Successful marketing campaigns make use of a variety of strategies, and traditional print media still has a huge role to play – particularly in building brand awareness.
It’s important to understand that building a brand is not the same as simply marketing products or services. It’s perfectly possible to succeed in business by selling other people’s products – and platforms such as Amazon and eBay have made this easier than ever.
Brands however are different. What they are actually promoting is an image that the business wants to project, a sense of how you want your business to be perceived by the wider public, not just customers.
There are luxury brands, family focused brands, environmentally friendly brands and many others; but all of these can become significant assets with a value which may in time transcend the intrinsic worth of the products or services themselves.
Print Media Remains An Excellent Way To Build A Brand
Authorities such as Scientific American have published studies suggesting that print marketing media may leave a deeper neural footprint than those seen on screen. That’s to say that the physical handling of printed material may help promote a deeper emotional engagement with its message and in the context of marketing may therefore help customers and prospects to remember and bond with a brand.
Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) has also reported that traditional print advertising delivers the highest ROI of any medium – $3.94 being returned for every $1 spent.
How To Build Brand Awareness With Print Media
There are many different types of print media, but all can be used to help with the building of a brand and measuring its progress.
Depending on the type of business it may be appropriate to use any one or all of the following:
- Traditional ad campaigns in newspapers or magazines
- Surface mail direct response packages
- Catalogs or brochures
- Coupon campaigns
- Print newsletters
- Business cards
- Postcards
Key Principles When Building A Brand
Whatever method you chose, there are some key principles which must be applied when building a successful and long lasting brand. First and foremost of these is consistency. Every piece of print marketing material must be consistent in the use of logo, color, fonts, typography, images, and, perhaps above all, its message.
A visually striking and memorable logo is particularly important and worth spending considerable time on getting this right. Using the expertise of design professionals can be of great help not just with logos, but every element of a successful branding campaign.
Tips For Brand Building Success
- People differ enormously in the types of media they like to consume, so to reach them you need to use as great a variety of print media as possible.
- For successful brands no detail is too small. Consistency of design, logo and message must also extend to packaging, packing slips, letterheads and invoices.
- Ensure that your production standards reflect your brand. If you are developing a luxury brand you need to ensure that your paper, image and packaging quality reflect this.
- Pay careful attention to the quality of the images used in any print media campaign. These should be print friendly and for best quality resolution have a DPI (dots per inch) of 300 or more.
While the message to be presented by a brand is largely a matter for its owner, professional advice can help enormously with the many technical and production issues involved in its successful development.
With 50 years of industry experience, Ballantine offers a wide range of services which will help you achieve the best possible return on all your print and digital marketing campaigns.
Contact us today for expert help with your marketing campaign.
I'm the Director of Digital Services and Partner at Ballantine, a family-owned and operated direct mail & digital marketing company based in New Jersey. and started in 1966 by my great uncle!
