current information and clear selling points, you’ll be giving prospects everything they need to understand your value proposition.
Problem #2 - Ignoring your customers point of view
It’s very important to understand how your customers view your products and services. You might look at your sales materials and think, “These are fine, why would I update them?” But are you and your customers speaking the same language? Using the terminology, images, layout and design that speak to the viewer are integral to the creation of great sales materials. Consider the following as you update your materials.
• Content & Information: Hand your existing materials off to someone outside of your organization and industry and ask them to take a look — if they can get all of the information they need at a glance, you’ve done your job right. If they’re left asking questions, it’s time to revisit your content to help clarify your capabilities.
• Images & Graphics: People buy with their eyes, so images and visuals are critical in selling your products and services. Display products predominantly and in a manner that makes them enticing. Pay close attention to those images that are most appealing to your customers (not to you!). Services should also follow this rule, with images supporting the benefits outlined in your copy.
• Layout: Cluttered images, big blocks of text and jumbled sections are all detractors from your sales materials and can confuse someone’s understanding of your offerings. Make sure everything is laid out in a professional manner that’s appealing to browse and read. Utilize bullets and short phrases to communicate important information.
• Design: Do your materials proudly display your company’s branding? Utilize your logo, brand colors and graphics to draw attention to your key benefits and proposition. Text and pictures should work together in a synergistic way that keeps the reader engaged. Design is critical in creating superior sales materials. While self design may be tempting, a professional designer will give you the best representation.
Problem #3: Trying to say too much.
Whether it’s a brochure, webpage or advertisement, our instinct is to talk about everything we do! But, sometimes less is more. Instead of having one brochure that lists all of your products and services, creating individual sales sheets that highlight the benefits of a single product or service can be much more effective. Developing marketing material that can be customized to the individual needs of the consumer gives your sales materials an edge.
When choosing what to say, consider how your marketing material will be used or viewed. Listing your products on a yard sign won’t be readable as cars pass. But a catchy phrase and your website can memorable to potential customers. Choose your words carefully for the most impact.
Avoiding these common problems is a challenge when it comes to updating your sales and marketing materials on an ongoing basis. To make sure you’re going about a refresh the right way, request a consultation with one of the professionals at AlphaGraphics Downtown Kansas City. We’ll help you transform your business materials, signage, and car graphics into critical components of your core sales strategy.
When you have great services combined with compelling marketing and design, it speaks volumes about your business, in a way that attracts sales and closes deals.
Don’t miss a thing! Make sure to follow our social channels:
