Getting Results With Your Marketing Materials

The purpose of creating marketing materials is to get business. No other reason exists for creating sales letters, brochures, direct mail or newsletters. If no one responds to your materials, your money and time are wasted.

How can you produce materials that get business to come to you? The secret is simple but often overlooked. Focus on the needs of your clients and customers and not on yourself.

Why marketing materials fail
Most marketing collateral is full of information about the seller – who they are, what they are offering, etc. The first thing your prospect should see when reviewing your brochure is something about himself. Explain how you can solve their problem or achieve their goals. Put it in their perspective - how it benefits them.

Make your documents sell for you
Ask yourself these questions:

Why am I doing this? Do you have a special purpose, such as getting business immediately?

Who is my target market? No magic words exist that communicate all of your services to everyone. A single product or service may have dozens of different kinds of prospects, each responding to a different motivator.

What’s in it for my prospect? Tell the prospect exactly how he/she will benefit from what you have to offer.

What is the desired result? Call for information, purchase a product, set an appointment.

What is the action step? Make your prospect an offer that requires an immediate response and provide information on where and how to respond.

Working with a specialist
To create marketing materials that get results, you may want to work with a professional. Select a company who will work closely with you to create client-centered materials. Copywriters, graphic artists, advertising agencies and printers provide a variety of services to help you produce top-level materials.

You may want to work with a combination of a copywriter, designer and printer by using the best features of each service. Services vary – some will produce from start to finish, others might be helpful in one part of the process.

Review the firm’s portfolio for evidence of copywriting and design that focuses on the prospect, emphasizes benefits, and highlights offers that induce immediate action.

A designer’s job is to render client-centered copy into a compelling presentation. They should be familiar with type sizes, colors, overall layout and printing principles.

For writers, ask how successful previous sales letters or direct mailers have been in producing actual sales? If your marketing materials are economical but ineffective, they’re too expensive.

Stated simply: stop focusing on yourself, step into your client’s shoes and respond to their needs.