Looking for creative print marketing? Catching a customer’s eye is becoming more and more difficult as people are inundated with advertisements everywhere they look. Some companies launch huge campaigns featuring celebrities, hit songs, and expensive effects just to try to break through all of the advertising noise.
From commercials to billboards to cell-phone charging solar panels (Nivea’s magazine insert in Brazil in 2013), it can seem like if it doesn’t break the mold and the bank you’ll get left behind. But you don’t have to go broke to get your customer’s attention if you use creative print marketing.
Creative Print Marketing Tips
It’s important to get your marketing to stand out, but that doesn’t always mean you have to use the boldest and brightest colors. When it comes to capturing the customer’s attention, Canva’s Rebecca Gross recommends the following creative print marketing tips:
- Make a play on words. If it takes a second to “get it,” people will enjoy it all the more for being “in the know.” There is a fine line, though – people love to feel smart, but hate to feel left out, so avoid obscure references.
- Create a visual metaphor. The classic example would be the image of a sports car and a panther juxtaposed together to connect and show similarity between the two sleek, fast, and powerful subjects.
- Show, don’t tell. Using minimal text (or none at all), you can show the customer what your product or service does for them in a well-designed image.
- Use recognizable icons and images. Put your own twist on a famous painting by inserting your product into it or by placing a well-known figure into a scenario in which they need your product or service.
- Invoke the senses. Everyone is trying to be visually appealing, but depicting an image with strong scent/taste/touch/sound associations can be very powerful. Set an inviting mood or use images with negative associations to drive home a point; i.e., rotting food in a darkened refrigerator would enforce the need to purchase a home generator.
- Show a contrast. Illustrate the difference your product or service could make in someone’s life by presenting side-by-side images of a relatable scenario with and without your product.
- Play with perception. Use optical illusions and irregular dimensions to ensure a second look at your ad. The more someone has to pick it up and move it around the better!
- Connect the image and tagline. A great example of this is the Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey ad which showed hundreds of what seemed like bees, but were actually people on a closer look, swarming all over the bottle. The tagline: “Draws a crowd.”
- Highlight “ingredients.” This is not limited to food or beverage products! Show what goes into a product or a service. You can show how many people and steps are required for each product. This is especially helpful if your service is not easily understood by the layperson.
Now that you have a few ideas of how to design your creative print marketing, remember that people are drawn to deals. Using QR codes or perforated edges for coupons and specials ensure that your advertisement is kept, looked at, and handled several times, which is all the better for your message to sink in.
To boost your creative juices, check out this article on 64 creative print marketing tips.
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