There’s No Such Thing as Print Versus Digital: A Holistic Guide to Marketing Collateral

Web Design And Marketing Collateral: How To Marry The Two

Digital marketing. Print marketing. Which one is better? Which one is right for your business? Is your web design more important than your print collateral?

Ah, those are the wrong questions.

The truth is, no matter what type of business you have or how large it is, you need both. Digital and print marketing are not adversaries vying for your love; they are partners in your success, and they work better as a team.

Digital marketing has not eliminated the need for print marketing; rather, it has changed the way we use print marketing. Instead of mailing out full product line catalogs, a business may choose to mail a postcard or coupon that promotes their website with an exclusive QR discount code, where the customer will find their entire product line. The examples of the symbiotic relationship between your website and print marketing are practically endless.

So now you know: you need both types of marketing collateral, and to think holistically about them. And the correct questions to ask are the “how” questions: “How do I decide what marketing collateral my business needs?” “How do I ensure my branding is cohesive across all my marketing collateral?”

Marketing collateral is the term used to include any media used to educate and guide your prospective customers. It should be focused on their needs with authentic, problem-solving content.

As you develop your collateral, consider your prospective customers and the journey they take from awareness to purchase and beyond. Your collateral should represent your business well, connect your brand with your audience, and communicate your value.

With digital marketing in the leading role and print as its supporting cast, it’s vital that your small business branding have a cohesive look across all your collateral, both digital and print.

Developing a brand style guide is a good practice that will ensure your staff and design partners stick to the parameters you’ve set. That way, you’ll be using style consistency to your advantage to place your brand at the front of your prospective customers’ minds no matter how they come in contact with it.

There are many things to consider when developing your brand style, but a few key ones are listed here.

Your Logo

Your logo should reflect what’s great about your business. It will wind up likely being the primary visual element your customers and prospects associate with your business, so it needs to look modern, have a great color scheme, and adapt well across different collateral.

It’s best to hire a graphic designer to create your logo — they will listen to your vision and bring innovative ideas to the table. Furthermore, a graphic designer will be able to create many versions of your logo: a light one for dark backgrounds, a dark one for light backgrounds, a full-color version, a black-and-white version, and versions with and without words. A graphic designer also knows how to ensure your logo is a proper vector, which means it can be infinitely scaled without losing any quality.

Your Colors

The colors you use on every bit of collateral should be the same as the ones in your logo — or complementary from a wider color palette. Your brand consistency depends on your collateral not only looking good, but having the same style and colors.

And of course, this goes for your print and digital collateral. The colors in your website design should complement the colors of your logo, and all your brochures, business cards, apps, etc., should reflect the same look.

A graphic designer is a valuable partner when determining what colors you wish to use in your marketing materials. They are trained in not only what colors correctly complement each other, but just as importantly, in the psychology of color. The colors you use in your brand marketing can have an effect in how your prospective customers perceive you. Graphic designers and web designers alike know this fact intimately, and incorporate these elements into their process.

Your Fonts

The fonts you choose for your marketing collateral should reflect the image and level of formality you wish to project as a business. Limit your fonts to one font each for your heading, subheading, body text, and maybe an additional accent font.

Working With a Creative Design Team Gives You a Profound Advantage

Your marketing collateral is worth its weight in gold as you establish your brand, so work with a great graphic designer, web designer, or brand development specialist to make sure it’s doing exactly as you intend it to do. The difference between a well-crafted brand design and an unprofessional attempt can cost you in missed sales. Consider the following with your marketing collateral:

• Is it attractive and attention-getting, with informational images?
• Does it look cohesive and help to establish your brand in your customers’ minds?
• Does it prompt your prospective customers to take action at every stage of their journey?
• Is it up-to-date with correct information and free of typos?
• Does it show that you understand your customers’ pain points and that you can offer solutions?
• Is it created strategically — does your print collateral guide prospective customers to your digital collateral, and ultimately convert?

Now that you understand how your print and digital marketing collateral should support each other, you understand how important it is to have cohesive design and a strong brand strategy throughout.

Carrboro Creative partners with you in your marketing strategy, whatever your needs: From logo design to full web design packages or any print collateral you may need. Our graphic design team offers branding services that get to the heart of your target audience, and we create designs that sell. Period.

Ready to elevate your brand? Because that’s what we do at Carrboro Creative. Contact us for a free quote and find out how we make it easy for your brand to grow.