Print Advertising For Your Small Business

Print advertising is just as important for small businesses as it is for large corporations. As the business landscape becomes more competitive, it is more important than ever for small business owners to find a way to stand out from the big chain corporations. In 2021, more than $285 million dollars were spent on advertising in the United States. Our market is the largest market in the world and that number continues to climb with each passing year.

A carefully designed ad and impactful advertising strategy can help your small business build brand awareness, create demand with consumers, increase sales, and grow your customer base. With the competitive market, small businesses cannot rely on digital advertising alone. The best marketing strategy and most successful small businesses incorporate a mixture of digital and print advertising. When planning your next marketing budget, whether for the month, quarter, or year, make sure you allocate some funds towards print advertising.

If you are not sure what printed materials your small business could benefit from, take a moment to examine your retail front and business communications. Maybe you want to increase foot traffic in your stores, increase the conversion rate once they are inside the store, or you want to increase customer retention rates. Or maybe you are trying to make a good impression with a new vendor or potential business investor. Every corner of your small business operations is an opportunity to use print advertising for your brand.

1. Business Signage

A customer’s first impression is everything. What are your customers going to see when they walk up to your front door? Or when they walk inside your business? Start to make a connection with the customer before they walk through the door and set the tone for what they can expect inside your small business.

Business signage can be utilized both outside and inside the store for achieving a variety of business goals. You can go big and print a wall banner to advertise your new rebrand, create smaller posters to increase foot traffic to less traveled portions of the store, or use window clings to advertise seasonal specials. Take advantage of every opportunity to show off your company’s personality, brand, products, and services.

If you already have some signs and banners, try mixing them up with sizing, paper type, and design. FedEx Office and Ketchum Global Research and Analytics found that 60% of the businesses they surveyed found tweaking the design on signs and banners made a positive impact on their sales. If you have been using the same signs and banners for a long time, switch it up and give your customer a new experience. Printing business signage can be affordable and yield lasting results with your customers.

2. Print Menus

You may have noticed that QR codes at restaurants have become more common, but that doesn’t mean print menus are going away. In fact, a Technomic survey found that 88% of respondents said they preferred paper menus to digital QR codes. About 66% of those respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that they didn’t like QR codes because you have to pull out your phone as soon as you sit down at the table. Think about it, do you like when your friends are on their phones at the dinner table? Many people have learned to leave our phones in our pockets, so we can be more present in the moment. A physical menu is less awkward or likely to distract from your entertainment and is more accessible for all people. Crazy as it might sound, there are still some people who don’t have a smartphone or aren’t able to use it well enough to view your small restaurant digital menu.

Bigger food chains are seeing the same trends in their restaurants. Jeremy Wladis, president of The Restaurant Group, has switched back to tangible menus instead of QR codes. He said that people see more things on the physical menu and are more likely to order more food. He also mentioned that he personally likes to see the whole menu, which is a lot easier to do printed out vs on a small phone screen. Utilize different types of menus like dine-in menus, take-out menus, pocket menus, or event table tents and placemats. Your restaurant menu doesn’t have to be fancy and if your menu options are too large for a simple brochure print, consider bookbinding options. There are inexpensive ways to put your printed menu in a wire bound or plastic bound book so customers can easily browse your food selection. The options are endless for creating and printing your restaurant menu!

3. Print Sales Flyers

If your small business is not in the food industry, you can still look at other ways to provide important information through a print flyer instead of a QR code. You can’t guarantee that every customer who comes through your business door will take the time to scan and read the information on your QR code. In fact, for consumers aged 18-23 years old, 92% say it is easier to read print than digital content.

Printing a sales flyer and placing it into the hands of your customers is the best way to guarantee they receive and read the information. Plus, they will have something to take back home and keep for reference about your small business. There is also a possibility that consumer will hand the business flyer to someone else they know who might want to see the information too. While it is nice to track the number of scans your QR code gets, it isn’t as easy to share as a printed flyer.

4. Yard Signage

A study run by BrandsPark and Better Homes and Gardens found that 60% of American consumers have made the mistake of driving past an unfamiliar business that they were looking for. This means that they knew of the business, either the name or general location, but was unable to correctly locate it while they were seeking it out.

Out of that 60%, how many are going to turn around and come back? Depending on the consumer and the day, some might never return if they are in a rush or find it too difficult to look for your business.

You need to make your small business visible and easily accessible so you don’t lose potential customers. Outdoor business signs can be costly though and depending on where your business is located at, there may be restrictions on how big or where the sign can be placed. If your small business needs an outdoor sign at a more affordable price, consider a printed yard banner or sign that can easily be moved. An outdoor banner can be quite large, with the average size being around 6 feet long, so if you are limited on ground space, a compact yard sign will work just as well.

Once you have some type of yard signage, set it up and drive around your business as if you were a customer looking for it for the first time. Make sure you can see the sign(s) and have enough time to react to them. Ask family or friends to drive by or ask customers as they come in your store if they noticed the new signage.  

5. Business Stationary

No small business is complete without custom stationary! It is the best way to communicate with your potential customers and vendors that your small business should be taken seriously. Small business stationary provides a consistent look and brand on every type of printed paper. Envelopes, letterheads, business cards, notepads, multi-part forms, calendars, surveys, thank-you cards, monthly statements, calling cards, appointment cards, folders, and so much more!

As much as our technology has advanced over the last decade, there are still some things that just have to be printed. Everything your business needs to interact with sales reps, vendors, and partners should be printed with your small business brand on it. Using the same paper type, colors, fonts, and designs will help to make your small business leave a lasting impression. Printing business stationary doesn’t have to be expensive either and many businesses offer alternatives for ordering your business items online when you need them.

6. Direct Mail Pieces

If your small business isn’t utilizing direct mail, now is your time to start. It’s been proven time and time again that direct mail produces results. Many businesses, both large and small, still utilize direct mail advertising. It was a $71.57 billion market in 2021 and is projected to exceed that in 2022.

This is no surprise as consumers are burnt out on digital advertising. A 2022 study found that direct mail has a longer shelf life than email or digital marketing. The average response rate of direct mail is around 2.7% – 4.4% while email is at 0.6%!

It makes sense that the email response rate is so low, we get so many emails a day that it is hard to read through them all and sort out what is relevant or not. With direct mail, it is much easier to stand out and thanks to QR codes, you can even show off videos or audio messages.

Direct mail also utilized variable data printing, which allows for every mail piece to be personalized to each customer without slowing down the printing process. Your customers will feel like their mail piece was made for them specifically, not a crowd of people.

Start Print Advertising For Your Small Business Today!

Do you need help navigating the world of print advertising for your small business? Creative Printing is a printer company you can trust because we are a small business ourselves. We work with small businesses like yours and make sure they are getting the best print material available at affordable prices.

Whether you are brainstorming, designing, or already have signs and advertisements you want to improve upon, Creative Printing is here to help every step of the way. We even offer online ordering options, customized specifically to your small business needs!

Call or send us a message today to see how we can help your small business get started.

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