5 Must-Know Facts About Printing Marketing Materials

Photo by kubina on flickrDespite claims that all marketing is headed for the web, printed marketing materials can be crucial to your small business. Brochures, business cards and other printed materials can help you stick in a prospective customer’s mind in a way that a website may not. After all, it’s easier to keep a business card than it is to keep track of a business website. The importance of your printed marketing materials means that you need to make sure that they’re high quality. In some cases, that can mean paying extra to get the best printing — but if you know the facts about getting your marketing materials printed, you can often find better deals with better printers.

However, knowing what’s important when it comes to using a printer can be rather tricky, especially if you’ve never had anything printed before. In order for you to understand what’s involved with the printing process, here are 5 facts you need to know.

5 Must-Know Facts about Printing

  1. Design is an add-on: No matter what printer you work with, you’ll find that his or her primary business is definitely not design. That doesn’t mean that you can’t find a printer with a good design staff, but the cost of the design work will almost always be more than you can arrange through an individual designer. If your preferred printer recommends a designer or two, it’s fine to check them out — but you’ll often find a better price by looking for a designer on your own. The only drawback with bringing in your own designer is that you must make sure that your designer gets the printer’s specs. An experienced graphic designer can tell you exactly what specifications he or she needs to complete your project.
  2. Not all printers are created equal: Different printers offer different specialties. Online printing solutions, for instance, offer good quality service on relatively simple projects. If you need a business card — and you already have the design — you can get them printed up with high quality and low expense by going online. But those same printers just can’t offer as good a solution on anything even a little out of the ordinary. In those circumstances, you’ll be better off with a printer you can describe your needs to in person.
  3. Paper makes all the difference: While the weight or brightness of a paper may not seem important, it can make a huge difference in how your marketing materials turn out. You have to know throughout the planning, designing and printing portions of the process just what paper you are going to use — a change in materials at any point can change both your budget and just what your designer and printer need to do to guarantee a quality product. Printers are very aware of this fact, and a good printer will walk you through your paper options if you ask.
  4. Go local and make a deal: If budget is a concern whenever you’re thinking about a new marketing project, it’s important to build a close relationship with a local printer. Small print shops have more flexibility to make deals. If, for instance, you’re willing to work with the paper the printer has on hand, it can make a major difference to your budget. It is important, however, to keep in mind that paper costs are on the rise, reducing just how much of a bargain you can make.
  5. Consistency is crucial: No matter how many copies of a particular marketing piece you’re printing up today, you’re probably going to have to go back for another batch at some point. Business cards are a good example — you’ll probably be using the same business card design for quite a while, and you want each printing of your business card to look the same. That means going back to the same printer whenever you can. If you want to make sure your business cards match your brochure (and it’s definitely worthwhile to do so), you’ll also want to be able to go back to your designer.

With these facts in hand, you can set out to find a printer capable of completing your project — within your budget. As you work through a few printing projects, you’ll find that you’ll pick up more information about printing and what kinds of materials you can use to market your business. But you’ll also find yourself coming back to these simple facts time and again.

If all of this information seems like too much to process, you could hire someone trusted to do it all for you. Most marketing companies, including SmallFuel, will handle all of these details and be able to make informed and insightful marketing decisions based on your needs and marketing goals.

What do you do? Any tips or suggestions we’ve left out?

Top image by kubina.

Reader Comments

Bruce Colthart (@bccreative)
Jul. 31. 2009 5:07 PM
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Along the lines of consistency: make sure that you understand your local printer’s capability and strengths, because if you settle on a printer too quickly and your project is not their typical project, they may very well outsource it – provided it wasn’t a job that you absolutely must be on-press with.


Gage Mitchell
Aug. 27. 2009 12:18 AM
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Hello,

I’ve walked many clients through the printing process and I would add “Quantity” to your must-know list. The fact that the quantity of items you print at one time is a HUGE factor in the price is not always easy to understand for people new to print ordering. By keeping your design as timeless as possible (i.e. limit specific dates/data and hold off until you get your new phone number, etc) and printing a higher quantity now, you’ll save a ton of money down the line.

Ask your printer about the typical price break quantities for your project and you may find that you’ll pay half the price-per-piece if you order everyone in your office’s business cards at the same time, rather than individually. This is because you only pay one set-up fee and since the printing press is super fast (the time on press and the paper are the biggest expenses), printing the extra sheets may only cost you 10% more. Wow. huge savings.

I could go on and on of course, but I’ll spare you. Just don’t forget to ask for your designer’s help. They’ll be able to get you a better product and can probably save you money.

Thanks for the blog post!


Regards,
Gage Mitchell, AIGA

:: Graphic Designer
:: GageMitchell.com


Anders Online Marketing
Sep. 5. 2009 1:32 PM
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I am working with marketing in Denmark and is searching for inspiration in the digital world. Thanks for inspiration


Jordan
Aug. 18. 2010 7:42 PM
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Here is a solution to all of the above must know facts.

Small online printing and design service companies with real people, should you need a personal touch or unusual product

Consider using www.design-business-cards-online.com for your business card and other standard print materials. Here you can design your own business cards, postcards, letterhead, envelopes, etc. with out having to spend money on costly design services.

If you decide that you would like professional design services, just let us know


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Oct. 31. 2011 3:31 AM
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Print marketing is a waste of time as far as I’m concerned.  Especially if you are primarily an online business.


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Feb. 6. 2012 7:54 AM
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There are times where companies cannot rely on internet marketing to gain exposure. This is especially true for businesses where their customers do not go online at all. SEO techniques would not help them as much as finding a good printing company. If the printing company charges too much for a good design, getting online help is also a good idea.


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May. 10. 2012 4:47 PM
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Not all printers are created equal: Different printers offer different specialties. Online printing solutions, for instance, offer good quality service on relatively simple projects. If you need a business card — and you already have the design — you can get them printed up with high quality and low expense by going online. But those same printers just can’t offer as good a solution on anything even a little out of the ordinary. In those circumstances, you’ll be better off with a printer you can describe your needs to in person.


William
May. 15. 2012 2:51 AM
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Postcards can work well, depending on what business you are in.  Seems to work for contractors and construction companies.


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I was in printing, design and graphic arts for 30 years before going into real estate and I can tell you there is no reason to pay a lot for printing these days unless you need a really high end corporate brochure or something like that. For flyers, brochure and postcards you can find great vendors on the internet that do volume business, and they will be cheaper than many local resources. Some of these even have design tools, which will save you the cost of the designer.

The other thing: don’t go nuts. If you have a good product or a strong message, a more expensive design and/or slightly better printing doesn’t matter. Come up with an attention grabbing headline. Highlight the strengths of your product or services. You don’t really need a fancy design or a super high quality print job to communicate your message effectively.

Ultimately the design and/or the print quality is not going to convince people whether or not to utilize your product. What will sway them is the message, and the medium is only a small component of that.


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Go local and make a deal: If budget is a concern whenever you’re thinking about a new marketing project, it’s important to build a close relationship with a local printer. Small print shops have more flexibility to make deals. If, for instance, you’re willing to work with the paper the printer has on hand, it can make a major difference to your budget. It is important, however, to keep in mind that paper costs are on the rise, reducing just how much of a bargain you can make.


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