9 Steps to create effective marketing materials for your business
(4 Minute read)
There are 80 new businesses started every hour in the UK.
That’s a LOT of competition.
When setting up a business, strategic positioning, professional branding and effective marketing materials are no longer optional extras – they are essential for growth.
Marketing materials are key to helping you reach your intended audience, and ultimately to helping you build a loyal customer base and grow your business. The different types of marketing materials can be everything from a website, out-of-home (OOH) ads and social media graphics to business stationery (including the humble business card), brochures and merchandise – they are all there to help tell your story.
An omnichannel approach is key to the success of your business. Find the channels and materials that work for your audience and remember that relying solely on digital is not always the answer - read our view on the power of print in a digital world.
The thought of getting all of your marketing materials sorted out can be overwhelming and it’s common for business owners to not know where to begin.
Here are the nine key steps to making sure you have effective marketing materials that will help drive business growth:
1. Figure out which materials you need
It can be tempting when choosing marketing materials to get carried away and slap your logo onto everything you can get your hands on. Take a moment, reel in the excitement and think carefully about which materials you really need. A nice shiny pen with your logo on it can look great, but if you run a fruit and veg business it’s not entirely relevant.
2. Collect inspiration
Next, get your magpie hat on and start collecting everything that catches your eye. Business cards, brochures, merchandise, the lot. If you like it, pick it up and use it to inform your own marketing material designs. Setting up a Pinterest board is also a great idea if you want to create a virtual scrapbook of inspiration.
3. Nail your logo
No matter what type of business you run, a poor quality logo will impact negatively on your success; guaranteed. Even if you know your way around a piece of design software, doing this part yourself if you’re not a professional designer rarely works out for the best. Let a professional help create a top quality logo and your business marketing materials will be far more effective. If you already have a logo but you’re not sure whether it needs revisiting, here’s what to consider: 4 Signs it’s time to refresh your logo.
4. Compile your information
Your materials need to provide the right information to be effective, so get everything you need ready to go. The type of information you will most likely need to get started includes:
Business name
Your freshly designed logo
Phone number
Email address
Website URL
Business address (if you have one)
5. Scope out your target audience
Now you’re ready to design your materials, but first you need to make sure they will appeal to your target audience. Spend as much time as possible building a typical customer profile, including age, gender, values and interests. Once you know these, you can ensure your materials will draw the right kind of attention and engage your audience. For example, if your target audience is professional business people, your materials may need to use a refined, formal and high-end style of design to appeal to this market.
6. Consider what you want to achieve
The beauty of marketing materials is that they come in all forms, shapes and sizes, so you can tailor each one to a different and specific purpose. A business card is useful for giving basic information and for generating new leads, while a brochure has lots of space for storytelling and product showcasing. By selecting a varied range of marketing touch points you can achieve a great deal with relative ease, so consider each one carefully.
7. Create a scannable layout
People have very short attention spans these days, so your information needs to be scannable and easy to digest. To achieve this, you need to create a layout with bold headers, good quality graphics and short, bitesize paragraphs. Don’t be too wordy or try to cram too much in.
8. Grab attention with good copy
It doesn’t matter how pretty your designs are, if your copy is bad then your business marketing materials will suffer. Customer touch points such as your website, brochures, presentations and adverts are your opportunities to really tell your story, so make sure you craft clear, engaging copy that showcases your personality and professionalism.
If you’re not a writer, but you know how important it is to tell your story effectively, it’s worth hiring a professional copywriter to help you craft your copy.
9. Keep it consistent
With all these marketing materials and touch points to keep track of, it can be easy to lose focus and stray off course with some of them. However, to avoid confusing your customers and diluting your brand message, you must ensure you keep your business branding consistent across everything you produce. This includes colour schemes, layouts, tone of voice and the quality of your graphics and paper stock. Keeping everything consistent will keep your brand strong and trustworthy in the eyes of your target market.
If you are just getting started with your new business venture and you’re feeling overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done, our ultimate lean branding package that delivers branded assets essential for launch
