GCC Printing and Graphics

When you advertise, you need to know your target audience. And the same is true in print marketing. A target market is the set of consumers that a company plans to sell to or reach with marketing activities. A target audience is a group or segment within that target market that is being served in advertisements. The target audience, therefore, is a more specific subset of a target market. Your target audience is united by common characteristics like demographics, e.g., men, women, teenagers, or children, and interests, like reading, running, or soccer. To get your marketing message to reach this specific group of people, you need to know the decision maker and who supports them. Therefore, it's vital to examine your target audience, so messages are exciting to the reader.  This exercise will help define who to target in your marketing efforts.  6 Steps to Find Your Print Marketing Target Audience  1. Determine who already buys your product.  Look at t...

It's time to decide if you're sending holiday cards to your clients! Sending cards in the mail to your clients and customers does a lot more for your company than you might think. Take a look at five reasons you should extend the extra effort to send out holiday cards. 5 Reasons Every Small Business Should Send Holiday Cards 1. Elicit Joy Emotions play an integral part in the buying decision, and sending a holiday card will boost those feelings. It makes people happy to receive fun mail in their mailboxes. And a card is a lovely, elegant touch. 2. Send Thanks Thank your customers for their continued support throughout the year. The wording should express your thanks or seasonal greetings in a way that highlights your relationship with your client.  3. Stand Out Raise above the competition. Many businesses digitally wish people holiday greetings, but those get lost in the junk email category. By sending an actual card, people will notice and be more appreci...

How do you maximize your investment in marketing?  Utilize unique offline marketing techniques to get people's attention! There are countless ideas for getting inspired with offline marketing, from traditional to off-the-wall. Take what you can and let it spur some creativity in your minds.  7 Top Tips to Get Creative With Offline Marketing 1. Get Creative With Your Business Card  A business card is often the first impression, and you want to make it last. Try printing it vertically, adding rounded corners, or creating a die-cut image. Use bold colors that stand out against the competition. 2. Hold In-Person Events  According to the Event Marketing 2018 Report, 95% of marketers agree that live events give attendees a valuable opportunity to form in-person connections in an increasingly digital world . Give people a chance to talk to you and others from your company, and create bonds that will last a lifetime.  Don't forget to have flyers, rac...

Gratitude is a great skill to possess. "I think gratitude is a big thing. It puts you in a place where you're humble," said Andra Day.  And humility is a wonderful attribute, primarily when serving the public. When you meet up with prospective clients, gratitude is vital. We receive a much better welcome when people see how thankful we are to meet with them and to have their continued support.  Research has proven that returning customers spend 67% more than new customers, and 82% of customers are brand loyal. So, what else can you do to show appreciation besides saying thank you?   Here are some ideas to show your gratitude.  7 Top Ways to Show Appreciation to Customers 1. Send a Thank-You Note Send a thank-you note in a letter, hand-written and signed by you. Sure, it takes a little time, but keeping current customers happy is worth it—especially the ones you genuinely want to maintain a relationship with. 2. Make a Donation...

Contrary to popular opinion, print is not dead, and it remains an integral part of marketing and advertising.  Today, you can't rely solely on digital ads to increase customer traffic. Likewise, you can't just rely on old-school advertising to do the job. Writing words on paper is tactile and fun to hold. It also creates a feeling of value that a pop-up ad can't do. Paper is something that has to be reckoned with. You can't just turn a blind eye. You have to physically throw it away--after reading it.  Once it's your customers' hands, you have the advantage of grasping their attention. Be forthcoming about what you are selling or trying to call their attention to. Using high-quality paper and fine print can give the impression of prestige and quality, and with the physical item in your hands, it is way more engaging for readers than an email or a pop-up. Digital helps expand on the conversation you started with the customer. It allows for more informat...

When you think of the holidays, what colors come to mind? Red, green, white, or maybe even blue and gold. These festive colors can evoke emotions from consumers by drawing them to colors they might not naturally be drawn to outside of the holiday season.  Using color theory, the study of how color impacts perceptions and behaviors, we can help get customers in the mood for the holidays and, hopefully, buy your products. Here's what the experts say about the holiday colors we love. How to Use Color to Impact Holiday Campaigns Red We know red as a warning: fire, stop signs, danger, and so forth. But it is also a powerful color representing love, passion, importance, and hunger.  Red can raise blood pressure and respiration rates and enhance human metabolism. We think of things like red berries, Santa, and more. Use this color as an accent, and you'll be doing well. However, if used in abundance, it tends to get overwhelming.  Green Green has both the calmi...

Automation has helped many small businesses become much more fluid and, in turn, succeed. Automation has become one of the keys to success: nearly 80% of top-performing companies have used marketing automation for more than two years. Although they might not have the resources of their counterparts, small companies can and should incorporate automation in every aspect of business: From capturing leads to closing sales and serving customers to checking routine office tasks off the to-do list. Research has shown that while small businesses are less likely to invest in automation than large ones, they have more success when they do. Here are a few common areas of automation where small businesses can get big results. 6 Automation Tips for Your Small Business 1. Lead and Contact Management Dealing with leads and contacts manually can be a hassle. Consider replacing that complicated spreadsheet with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) automation. A CRM platform can auto...

In its simplest form, a call to action tells the recipient to buy now.  However, sometimes saying, "buy now!" won't be quite as effective as an alternative, more creative strategy.  Below are some tips for crafting a call to action for your print marketing campaign so you can have a better response rate than the average of 4.23%.   1. Be straightforward  Tell the reader what they can expect if they complete the advertised action.  No games, no tricks. If you say this is what will happen, then advertise it accurately. If the deal only holds if they buy $X in merchandise, then clearly communicate that. You're not doing yourself any favors by making a misleading call to action. It'll just frustrate the client.  Avoid misleading calls to action by including relevant numbers, such as pricing and discounts.  2. Use strong command verbs Begin your call to action with a strong command verb.  Strong command verbs can help people...

Direct mail is a simple, cost-efficient way to reach your target market.  The response rates for direct mail are about five to nine times higher than other advertising channels. However, five to nine times is quite a range. Getting your direct mail to reach the nine times higher statistic requires certain elements.  Here are four things your direct mail piece needs to convert direct mail into sales.  1. Personalization Recipients respond well to personalized advertisements.  The more personalization, the better your target market can say, "Wow! This is for me!" One study showed that 93% of businesses that incorporated an advanced personalization strategy experienced revenue growth. Personalization starts with data. The more customer data you have, the more personalized your direct mail can be. Gather data regarding geographic, demographic, and behavioral characteristics so you can…  Include the recipient's name in all outgoing mark...