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My daughter Josie commented recently on some leaflets: “Shouldn’t the picture be relevant to whoever picks it up, so to grab their attention?”
She’s right - aim the visual aspects of your advertising towards your target market. Don’t reflect your personal favourites and be careful about your business’s image. The customer is king (or queen) and everything should be geared towards them and their preferences.
Take a good look at the pictures in your marketing material, and get feedback from your friends or past customers, to see if they work or not.
Sign up for more Alice’s Actions from my website.
15 October 2007
Alice’s Action #1 – Clear Directions
Clear signage is vital, especially for directions, corporate identity and general awareness.
Take time to consider how clear your company really is. How does the outside world see your business? Are you recognisable? How simple is it to contact you? Are these details clearly visible? Can you be easily found? Are you approachable and/or welcoming?
You can sign up for more Alice’s Actions from my website.
Take time to consider how clear your company really is. How does the outside world see your business? Are you recognisable? How simple is it to contact you? Are these details clearly visible? Can you be easily found? Are you approachable and/or welcoming?
You can sign up for more Alice’s Actions from my website.
04 October 2007
Technology – does too much affect marketing?
The world moves on so rapidly, and so much is now possible in the world of technology, there is always the urge to use everything that is available. It’s like being a child in a toy shop: Everything’s wonderful! Wow, look at that! How does that work? That’s really impressive! I want one!
But it’s like my soup blog, you can’t put everything into the pot and expect it to taste nice. However weird and wonderful it may seem, is it really necessary? Does blinking adverts and moving images really make a difference? Do they not annoy and divert the customers’ attention from the true purpose of your website? And the spiders on the web interested as well? You may find they totally ignore them and do nothing at all for your SEO!
Moving gallery shows are only effective if used wisely, like promoting a book or showing examples. Opening your website with them totally defeats the object, for unless your surfer has time to wait, boredom or confusion will set in and they’re off. But if you do use a gallery, situate it in a clear background and large enough screen, thus avoiding unnecessary squinting, peering and on-coming headaches.
Another gimmick is to have wide-screens with rolling Powerpoint shows. This can be impressive, but care needs to be taken presenting your information, with concise text, simple backgrounds and each page not over-full to allow the reader enough time to read it before it changes. Don’t go mad with all the special effects available, as this contributes to cluttering and can look amateurish. A few well chosen simply produced styles can easily aid effective absorption of your message.
People have different attitudes to technology – the younger set react more to the possibilities and, as well as understanding them better, want to use them all the time. But taking a step back and choosing wisely, considering which one is the best use of money, time and resources, will allow your audience to enjoy your marketing, respond favourably and serve their purpose.
But it’s like my soup blog, you can’t put everything into the pot and expect it to taste nice. However weird and wonderful it may seem, is it really necessary? Does blinking adverts and moving images really make a difference? Do they not annoy and divert the customers’ attention from the true purpose of your website? And the spiders on the web interested as well? You may find they totally ignore them and do nothing at all for your SEO!
Moving gallery shows are only effective if used wisely, like promoting a book or showing examples. Opening your website with them totally defeats the object, for unless your surfer has time to wait, boredom or confusion will set in and they’re off. But if you do use a gallery, situate it in a clear background and large enough screen, thus avoiding unnecessary squinting, peering and on-coming headaches.
Another gimmick is to have wide-screens with rolling Powerpoint shows. This can be impressive, but care needs to be taken presenting your information, with concise text, simple backgrounds and each page not over-full to allow the reader enough time to read it before it changes. Don’t go mad with all the special effects available, as this contributes to cluttering and can look amateurish. A few well chosen simply produced styles can easily aid effective absorption of your message.
People have different attitudes to technology – the younger set react more to the possibilities and, as well as understanding them better, want to use them all the time. But taking a step back and choosing wisely, considering which one is the best use of money, time and resources, will allow your audience to enjoy your marketing, respond favourably and serve their purpose.
01 October 2007
Is all junk mail bin-fodder?
More junk mail plops through my letterbox this morning, but two leaflets catch my eye:
One is promoting a furniture store – acres of brown background with tiny, indiscriminate photos that would require a magnifying glass to study what they contained in any detail, plus whited-out text in tiny letters crammed into the corners as if they are an afterthought and you’re not really meant to read them at all. The same hideous design continues inside the brochure, except that some pages have butterscotch backgrounds which means the white text blends in nicely and illegibly like cream. If there are any headlines I can’t see them, the benefits or incentives are non-existent, and the whole effect is a 1970s look which I haven’t decided is meant to be retro or terribly out of date.
Alternatively, the other leaflet is wild and whacky! It folds out into a cube-net (a cross of six squares) and each side provides a benefit/feature of the product, plus excellent pictures for recognition and tear-off discount vouchers for your next purchase. The images are simple, colourful and fill each square brilliantly, the main message is clearly put across with legible, concise text in a readable font, and because it’s different you want to explore the whole product to see what’s next or on the other side. There isn’t a beginning or end, but that doesn’t really matter, as the product is presented smack bang in the middle so you can’t miss it! The whole leaflet is just fun, and such a breath of fresh air!
One is promoting a furniture store – acres of brown background with tiny, indiscriminate photos that would require a magnifying glass to study what they contained in any detail, plus whited-out text in tiny letters crammed into the corners as if they are an afterthought and you’re not really meant to read them at all. The same hideous design continues inside the brochure, except that some pages have butterscotch backgrounds which means the white text blends in nicely and illegibly like cream. If there are any headlines I can’t see them, the benefits or incentives are non-existent, and the whole effect is a 1970s look which I haven’t decided is meant to be retro or terribly out of date.
Alternatively, the other leaflet is wild and whacky! It folds out into a cube-net (a cross of six squares) and each side provides a benefit/feature of the product, plus excellent pictures for recognition and tear-off discount vouchers for your next purchase. The images are simple, colourful and fill each square brilliantly, the main message is clearly put across with legible, concise text in a readable font, and because it’s different you want to explore the whole product to see what’s next or on the other side. There isn’t a beginning or end, but that doesn’t really matter, as the product is presented smack bang in the middle so you can’t miss it! The whole leaflet is just fun, and such a breath of fresh air!
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