GCC Printing and Graphics

Trade shows and other events can be an incredible opportunity to showcase your company’s products and services to the public and network with other companies in your industry. However, you must craft a strategy to ensure you can make the most impact.  Here are five things you should do when planning for, attending, and evaluating the results of a trade show.  5 Tips to a Successful Trade Show Experience for Your Company 1. Set goals Treat your company’s appearance at the trade show just like a campaign. What do you want to gain from the event- closing leads, making sales, or increasing brand awareness? Be specific and include numbers: for example, your goal could be to gather at least 150 leads during the event or to sell 30 products. Also, remember to share your goals with the team that will be at the event with you! 70% of people who share their goals with others accomplish them, while only 35% accomplish them when keeping them to themselves. 2. ...

When marketing your business via print, it's easy to get overwhelmed with the different options for crafting memorable and attractive pieces. But when you look closer, what is the most important element of your print marketing materials? Simply put, content is king. Sure, your visuals are eye-catching, but those initial glances won't do you much good if there's no substance to back them up. Words ultimately provide the foundation for customers to connect with your brand and make purchasing decisions. Carefully chosen words make something tangible from an intangible concept and shape even the strongest visuals into iconic imagery. When drafting print marketing materials, it's vital to remember - it's your content that wows customers and culminates in conversions! How Does Content Impact My Print Marketing Materials? Here are a few ways good content can have a positive impact on your print marketing materials: 1. Good Content Keeps Print Products Memor...

Every company needs print products- packaging, print advertisements, posters, or stationary- to sustain its business. And when you have a hard deadline, finishing your printing project at just the right time can be essential! Although you can't control every element of the print process, there are some key strategies you can keep in mind to help get your materials in your hands sooner. 5 Ways to Speed Up the Printing Process and Get Your Order Sooner 1. Submit print-ready files Submitting files that are ready to be printed can significantly speed up the printing process. Print-ready files are files that are appropriately formatted, correctly sized, have been cropped adequately, and are in the correct resolution. When you follow these guidelines, your project can be processed more quickly, and you will avoid a holdup because of edits that need to be made later. 2. Communicate If you have a tight deadline, communicate it to us up front! When we have this information...

When it comes to creating engaging and effective marketing materials, the use of powerful language is an essential part of the process. From print media, such as brochures, flyers, and banners, to digital marketing, including website copy and emails, using words with impact can help you get your message across in a way that resonates with your target audience. Marketing Language that Resonates and is Remembered in Print Using the right power words when writing marketing materials for print media, you can create persuasive copy that stands out and resonates with your audience. Here are 15 marketing words that you can use to give your print materials impact: 1. Innovative Let your audience know if you have an innovative product or service. Showing how you're different from your competitors and ahead of the game will pique potential customers' interest. 2. Revolutionary Let people know you're not just different. You're revolutionary. Show them how your...

In business, a lead is someone who hasn’t used your products or services YET. And there are many of those out there, just waiting to be introduced to your business.  So, how do we grab them and turn them into customers? 5 Ways to Get Qualified Leads for Your Business 1. Personalize with print The ability to personalize is one of the aspects that makes direct mail so effective in generating leads.  People are more likely to respond when they feel you are communicating with them directly.  You can customize dozens of data points, including name, age, or geographic location, and QR codes that lead them to a personalized landing page on your website.   2. Attract attention with email Use email marketing to attract new customers and re-engage old ones.  Whether the email invites customers to return to their shopping cart or promotes your new product offerings and business statistics, emails are one of the best ways to retarget your cust...

Print products say a lot about who you are as a brand. What message do you hope to convey to the world? What kind of image do you want to present? Print pieces such as business cards, brochures, flyers, and banners are all prime opportunities to showcase your company's personality and values. Here are some things your print pieces may convey about your reputation. 5 Aspects of Your Reputation You Can Showcase With Your Print Pieces 1. Your Level of Trustworthiness When potential customers see your print marketing materials, they make assumptions about your level of trustworthiness. A recent poll conducted by Marketing Sherpa indicated that 82% of internet shoppers were more likely to make a purchase based on a print ad, feeling they are more trustworthy than other types of advertising.  This is especially true if the design and materials utilized for your print pieces are high-quality. By taking extra care to produce a beautiful, professional print piece, your ...

Entrepreneurs and startup owners have so many things on their plates that it's not uncommon for certain items to get pushed to the bottom of the list. One thing you don't want to overlook is the can't-miss benefits of print marketing materials! When done right, your print materials can catch someone's eye — in a way that text, photos, or graphics on a screen can't capture. 73% of consumers prefer printed materials because they can read them whenever needed. After all, people see digital ads second after second, and it all tends to blur together. Here are four materials that a new business can't afford to skip.  4 Print Marketing Materials Your New Business Needs Business Cards  Business cards may seem like a traditional marketing tactic, but that's because they work! When you are making and exchanging contact information with potential customers or business partners, accuracy is important. Instead of asking for someone's phone so you can input...

Sometimes we forget the simple things when marketing, such as notepads. Research shows that people remember more clearly when writing it down than typing it into a tablet or phone. When you give customers a notepad, they will use it to write down daily notes and phone calls. And they will see your name and logo repetitively, boosting name recognition. Also, many people are more likely to do business with someone who gave them something. There are several types of notepads to choose from, and you don’t need to limit yourself to just one. Think outside the box, use them at your front counter as giveaways and promotional items, and give them to new (and existing) customers. Here are some ideas on how to create fun notepads that get noticed! 5 Top Ways to Use Notepads to Increase Business 1. Mousepad Notebook Mousepad notebooks are a fun, attractive way to build your brand. We all use mousepads and search for paper to write our notes on. Why not put it together and c...

Your current and prospective customers want to hear from you in an engaging, thought-provoking, and welcoming way. Print marketing is the best and most effective way to do just that! Done right, print marketing raises awareness of your brand, drives new leads to your business, promotes the sales of new and existing products, and reaches people offline at home. In fact, 79% of consumers find reading physical mail more convenient than going online. But where do you start? Let's navigate the worthwhile road of print marketing together. 6 Key Steps to Crafting a Winning Print Campaign 1. Define Your Mission Before thinking about fonts, images, and colors, set a clear goal or mission. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Do you have a new product ready to hit the streets? Are you trying to attract new customers, grow loyalty with your current customers, or increase your company's awareness? How you answer this question will set the tone for your print marketing...

Booklets are a powerful marketing tool for attracting attention, informing the public, or educating customers.   Not only can booklets capture your target audience's interest, but they also convey critical messages accurately on various topics.   Handing out booklets can be an excellent way to increase brand awareness and subject matter authority.    If you are considering giving this useful product a try, here are some helpful tips to make your booklets successful. 5 Helpful Hints for Print Marketing with Booklets Before you hit the publish button, consider these five valuable tips! 1. Focus on Proper Brand Positioning Your booklet's title, brand, and logo are critical components, conveying to potential customers what the booklet is about and why it matters. If the introductory elements of the booklet are ambiguous, then the booklet's impact will be diminished.  Consider these additional suggestions for effective brand positioning : Ensure your bo...

Do you want to captivate potential customers with your printed marketing materials? Try using embellishments to make your print marketing exciting and memorable for your recipients!  Embellishments refer to ornamental touches that accentuate critical features of your invitations, stationery, business cards, and brochures. Check out these five suggestions that can make your print marketing stand out! 5 Embellishments to Help Your Print Marketing Rise to the Top 1. Foil Modern printing techniques allow your company to go far beyond just the silver and gold foil printing options that were once possible. Use foil in any color to add interest to your print material or draw attention to certain essential words or statistics by printing them in foil. 2. Embossing or Debossing Embossing (creating raised images) and debossing (creating lowered imprints) words or your company logo is a simple way of drawing attention to certain parts of your print. These techniques can in...

Did you know the colors you select for your flyers can be the difference between them getting noticed or not? If you're planning your next flyer design, we have a few combos (and the theory behind them) to help you get more eyes on the page.  Why It Matters  Brands don't have much time to make an impression. Most people judge products or services within 90 seconds, and up to 90% of that assessment is based solely on color. If people have limited bandwidth to absorb a flyer, you can't neglect how the colors come across to them.  3 Fresh Color Combinations to Shake Up Your Next Flyer Design Baby Blue & Peach  Light colors have a way of lifting people's spirits by introducing some softness to the eyes. Pastels have been a significant design trend as of late, mainly because bold and brash colors can be hard to look at for too long. They might attract some notice immediately, but the effects can be offputting with more than a minimal glance.  Lig...

Did you know you can incorporate what your customers say about your business in your print and digital marketing to boost your company's sales? When other people engage in something, it triggers the brain to reduce the perception of risk associated with an idea or activity, creating social proof.  When you utilize social proof successfully, you convey to potential customers that buying your product or service is the safe thing to do . Authenticity, transparency, and honesty are paramount to the success of social proof by building loyalty and trust with your customers . Sound complicated? It's not. 6 Ways to Boost Your Sales with Social Proof  1. Build Your Social Media Reach You need to build your social media platform by asking for online reviews. This is a trusted source for many people looking to do business. People regularly check the reviews online to see what others have experienced and decide who to do business with. Nearly nine out of ten cons...

From brochures, business cards, and mailers, it takes a variety of marketing collateral to build a comprehensive, successful marketing campaign. Among the most critical pieces is a catalog, and it’s still the surefire way to build awareness of your products and services to customers and prospects. According to Data & Marketing Association data, 41% of millennials and 53% of Gen Xers reported enjoying catalogs. With catalogs making a comeback, let’s make them work for your business. 5 Ways to Make Your Print Catalog Campaigns Rock Choose the Best Size Make your products stand out on the page by choosing the right catalog size. If you have fewer products or services, you don’t need large spaces devoted to photos. The sizes of 5 ½ by 8 ½ inches or 6 by 9 inches will suffice. On the other hand, if your products are intricate or detailed, you need space for large photos or illustrations. In that case, 8 ½ by 11 inches or 9 by 12 inches will be more comfort...

Print media can be an effective tool for generating leads and capturing the interest of potential customers. With 73% of all consumers showing a preference for print advertising , it's easy to see that print media is still an excellent business initiative today! How to Attract More Qualified Leads Using Print Marketing Both affordable and accessible, print marketing can be leveraged to increase your lead generation and capture. Here's how: 1. Identify Your Target Audience To create effective print materials that will speak directly to your target audience, it is essential to clearly understand who they are, their needs and interests, and how they prefer to receive information. 2. Determine Your Print Materials Once you have pinpointed your target audience, the next step is determining which print materials will be most effective for reaching them. This may include business cards, brochures, flyers, magazines, newsletters, or postcards. 3. Design Your Materials...

Customers make or break your business. And while companies focus their budgets and time on attracting new customers, they often lose sight of their most important asset: Current customers. Companies across the U.S. are losing $62 billion per year due to poor customer service. Don't let that happen to your business. 5 Valuable Ways to Make Customers for Life 1. Start a Loyalty Program Did you know that about 68% of loyal customers will join a loyalty program if offered ? Customer loyalty programs, sometimes called customer retention programs, effectively increase purchase frequency because they spur customers to buy your product or service more often. 2. Offer a Discount for Returning Customers Everybody likes to save money. So, tuck a coupon into the bag when you're ringing up a sale, and tell the buyer about it, so they don't miss it. Not only will these offer help improve your sales, but they'll help improve loyalty among customers. According to S...

Paper is a critical resource and an essential part of our daily lives. If you didn't know, a paper shortage started last year and will likely continue in the coming year. In times of uncertainty, it helps to have all the information, so let's talk about it!  Understanding and Planning for the Paper Shortage The Paper Shortage Issue In recent years, a few North American paper mills closed their doors as aging infrastructure and rising labor costs, combined with strict environmental regulations, made it increasingly difficult to keep up with the competition.   Many mills have switched from paper production to packaging to replace this lost capacity. This shift to a focus on packaging resulted in nearly 20% less paper production from 2019's supply. Many companies are stockpiling more paper in anticipation of a continued shortage expected in the coming year. In the past few years, we also experienced a pandemic-induced shortfall in supply. This has led to reli...

It would be best to build brand awareness when you start a business or revamp its image. So what's the best way to do this? Direct mail! Not only is it what your customers want, but it's also incredibly effective. Research shows that 73% of customers prefer direct mail over other marketing channels! And according to the Data & Marketing Association , in 2019, the average response rate for direct mail campaigns was 9%, and consumers engaged with 96% of direct mail. So, why not take the plunge into direct mail? 4 Top Reasons to Use Direct Mail to Help Build Your Brand Direct Mail is Terrifically Tangible Unlike digital marketing and social media, direct mail requires you to touch it. You may think digital is the way to go because people are always online. But the reality is that they are bombarded with online ads that they tend to ignore. Direct mail, on the other hand, requires the viewer to pick it up and read it to take action, whether it's throwing it ...

Direct mail can be a fantastic way to spread the word about your company and promote new interest! Regardless of the size of your budget, there are many cost-effective ways that a company can create engaging direct mail.  Here are five budget-friendly tips to craft effective direct mail for your company! 5 Key Factors for Planning a Profitable Direct Mail Piece 1. Use Every Door Direct Mail® (EDDM®) Purchasing a mailing list can be pricey. But using EDDM® makes it possible for companies to send their direct mail to one specific mail route or multiple routes without investing in a mailing list. To save your company money, consider sending your direct mail out through EDDM® rather than a mailing list- it will be far more profitable regarding production costs and postage. 2. Go Bold With Colors If your company’s printing supplier does their printing digitally, don’t shy away from using lots of colors!  This won’t increase the cost of printin...

Postcards are a practical, versatile medium to send in your direct mail campaign. According to the Data & Marketing Association, postcards get a response rate of up to 4.25%, one of the highest in direct mail marketing. Take advantage of this marketing method with seven postcard direct mail ideas we love!  1. Switch up the norm Although standard postcards are 4.25” by 5.5”, usually in a horizontal position, not all postcards are designed this way.  Try switching it up with a larger postcard format with dimensions of 5.5” by 8.5” or change the orientation by sending a vertical postcard. These designs that deviate from the norm will stand out from the crowd and make the recipient take a second look.  2. Make bold designs With bright colors and attention-grabbing images, your postcard will speak for itself.  Be bold in your design choices. The design significantly influences how long a piece stays in a home. Of course, adhere to...

Don't you wish you could read minds? That would make marketing so much easier.  But it's not possible, or is it? There are some legitimate ways you can get inside the minds of current and potential customers. Take a look at the top three ways to do this.   3 Top Tips to Get Inside the Mind of Customers 1. Talk to Your Customer Service Representatives Customer service staff have the inside scoop into what customers want and need. Interview them to find out what customers are calling about, what issues need to be resolved, and what products are the most popular.   Here are some sample questions to ask your customer-service employees. What expectations and disappointments did customers express? What improvements did customers want? What value were customers hoping to find, and what price were they willing to pay? 2. Analyze the Data  You probably have spreadsheets of data and information on your customers' buying habits. Take a look a...

Print and email campaigns are not an either-or situation. Instead, they work best when paired together, thanks to their unique, complimentary characteristics.  Why print?  Print marketing has stuck around thanks to its many benefits. Print stands out from the crowd, is tangible, sticks around, and is easier to recall. Why email?   Email helps build customer relationships, boost brand awareness, and promote content.  Email marketing has an extensive reach since there are about 4 billion email users worldwide. Due to its many benefits, 79% of marketers list email marketing in their top 3 most effective marketing channels. A multi-channel approach to marketing is the most effective, perhaps because 72% of customers would like to connect with brands through multiple channels. Here's what you need to know about crafting a winning print + email marketing campaign.  The Print Campaign A properly executed print campaign will drive sales.  ...

Even with a tight budget, you can still run a direct mail marketing campaign with a great return on investment (ROI). If you focus your campaign, design the mail well, and perfect your mailing list, investing in direct mail can be a wise choice for your company's budget. Here are five steps to ensure your direct mail is effective while sticking to an affordable budget.  Step 1: Choose the right product or promotion to market It's best to start crafting your marketing campaign with a specific goal. Your company can use direct mail marketing for advertising a new product, a popular service, or even an update or improvement that you've made.  Promoting something specific that will interest most of the public is wisest. Considering this will help your marketing dollars further increase the likelihood of people taking action after seeing your print marketing materials.  Step 2: Refine your target audience 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase after seei...

Graphic design is critical in making marketing effective. But, unfortunately, you can't just take one well-designed piece and transfer it to another form of advertising. It just doesn't work that way. Graphic designers are trained to know how to design for the two forms. Here's a glimpse of what they know…just in case you want to try it yourself.  5 Main Differences Between Print and Online Graphic Design 1. Print is tactile When you think of print, you think of a more tactile experience, such as texture, smell, and shape. This lends itself to a different experience than online. When printing materials, you might try letterpress, embossing, or debossing, which reaches out to one's senses in another way than online.  2. Web is flexible For print, all information must be presented within the constraints of the printing surface, whereas designers have almost unlimited flexibility to organize, arrange, and filter information for the web . However, using di...