The How, Where and Way of Your Promotional Materials

Originally printed in Calgary's Child Magazine, May/June 2008
You'll find even more tips and tricks to help you grow a successful business in the Workplace section of Calgary's Child Magazine.

By Cheryl Peddie

Remember that old saying – 90 per cent of what you say to another person is actually non-verbal? The ‘how’, ‘where’ and ‘way’ a person says something, is as important – sometimes more important – than what is actually being conveyed. The same rule-of-thumb holds true for your promotional materials as well. Now obviously, your printed promotions don’t have the capacity to actually speak. Their ‘language’ still comes from a variety of sources – each of which needs to be crafted with careful attention.

Many factors contribute to the ultimate message your audience receives from your promotions. The actual choice of promotion and its format, the text, or 'copy' within the piece, the visuals and layout, even how and when it's distributed can affect whether or not it turns a member of your target market into your next big client, or turns them off so badly, they end up a loyal customer of your competition!

Consider this – a few months back, I needed to send flowers to a family member in another city. I got online, and found the two florists that had websites in that town. One was beautiful – easy to read, with clear, bright photographs of all the bouquets I could choose from. The ‘look’ of the site made me feel that the product would likely be as ‘put- together’ as the site was. Now like many others, even when I’m not being a careful shopper, I still like to feel like I’m one! So, I opted to check out the competitor’s site to make sure I wouldn’t be missing out on something better. The other site was awful – a poor layout, combined with awkward navigation and low quality images – it didn’t take me more than a minute to discount them as a poor choice. I could only conclude that I would be as disappointed with their product as I was with their website.

What are the two most important factors to that story? There are two – the first is that the company I didn’t choose didn’t just miss out on one sale. They’ll miss out on all future sales to me and likely others that had the same experience with their site, too. Second, like most of us, I have a long memory when it comes to poor service. (Even though I didn’t interact with a person, my interaction with their website still counts as ‘service’.) And people talk. Do you think if anyone asks me about my experience I won’t say something? Of course not! I’ll tell anyone who asks which florist I do and do not recommend in that area.

So how can you keep your promotional materials and other communications from working against you? Here are a couple of tips:
1) The most important hurdle I see businesses struggle with in their communications is their focus. In other words – keep it simple. It’s particularly hard for entrepreneurs. Most have so much of their lives and hearts invested in their product/service, that it’s hard to pick just a couple of things to say! They know their service so well, and know so much about it; that it’s hard for them to not want to include everything. It often takes an objective outsider to sort through all the data and choose just those couple crucial ‘competitive differences’ to work from in their promotions. This is the most difficult step, but also the most important. Like in my example above, many purchasers sort through their options within minutes. That’s not a long stretch of time to absorb your message. So if the reason your offering is the best one is not clear and to the point, you’re sunk.

2) Understand the differences amongst ‘features’, ‘advantages’ and ‘benefits’, but ‘sell’ the benefits. A ‘feature’ is a specific attribute about your product. An ‘advantage’, is why the feature works better, fits better, does a better job than a similar feature of your competitor’s offering. But here’s the key – the benefit is always expressed in terms of how that advantage affects your customer’s life. If you can let people know how they’ll be more attractive and happier, or with easier, more productive lives etc., because of using your product, you can consider it sold.

3) Whatever you choose to do; do it well. There are so many types of promotional materials to choose from, it’s easy to think you have to do it all right now. Yes, it’s important to create variety in your promo mix. However, I’ve seen many cases where a business owner has underestimated the amount of time it takes to create and maintain their promotionals. Brochures, newsletters, and postcard campaigns all take time and money to create and distribute effectively. If you’re short on either one – and who isn’t – it’s usually best to make a longer term plan to determine how and when each piece will be developed, and how they’ll all work together. But then do one thing at a time – don’t rush through it. Hurrying through something this important usually only ends up in a disjointed, ineffective campaign. If you take your time, you’ll have a promotional package that you can be proud of, yet is still cohesive and effective. Plus, you won’t break your bank account.

Now that you’ve considered what you need your promotional materials to say (and to not say), let’s get to work saying it! In my next article, I’ll be discussing fun and strategic ways to put your copy and visuals together within your promotions.

Cheryl is a graphic designer and artist, and has a degree in Marketing. Her artwork can be found at Avenida Gallery (Summer 2008), Child at Heart Children's Store, Galleria (now in Inglewood), at various local shows and on her website at emergecreative.ca. She can be also reached at 270-9755.