Genkii Design solutions: Guides: 6 ways to improve your marketing materials

6 ways to improve your marketing materials

Spelling and grammar

Spelling and grammatical errors in marketing materials are a lot more common than you'd think, and they can be costly. Not only do they look extremely unprofessional (especially on printed materials), if they're in print, it means the entire run is ruined. Printing another letter is one thing, printing another 1000 business cards is another.

Ways to avoid spelling and grammatical mistakes

Always do at least one draft copy.
Proof your work yourself.
Have some one else proof read it - some one who's good at it.
Use a printed proof. Sometimes it helps to spot errors you might have missed.
Invest in a spell checker to point out obvious errors.

Spacing and layout

The way you lay out your materials is important because it affects the way a reader takes in the information. It isn't always about getting all the info on to one page, and there are lots of little things you can do to improve the layout of your materials.

How to improve the spacing and layout

Draft a hierarchy of information with several levels, titles being at the top, then sub titles and then descriptions.
It's better to have two pages of well spaced information than one page all squashed up, don't be afraid to spread information out.
Try to make your materials balanced, if there's a title on the left side, a faint watermark on the right would balance it - don't overuse graphics though.

Get to the point

This is one I have trouble with myself. The main thing is that if you're working with a finite amount of space - and marketing materials are a prime example of this - then you need to get the message across as concisely as possible. With a business card for example, you need your contact details, your name, what you do, and a way of inviting the reader to contact you. All of that on a few square inches. Even on materials where you have more space brevity is important - a CV in one page is not the best idea, but a CV in 20 is just as bad. People won't see the information because of all the extra words around it.

Ways to get to the point faster

When you write a sentence, ask yourself if there's a way of getting the meaning across as effectively, with fewer words? For example - "The world is in short supply when it comes to firemen" could be shortened to "The world needs more firemen" and so on - don't sacrifice meaning, just don't go overboard.
Use short sentences and aim for words that have impact.
Use lists, bullet points are good.
Remember that you can always list more information elsewhere and just add a line saying "for more information visit www.mysite.com or call on 05 555 555".
Draft out the main points you want to get across before you start and stick to that.

Consistency

A consistent colour and image theme is what a lot of small businesses lack, and they pay for in spades because their professionalism is marred by amateurish looking materials. For example if your logo is in green and gold, and it would be silly to make a flyer all in red and then stick your logo on it. While various materials will need to be different because of size and purpose, they should share a common theme and none of them should contradict each other.

Ways to improve consistency

Invest in a graphic designer or marketing consultant and put together a colour scheme and rough template for all your materials, this will save you money in the long term because it means that every time you need something created you have a basic template to turn to.
Keep a file with basic information about the business, it's goals, target market, and the image you want to achieve. Check all materials against it for accuracy. There's no point making a flyer to attract middle aged women with cars all over it.

Exercise restraint

When you start out it's easy to think that block fonts with shading bent into an arc look great and should be used alongside dancing rats and disgruntled kittens because, hey, who doesn't love kittens?

The thing to remember is that these things might be good on their own (might), but all together, they're pretty awful. Imagine a house where somebody has made a feature wall in dark red - nice, striking, interesting. Now imagine they painted another wall lime green, and another black, and another purple - how are your eyes doing?

Exercising restraint

There should be nothing on your materials that does not serve some purpose. For example - to give information, to balance up the space, to create a certain feeling, etc. If possible get elements to do more than one thing. For example an image could balance the page and also show what you do.
Check all gaudy, bright and glittery things against the description mentioned in the previous tip.
When you want to include something, ask yourself why. Really ask yourself. If it's just because you think it looks cool or cute, then cut it.

Feedback

Ask people around you for feedback. You can learn a lot and might be surprised what others have to say. It can sometimes come as a bit of a shock or seem hurtful, but it's worth it to get a balanced view. Remember, your customers don't care if you worked really hard on that flyer, they care whether or not it interests them.

How to get good feedback

Approach people who have the time to give you criticism, not those who are obviously in a rush or busy.
Be brave. Even if it hurts to have your work picked over, remember that this is helping you. Look at the work as unfinished, something to be developed and grown, part of growing a tree is pruning it.
Go away and try out suggestions before you say yes or no, and see if they help.
Paraphrase what people say back to them to make sure you've got it right
Ask questions about the kind of thoughts they have on it, does it make them happy or sad, would they trust this brand?
Ask several people.
Be humble. People are giving up their time to help you. Some of them may not be nice about it, but say thank you anyway, see if there's anything useful in their comments and then move on.

Remember, your marketing materials are the face you present to the wider world. Keep improving them, and invest in a professional designer to help you if you can.

-Bridget Hughes
Owner, Designer and General Trouble Maker