Consistency

One of the biggest challenges of print marketing is consistency across media. When designing several different kinds of materials, it can be extremely difficult to perfectly align not only your branding with your materials, but each kind of material with the others. Your graphics, colors, photos, and overall feel and tone must coordinate perfectly in order to most effectively get your message across and build brand recognition.

If your staff changes, files get lost, or the design vision gets lost in translation from one person to another, you hit a roadblock. With a commercial printing company, you have an entire team at your disposal dedicated to building your brand with perfect consistency, whether that be through direct mail, a monthly newsletter, a yearly magazine, a trifold brochure, or other print materials, including promotional products.

Another key area of consistency is between your print and your online presence. If your website, icon for your social media handle, and direct mail campaigns do not align, it is almost as if you have more than one company. Brand building is all about creating an interconnected web of recognition and interplay across platforms. Without it, you may be asking customers to cross a river on a shabby bridge. Consistency between platforms lends confidence to your customers that they can take a next step with you and land safely. Without consistency between print and digital, customers will wonder whether you’re a serious business, and whether they’re dealing with someone substantial.

Even a simple question in a customer’s mind, such as whether an inconsistently branded coupon will actually work, can plant a seed of doubt about your credibility. Consistency is not an area where businesses can afford a generous learning curve. It’s far better to bat a thousand from the beginning.

Professionalism

Customers are savvy. They can smell clipart from a hundred miles away, and chances are, if a company is cutting corners on their materials, it shows. This is another area in which you do not want to lose any credibility in the eyes of prospects. Many customers will not trust a company with a print job that looks homemade.

Unless you have a full-time professional print marketing staff, leave the self-made print materials for family birthday cards and lemonade stands. You need the design, layout, color, images, and flawless photographic clarity of a business that means business. A commercial printing company will also advise you on the right kinds of paper and other finishing touches to make your print materials stand out.

Partnering with a commercial printing company won’t just give you the look but will help you build your content and hone your copy, too. They will make sure that every aspect of your campaign is aligned with your greater strategy for customer outreach, the character of your company, and your identified target audience for that campaign.

They will ensure that what you are printing is always expressing your values. Commercial printers are not just service providers. They are partners. They function as a source of new ideas and are your creative collaborators. Printing companies exist to make you look good and to build your business.

Streamlining

Hiring a commercial printing company also saves you resources and time you would otherwise spend on research, equipment, software, decision making, and trial and error. Printing professionals already know the kinds of decisions you’ll have to make and lay the options out on the table. They already have the cutting-edge technology.

Your staff can quit spending time purchasing stock photos and get back to serving people, innovating, and running communications. A commercial printing team can also see ahead and avoid mistakes that are difficult to spot if you’re not in the industry. You might think that in-house printing would save you money, at least in the short term, but the truth is, for most businesses, the right commercial printing partner is an excellent investment from day one.

Brand Management and Your Future

People need to know who you are. As you build that reputation, it helps to have a professional outside perspective and a partner who can help you most effectively modify and express your identity in the marketplace. Being inside your brand, you already know how great you are, which, paradoxically, can sometimes make it harder to sell yourself.

Especially as time passes, and you grow, the importance of maintaining a consistent marketing partner will only grow with you. They help you keep any needed adjustments or changes on target and track your progress and your return on investment. They give you a fresh set of eyes when the time comes to evolve. As you head out boldly into whatever’s next for your company, don’t try to manage your brand alone.

Trust Safeguard

Safeguard Premier would love to partner with you. Our premier commercial printing services are local, comprehensive and creative. We understand the communities you’re serving, and we keep our customers for the long haul. See what we can offer you and connect with a consultant today.

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