How to Design Marketing Materials – part 1

I’ll reveal strategies for designing attention getting marketing materials that will motivate your customers to take action!

Whether you’re an actual designer, the CEO, Marketing Director, Entrepreneur or on the team, I’ve got success strategies for every stage in the development process. I am going to assume you already know who you target markets are, and have a clear understanding of your products and services… If not, that’s the first thing to put on your list of action steps.

There is only one reason to create marketing materials… to get your prospects to take action.

This blog posting and video comes with a little warning… because I’m not known for sugar coating my marketing advice. My philosophy is “add value-make a profit” and I want to give you insights that can make a positive impact in all of your marketing efforts… without worrying about your ego or office politics. So if you’re feelings are easily hurt when someone gives you constructive feedback… you may want to read a different blog posting. But if you are ready to get better results-come along as we explore how to improve your results.

I’d like you to make a list of the marketing materials and methods that you’re using now:

Here are a just a few ideas to get your list started:

• Websites
• Ezines
• Banners
• Blogs
• Auto-responders
• Thank you Pages
• Brochures
• Flyers
• Sales letters
• Direct Mail
• Postcards
• Sales letters
• Newsletters
• Catalogs
• Presentation folders
• Media kits
• Signage
• Point-of-Purchase displays
• Product Packaging
• Advertisements in different forms, like radio, tv and print, And so on.

Why do you think most marketing materials don’t get the results you expect?

Well, let’s see if this scenario sounds familiar?

It’s Tuesday morning and you’re gathered around your conference table with your marketing staff, (which might be just you) and your goal is to create a new marketing brochure for one of your new products or services. So you start by spreading out all of your competitors marketing materials to get your ideas flowing.

You read the headline on their brochure, “Full line of Services” so you jot down “Complete line of Services” on your note pad. Next you look at their stock photos and graphics and think, we’ve got something similar to that we can use and away you go! You finish with a nice looking piece… copied after your competitors, with no way of knowing if the competition’s marketing piece was actually effective.

Or maybe, you’re lucky enough to hire an ad agency to help you with the design. Wonderful, they should be experienced to help you create a masterpiece. You give them your objectives and ideas. They create the collateral materials for you. You pay them well for their services. Everyone’s happy. Or are they?

The customer might not be so happy. Why? Because the typical ad agency is in the business of creating “image” type advertising pieces that makes the company look good-often times without effective marketing messages or specific action steps. So they design your piece with a big picture of your building, your logo, or your company president/CEO. Heck, maybe all three.

The problem is that the customer doesn’t really care about your building, logo or even the CEO-they care about what’s in it for them. They want the benefits of your products and services. They want to be informed, entertained and educated. They want solutions to their specific wants and needs.

I heard it all before… “My agency has won several awards”-but awards don’t sell products-marketing messages do. And if the person in charge of the creative hasn’t spent their own money learning the hard way or isn’t experienced in marketing tactics, then you’re doomed to the crap that’s filling up most land fills.

Copycat marketing hurts you and your customer.

Lastly, you cannot measure the performance of your marketing piece or website by how much you spend on it. It’s not what it costs; it’s the response it generates and the profit that it produces that makes it worth it.

So, now that you have your list and materials… go through them through the eyes of the prospect. Ask yourself if you have a compelling headline, sub-headline, attractive offer, social proof, testimonials, and specific measurable action step? Rate them from 1 to 10 with 10 being best. Then strive to improve your results.

Do have examples of great marketing materials or sites? Post a comment below with a link and tell me why you think it worked or didn’t work?