The Top 3 Marketing Pieces You Can't Live Without

May 1, 4:40 AMSacramento Graphic Design ExaminerJennifer Bourn

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Ok. You’ve started a business and you have your logo designed. Now you need some marketing materials. But what do you need exactly? A brochure, stationery, folder, flyer, website? With all of the options you have to choose from, how do you know what to do first? And more important, which pieces will get you the biggest return on your investment?

I get asked these questions all the time and my answer is always the same. There are three marketing pieces you can’t live without. They are:

1. Business card
2. Website
3. Marketing Piece

Business Card

Your business card is typically the first thing a new prospect will see. Their first impression of your business is often based on your business card. It is a key way to connect with others and give them your contact information. Your business card should clearly communicate not only who you are and what you do, but it should capture their attention and make them want to learn more.

Your business card should contain the following:

• Your logo
• Your brand color palette and typefaces
• Your contact information, including a mailing address. Providing a mailing address on your cards immediately adds stability and credibility to you and your business.
• Support information. This may be a tagline, call to action, sales pitch, or a list of services.

Website

If you are in business, you absolutely must have a website. Not having a website could be driving your prospects to your competition’s door! Not only does a professional, easy to navigate website give you an online presence, it adds credibility and instantly makes your business feel more established. It also is a great tool for marketing your business, educating your prospects and clients, and automating repetitive tasks.

Things to remember when developing your website:

• Your images should be crisp and clear and load quickly.
• Your content should be written at the fifth or sixth grade level, making is clear and easy to understand. Be cautious of using too much technical jargon. Remember, a confused shopper usually doesn’t purchase.
• Your design (the look and feel) should blend cohesively into your brand, reinforcing your message and supporting your brand positioning.
• Your website should be easy to use, allowing visitors to quickly find the information they need.
• Your website should be scalable, making sure it is able to grow and expand with your business.
• Your website should be easy to update by building in templates or a content management system.
• Your website should include basic search engine optimization, including title tags, keyword and description meta tags, HTML heading tags and ALT tags.

Follow Up Item

To further build your brand and connect with your customers and prospects, you will also need some sort of follow up item. This could be a brochure, a rack card, a postcard, a note card, or an HTML email. The specific type of item will be different for each business. You may use an HTML email newsletter template to keep your target market updated on your business, or your may use a note card to write a quick personal follow up note after a networking event.

However you decide to keep in touch with your target market and stay top-of-mind, the key is to actually do it and be consistent. Have a system in place with a clear follow up process for each aspect of your business – for example, your follow up process for someone you met at a networking event, may be different from someone who just purchased one of your products or services.

Here are some quick tips on choosing and creating your follow up items:

• Examine the ways in which you come in contact with your target market and what type of follow up would be the most appropriate and the most preferred in each case. Would a postcard be more appropriate or maybe a thank you note, or maybe an HTML email?
• Examine the amount of time you have available for follow up. Do you have time to handwrite or customize each follow up message? Or would it be better for you to develop a printed piece that could be used over and over? Also, look at how often you are going to do follow up and schedule the time into your calendar. Will it be once a week or twice a month, etc.
• Examine what part of the follow up process can be delegated to an employee or virtual assistant. Will you make all of the phone calls yourself, but outsource the mailing of postcards? Or, if your target market prefers email communications, will you use auto responders and schedule out a series of messages?
• Make sure any marketing materials you match your brand and consistently communicate your message and reinforce your identity. The content should be valuable and timely, it should give them a way to join or leave your list and it should always include a call to action.

Together, these three marketing pieces your business card, your website, and your follow up item are a combination your business can’t live without. Separately, each is important, but when used together, they are a powerhouse trio that will help you build your brand, generate leads and increase your bottom line.