The Cycle of Life: Print Marketing
11 December 2019
Written by Acme Mag
When it comes to marketing, repetition walks a narrow line. A bold statement about your agency or team repeated numerous times can result in a real payoff, however a market report which consists of the same visuals over and over can begin to be tuned out by your market. Before realising that your print marketing has been tuned out, it’s time to look at proactive steps that can give your print marketing assets a new lease on life.
Firstly, let’s talk about identifying when your visuals are bordering on not-so-fresh. There will come a time when even the best designs can begin to look too familiar and lose their wow factor. It’s a common occurance and part of the marketing life cycle; this specific concept is called ‘familiar’ and is situated between marketing deliverables that are ‘established’ and deliverables that are visually ‘outdated’.
New
This is one of the easiest phases to identify. You’ve just had a brand spanking new print asset created. The visuals are brand new to you and your market. To be frank, if it’s new, people pay more attention.
Established
When a marketing piece is in the established phase, it’s typically been around for a couple months. It still has a faint glimmer of the new phase, however now it’s become a trusted source.
Familiar
Depending on your market, this is the moment that can make or break you. Your market has become accustomed to your marketing, some pay attention, some don’t. It’s in this phase that you need to make the decision to ‘hit refresh’ before people tune out completely.
Outdated
The design is outdated, whether that be because of style trends changing or because your market has grown so accustomed that they don’t heed the marketing message of your print asset anymore.
Things You Can Do
01. Change the orientation
Is everything you do portrait? Why not try and flip it up by presenting it in a landscape format.
02. Change the size
Typically, reports come in A5, however what is stopping you from creating a pocket sized report in A6 or a larger print item? The world is your oyster, so don’t feel that you have to stick by standard sizes for your print marketing.
03. Change to a premium stock
A less obvious change, but also one of the easiest to implement. This is ideal if you’re looking to move into bigger ticket markets.
04. Try a new finish
For unexpected wow factor, opt to include areas of metallic foiling or spot glossing.
