Some people have been known to say print advertising is dead… but here at Absolute Creative we know that’s definitely not the case. We still design and create highly successful print ads for businesses all over the UK. However, if you want your ads to be successful, there are certain things you should do, and certain things you should never do if you want your print advertising to work. We don’t like telling anyone what to do, so this blog focuses on those print ad no-no’s – pay attention and you won’t make the same mistake many others have, and still do.

1. Don’t use a wishy-washy headline. Just like a blog post, newspaper article, or magazine feature, the headline is the first thing your reader will see – and it’s very likely to be the one thing that makes them decide whether or not to read the rest of the ad. You need a headline with impact, or your whole ad will be wasted

2. Don’t use too much copy. If your ad is ‘word heavy’ it will put people off and they won’t bother with it. Yes, you’ve probably got a lot to say, but less is often more so keep your sentences short and snappy, and focus on the important stuff – the benefits to your customer

3. It’s not all about you. We like talking about ourselves, don’t we? And we’re excited about our new ‘thing’ we’re selling. Nobody else cares though – sad but true – so don’t lay it on too thick about all the fantastic features and focus on how it’s going to solve a problem for the reader. That’s what sells.

4. Don’t be confusing. If you have 2 or 3 things to sell, make 2 or 3 ads. DON’T attempt to get them all in the one ad to save money, you’ll just confuse the customer and they won’t buy any of them. Make one good ad for each product, and focus on the main benefit of each.

5. Don’t make them guess what to do next. A strong call to action is important, so make sure your ad lets them know what they have to do next to either buy, call for info, learn more, book, or whatever it is you want them to do. Say it clearly and make it very visible or you’ll miss out on sales.

Do you need print advertising? We are Absolute Creative, an award-winning design agency, and we can help. We’re based in Hertfordshire but our customers come from all across the UK because we create print ads for you that work. Call us today on 01707 386 107, or email hello@absolutecreative.co.uk to learn more about what we can do for your business.

Whether you’re attending a trade show, promoting an event, letting people know about your special offer, or launching your brand-new local business, flyers are a great way to do it. However, there are some top tips you should know before you start designing and handing out your own flyers. Without these you may just be wasting your cash.

1. Don’t waste the headline!

As with any advertising copy, the headline is the most important bit of the ad. Without a headline that grabs the readers attention, they won’t go on to read the rest of your flyer. It doesn’t matter how pretty it is, or how lovely your logo looks, or how proud you are of your business name – they don’t care about any of that. The reader wants to know if you can solve their problem, so that’s what your headline should be telling them.

2. Tell them what to do!

You need to take the hand of your reader and show them what they need to do. That means including at least one call to action, and maybe more depending on how much copy there is. Different people have different personality types. Some like lots of info and plenty of details, while others are more decisive and willing to take risks. You may have your big headline at the top ‘We’ll make your lawn look amazing all summer, giving you the time to do the things you really want to do’ with a call to action right underneath ‘call right now to learn more and get 15% off for the whole season’. Under that you can write the details – who you are, what you do for people, all the benefits your service provides, some testimonials – then repeat the call to action again at the bottom for those who like all the info before they make a decision.

3. Design and use two different flyers

This may seem like extra expense, but getting two different flyers designed and printed so you can test one against the other makes perfect business sense. This has been done since direct mail ads were invented – check the old advertising greats such as David Ogilvy and John Caples and you’ll see it’s the testing that made them successful. It’s still done on the internet by the successful marketers, and you should do it too. Knowing what makes your customers buy will be worth a fortune to you in the future.

If you’re looking to have some flyers designed, we can help you. We are Absolute Creative, an award-winning design agency based in Hertfordshire but working with businesses like yours all over the UK. We design and print flyers that capture attention and make your business stand out. Just so you know, we also design websites, vehicle graphics, and a whole lot more. Call us today on 01707 386 107, or email hello@absolutecreative.co.uk and we’ll create some flyers you’ll be proud to hand out.

Do your marketing efforts focus on having a sleek and streamlined digital presence? Then you’re doing it wrong. There’s nothing wrong with having a website which matches your social media and other online endeavours. Putting resources into having a unified image is what we’re all about. The issue is when a company invests too much time and money into online advertising.  

According to INMA, ‘ 82% of U.S. internet users trust print advertising when making a purchase decision, more than any other medium’. This is a significant statistic, considering only 61% trust search ads. If your advertising budget has no room for print ads, it might be time to reconsider your marketing spending.

Cool vs. Predictable

In this digital age, advertisers often get addicted to being cool. They attempt to wow the audience rather than keep them hooked. As much as we pretend it’s not true, our attention spans are decreasing. As soon as we see another cool thing, we’ve forgotten whatever we saw previously. Holding the attention of an audience is so tricky to achieve online, as it’s so simple to click away.

Print marketing has and always will be predictable. Unlike digital methods, readers know exactly what’s coming next. An online publication bombards you with information, internal and external links, sources, flashy adverts and more. When reading something as complex as a magazine, the audience knows what’s coming. This compels them to keep turning the pages. Being simple and predictable isn’t a bad thing when it comes to print, as it will keep your audience coming back for more.

Keeping it simple will also increase the chances of your message being remembered, as it’s not obscured by a noisy website. A page with just your content on will hold the attention of a viewer. A webpage with other distractions on it will take away from this experience.

Satisfaction

Once you’ve got your audience hooked, it’s easier to show them more content. Your digital content should answer questions that your audience want answering instantly. We search for answers via Google, and we’re satisfied with a sentence, a paragraph or an article. Rarely do we seek out different content from the same source if we’ve been satisfied already.

Print advertising changes that. By picking up a brochure, magazine, newsletter or leaflet, we expect answers to questions we didn’t know we had. The satisfaction comes from reaching the end of a piece of content, and it’s easy to turn the page for more. This is a great way to drive home your company message and deliver more great content to your audience.

Occupy space and thoughts

By having a physical copy of your content, you allow your brand to occupy both the space and thoughts of your audience. Information we see online is easily forgotten or misattributed and can be a noisy experience for the reader which adds to the confusion.

A copy of your magazine on a desk at work could spark a conversation. A supermarket newsletter sat on the kitchen counter serves as a reminder that your store exists. Often, your customers will associate having a heavy, glossy brochure or a nice-feeling matte catalogue with luxury and quality. Occupying the space of your audience allows you to occupy their thoughts, as opposed to a quickly forgotten website.

Even if your ad or flyer is unwanted, your audience will still be thinking about it as they fish it out the bottom of their bags to throw away.

Stand out

Having a physical version of your content will help you stand out, as well as benefit you in all the ways listed here. Whether you produce a simple business card or a magazine, you won’t be fighting for space online with hundreds of other people like you. Placing your physical copies somewhere like coffee shops, supermarket notice boards or in-store is a guarantee that people will see you. There’s no guarantee that people looking online will see your links, much less click on them.

It also makes you memorable as people take time out of their day to hold and take in the information you’re providing, without extra adverts and moving graphics. It’s a ‘safe’ way to get information, as there’s no threat of malicious links or having your data stolen.

Print ads also allow for a higher level of emotional response, as you can directly interact with what’s on the page by holding what you’re seeing. A great example of this is when IKEA produced lavender scented, white-noise emitting print ads. To advertise their mattresses in the UAE, they conducted research into how much sleep people were getting. They found that 9 in 10 people are getting less than 8 hours sleep a night, so they produced a resource targeted to them. This revolutionary new ad hit the headlines worldwide for its out of the box thinking, and rightly so.

While not all of us have the resources to produce such a complex ad, the principle applies. Print allows for a wide range of designs that the internet doesn’t. There’s no online equal to the IKEA ad, simply because it’s exciting to hold and to have. That, and computers can’t produce scents. Even something as simple as having business cards which are highly customised or an event-specific leaflet is exciting and allows for an emotional response.