Category Archives: Print

Detox from bad marketing habits

Posted by: | April 4, 2013 | Best Practices, Creativity, Direct marketing

pencils targetOne of the worst things companies can do is the status quo: doing just enough to get by but not going the extra mile while promoting their organizations. The bare minimum won’t cut it anymore. Your customers have other choices and your competitors are going after them. Are you missing out on potential opportunities?

Don’t let your marketing plan continue in a rut. Old habits are hard to break, but you can do it in small steps. Don’t try to change everything at once – you’ll overwhelm yourself and go back to your old ways.

Do any of these bad habits sound familiar?

The status quo

Many of us feel compelled to continue on the road most traveled and are comfortable doing what everyone else has done. But what if you decided to break away from the pack and venture into uncharted territory? Would you stand out? The answer is yes.

First, you have to have a strong backing – financially and organizationally – for your initiatives to work. Commit to your cause and fight for it. Going outside the norm entails some risk, but the benefits can be huge. Assess whether your return outweighs the risk.

Relying on emails           

Too many times, companies rely solely on generic email campaigns rather than communicating with prospects through personally addressed letters and emails, phone calls, and targeted ads. The average prospect receives too many mass emails and yours are getting lost in the mix.

Using purchased marketing lists

Don’t do it. Purchasing lists increases your bounce and unsubscribe rates. When people are spammed with emails they didn’t sign up for, they’re more likely to reject what you’re selling – even if they’re in the market for your product. It’s better to build your list by generating interest through website and social media channels. Purchased lists are not targeted. The people who are on them don’t know who you are and didn’t ask you to email them.

Inadequate content

Don’t send stale, insufficient content to your prospects. Find out what they’re interested in and highlight those topics. You can do this through trial and error. Look at your analytics for specific topics in your newsletters and e-blasts. If certain topics have high open rates, it’s a good indication your prospects are interested in learning more. Try writing another article related to that topic. If you get stuck, you may want to hire a professional writer.

To summarize, build your contact list with clean, opted-in prospects. Use a combination of targeted e-blasts, newsletters, offers, and/or phone calls to promote your company. Focus on providing quality, insightful content and be creative ways in getting the word out.

Dealing with a tight budget? Make do with what you have: Focus your energy on improving your content and design.

What targeted marketing efforts work for you? Let us know in the comments below.

Behind the scenes: An inside look at design

Posted by: | March 14, 2013 | Creativity, Design, Print

Earlier this year, The Simons Group had the opportunity to work on materials for three award galas. I love working on award materials because they are a chance to celebrate honorees and each organization as a whole.

Below are two of my favorites from 2013: an elegant trifold program for BOMA Chicago and a fun twist on IABC’s Call for Entries for the Chicago Bronze Quill Awards.

Edward Bury, our contact at BOMA Chicago, was a pleasure to work with. He had a clear vision of what he wanted, but left the creativity to us. It was important to him to have a sophisticated and classic program. He also wanted to include categories and names that weren’t included in past brochures. Space was a challenge, but with just the right organization, everything fit nicely. For the cover, I chose a striking photo of Chicago and tied everything together by using the yellows in the photo to create a subtle gradient on the inside spread.

blog-program-boma

I always enjoy designing multipage layouts, so the IABC Call for Entries was a treat. Alex Mitchell, our contact at IABC, asked that we incorporate a quill to tie back to the show’s title. To do this, I drew a few different quill silhouettes and created abstract designs by layering and varying their opacities. I carried this design element throughout the entire piece to create a uniform look. Overall, this two-color design is very clean, open and easy to read.

blog-program-iabc

Good luck to all of this year’s nominees! I’m looking forward to next year’s award season.

Have any designs inspired you lately? What elements appealed to you? Tell us about them in the comments below.

 

Where do designers go to get inspired?

Posted by: | September 9, 2011 | Creativity, Design, Print

As a designer, it’s smart to stay current with what the design community is up to. I’d like to share a few of my favorite news and inspiration sources with you. Enjoy!

1. Communication Arts’ Webpicks

In addition to publishing annual design collections, Communication Arts has an extensive website. My favorite part of the site is the Webpicks page. Every day, Webpicks posts a beautiful, innovative website. Its library includes more than 1,000 sites. If you’re looking for something specific, you can browse all the archived sites by industry. I’m in the habit of taking screenshots of sites that I like and filing them in an “Inspiration” folder on my computer.

If you’re looking for insightful interviews with creative directors, photographers and illustrators, I would also suggest checking out Communication Arts’ Perspectives page.

2. TED

Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas. TED’s website houses riveting talks by remarkable people, and they’re free to watch. You can find lectures on topics from technology to design to global issues. Current titles include “Five ways to listen better,” “The great penguin rescue,” and “Fighting viruses, defending the Net.” If you’re looking for ingenious, inspiring and informative talks, TED is your site.

3. FearLess Cottage

The FearLess Cottage defines itself as an informal clubhouse for insurgents in a new consumer revolution. The group is made up of teachers, marketers, engineers, ecologists, designers and others. One reason I love their blog is because it covers diverse topics and perspectives. You can find anything from current design competitions to vegetarian recipes there.

4. Print magazine

Print magazine is a wonderful resource for designers. As far as inspiration goes, there is an entire section devoted to inspiring image galleries, profiles, interviews and tips. The Resources page also has informative articles and how-tos for print and interactive design. Be sure to check out The Daily Heller blog as well, which is written by renowned graphic designer and author Steven Heller. Heller posts thoughtful design articles almost every day.

5. Bruce Mau Design

Bruce Mau is one of my favorite designers. His studio, BMD, is centered on purpose, optimism, and the belief that design can effect change and influence the way its clients appear in the world. The BMD Love blog is a product of the design studio. There, you will find BMD’s current projects  posts of the studio’s own sources of inspiration.

As a  side note, you can check out Bruce Mau’s Incomplete Manifesto for Growth here. I love how quirky it is.

Exclamation points: The ugly truth revealed!

Posted by: | July 28, 2011 | Blogging, E-mail, Journalism

Any reputable grammar and style guide tells you to use exclamation points sparingly. Never! Ever! Abuse! Them!

But there’s a caveat. Grammar and style guides are writers’ bibles. They tell us whether health care is one word or two and when to use a comma or a semicolon. Lis and I refer to them because we want our copy to be professional and error-free. The content we provide, however, is for blogs, websites, e-blasts, newsletters and other marketing collateral. The guides we rely on are intended for these uses.

Where does that leave email and texting? Both forms of communication have exploded for business and personal use. And they’re often more informal than other kinds of writing. Exclamation points are creeping in because they convey emotion. The same goes for their evil twins – smiley and frowney faces.

One is the loneliest number

Writers often have the space to set an emotional scene or atmosphere with words alone in an article or Web page, but emails, text messages, Facebook posts and tweets aren’t that generous. You’ve got to get in and get out. The limitation seems to encourage an exclamation point – or even two.

I don’t seem excited when I text, “I can’t wait to go to the Cubs game.” But consider, “I can’t wait to go to the Cubs game! (smiley face)” Is there any doubt I’m fired up now? Of course, the only thing Cubs fans are looking forward to is next year, but that’s another blog topic.

Just for fun, I asked our clients what they think about exclamation points and smiley/frowney faces in emails and texts. My informal poll of 17 people shows that exclamation points and faces are A-OK more often than not.

“I hate to admit it, but I’m the exclamation point queen,” says Dianne Ransom, senior editor and editorial programs manager at PDI Global. “I put them everywhere, but not in official articles. In email, it’s game on. And I love smiley faces.”

Christy Baranowski, CPA at Morrisey Associates, says, “I use exclamation points all the time, particularly when I’m expressing happiness, congratulations or anger. I use smiley faces as well, but pretty much only in texts since it’s easier.”

It used to be that less is more, but now more is more among some proponents.

“I’m prolific with my use of exclamation points,” says Robyn Traub, program coordinator for the Family Business Council at the University of Illinois at Chicago.” I find that I’m using them two or even three times in an email, and have tried to limit myself to just one per email as necessary.

“In texts, I think it’s OK to use as many as you want, especially since those are usually intended for friends or family,” Robyn adds. “Smiley and frowney faces are definitely a must in texts.”

Just say no

Not everyone is a fan of exclamation points and smiley/frowney faces.

“Texting can give you some liberties: People accept more abbreviations given the more difficult nature of entering the message from various keyboards,” says Dan Oscarson, vice president of Global Buyer Marketing at Insurance Auto Auctions. “It’s best to spell things out and punctuate appropriately, however. A text doesn’t give you additional license to be goofy or more lighthearted than you would in regular communication.”

“I hate exclamation points,” adds Lucy Ramirez, communications and marketing manager at Chicago Family Health Center. “I think they make people seem obnoxious and angry, even though I know it’s impossible to tell the real demeanor of the person who is texting or emailing. For me, they are as bad as typing in all caps.”

Beating temptation

In the end, I would apply common sense. Just as I wouldn’t send an expletive-filled email to my boss, I wouldn’t go crazy with exclamation points and smiley faces in business or personal communications. The more you use them, the less power they have.

Get my point?!!!!!!

Mail fail

Posted by: | September 1, 2010 | Direct marketing, E-mail, Mail

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) recently announced a $3.5-billion loss in third quarter 2010. USPS attributes this largely to the drop in mail volume – which is down a whopping 20 percent since 2007. There is no question that a reduction in direct mail is responsible for this. Whether companies are replacing their mail marketing activities with e-mail and social media, or cutting back on marketing in general, the trend away from mail has been clear for some time.

While more expensive than e-mail, good, old-fashioned snail mail still has its place, particularly in the b-to-b world. I touched on this idea here, and think it’s an important point to bring up in light of USPS’ enduring struggles. Most companies can’t, and shouldn’t replace mail entirely with electronic communications. Here are some tips on using direct mail appropriately and efficiently:

  • Find out how your customers like to receive their communications, and plan marketing campaigns accordingly. Do they use electronic invitations often? If they’ve never heard of Evite, for example, think twice before forgoing printed invitations to your company’s next important event.
  • Use mail when the stakes are high and you want to make a splash. People are more likely to look at and remember nicely done printed pieces. They may even tack them to their cubicle walls.
  • Be selective. Mail is expensive, so don’t waste your resources on unqualified contacts. If you’re on a budget, make sure that your direct mail lists are targeted and that the design and copy of your mail pieces are equally targeted to those audiences.
  • Integrate with the Web. Just because you’re using mail doesn’t mean you should abandon more technologically advanced mediums: Drive people to your website or campaign-specific landing pages and encourage them to connect with you through social media using vanity or personalized URLs on your mailers.

While the USPS may be flailing, mail should not be overlooked as a relevant form of direct marketing.

Virtually friendless? Don’t blame Facebook.

Posted by: | August 11, 2010 | E-mail, Marketing Trends, Print

You’ve started to implement social media into your marketing strategy. You’ve created a company blog, Facebook page, Twitter account and LinkedIn profile. You’ve loaded them up with company announcements, industry news and educational posts. So where are your friends, fans and followers, you ask? Probably on the social media pages of other companies that are more invested in promoting their social media presence.

I’ve touted the virtues of social media in several posts. Yes, it’s economical, easy to implement and has the potential to be extremely effective; but just as real relationships take time, commitment and tender loving care, so does your virtual network. What’s more, you have to let your presence be known first, and then convince people that they should want to associate themselves with your company.

If you’re serious about making social media work, you need to integrate it as much as possible into your traditional marketing activities. Here are some specific examples:

  • Post icons or links to your social media pages in e-mail signature lines.
  • Connect to your social network pages from your website.
  • Integrate social media into contests and promotions. For example, contest entry could require that people follow your company on Facebook, or you could post a code or announcement for a sales promotion on your Twitter feed. You could also hold contests directly on your blog, Twitter feed or Facebook page and alert people of them through traditional outreach such as e-mails or postcards. Suddenly, your social network is an exclusive club whose members get special perks.
  • Make your social media even more social: Add social buttons to your blog posts that will allow readers to share your posts on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and more.

Also, it’s not enough to send a single e-mail to your contact list that announces your foray into social media. Just as with your company’s products, you have to continue to market your social media efforts, lest they fall out of your audience’s consciousness completely.

A word to the wise: All the promotion in the world won’t help you if you aren’t active on your social networks and don’t post quality content, links and announcements regularly.

For more information about how to promote your social media efforts, check out these articles:

The newsroom: Another view

Posted by: | July 23, 2010 | Journalism, Print

The newsroom: Another view

When I’m wrong, I’ll admit it. I’ve never been one to shy away from ‘fessing up to my mistakes. My post on Wednesday about my former newsroom ruffled some feathers. One of the editors pointed out that a two-hour visit is not enough time to assess the current state of the paper or its staff. All I know is what I saw and heard, but it seems I rushed to judgment.

With her permission, I’m sharing some of her thoughts:

“Yes, you were there on a bad day, but that doesn’t tell the full story. We have made no staff cuts. We are down one reporter through a resignation, but are actively looking for a replacement. There were few reporters and editors there that day because of vacation and other days off – the latter a mandate to prevent permanent layoffs companywide. There are plenty of people there to put out the paper.”

When I worked there, it was sometimes a struggle to get supplies, such as reporters’ notepads and pens, but we didn’t have to take unpaid leave. So that is new. And it’s not just happening here – it’s occurring in other newsrooms as well. And the day I visited, the overall atmosphere was nothing like it was back in the day. It was subdued and quiet. But as the editor noted, it was a bad day.

She went on to highlight the paper’s equipment and coverage of significant events. She’s proud of their achievements – rightfully so:

“Most of production is fully automated these days. We have top-of-the-line equipment that is operated by the best people. You should have also seen the full (the late U.S. Sen. Robert C.) Byrd coverage. It was comprehensive and among the best. Did you see any of our coverage of the explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in April? It was top flight. We are also in the midst of putting together a special series on the disaster.”

The editor conceded that the building needs work, as I wrote, but said the buckled floor will be repaired soon.  

In closing, she wrote that the paper is among the largest and most profitable in its group and that the staff still puts out a great issue every day.

“I just want you to see things through my eyes,” she said.

Newsrooms go dark

Posted by: | July 21, 2010 | Journalism, Print

Newspapers across the country are suffering from hard times. Many of their editorial staffs are forced to take unpaid furlough days every quarter and contend with a multitude of other cutbacks. It’s no secret that shareholders’ relentless pursuit of increasing profits and the industry’s burying its head in the sand about the Internet spurred the crash.

Still, it was a sobering and sad occasion for me last month when I visited the West Virginia daily where I worked for eight years. Half the lights in the newsroom were burned out and had been so for some time, and the floor had buckled in a couple of places. The solution: Mark the areas with orange cones. It seemed permanent.

Even more disconcerting was the silence. It was like a cemetery. And this was the morning the news broke of the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd’s death. The place should have been a beehive of activity. Byrd was an important figure in West Virginia’s history and in the U.S. Senate, having served the longest congressional term in history.

I was prepared for bad. I didn’t expect the worst. The newsroom was virtually empty. Reporters weren’t scurrying around trying to make deadline or huddling with editors in strategy planning sessions. By late afternoon, at least two of the editors had left for the day. No one was working the phones. In fact, I wondered who was even putting out the paper and if they could afford to print the issue given that they couldn’t keep all the lights on.

In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s when I worked there, a big news day like that was an exciting, adrenaline-filled rush. My former co-workers that I keep in touch with know what I’m talking about. I’m not just being romantic about it either. We were a cohesive and talented group of reporters, editors, copyeditors, photographers and page designers who lived, ate and breathed newspapers. We got up each day charged and ready to uncover the next big story. The newsroom thrived and so did we.

Not anymore.

Take your pick – back of the house or front row

Posted by: | June 10, 2010 | Journalism, Print

Who likes sitting in the nosebleed section at a concert? The sound bites and you can’t see the band. The only benefit is that you’re closer to the beer stands and the bathrooms.

The White House briefing room is obviously smaller than a concert venue with only seven rows and 49 seats. The coveted front row is arguably the only section that counts. And the stakes are high. These are assigned to the mainline brass in the White House Press Corps. They are called on first when they have questions, while the reporters who are relegated to the back are ignored.

Since the dawn of time, Helen Thomas, who just retired after making anti-Semitic comments, has occupied the best seat in the house – the middle, front row. She always got to ask the first question at press conferences and had been on the job so long, I thought she’d be entombed there. The jockeying for her seat has begun in earnest and it’s an entertaining spectacle. Some days, I miss being a reporter, but the day the lobbying began isn’t one of them. I think the campaign was under way even before her chair was cold.

Bloomberg reporter Ed Chen told The Wall Street Journal this week, “It’s like musical chairs in elementary school, except it has the cutthroat viciousness of a snake pit.”

Pity the poor Talk Radio reporter who occupies the last seat in the back. You don’t stand a chance, pal. And Media News, which is in the sixth row, might as well quit now. No one knows who that is.

So which outlets have front-row seats? CNN, Reuters, ABC, CBS, the Associated Press and NBC. My hunch is that the FOX reporter, who has the middle second-row chair, doesn’t have a hope of moving up, given that we have a Democratic president who clearly spurns the network. I’m putting my money down on The New York Times, whose reporter sits in the second row.

No matter which contender is bestowed the honor of moving up, the more interesting battle could play out over who gets that newly vacated reporter’s seat. The White House Correspondents’ Association determines the pecking order. Care to place any bets?