Print Before You Plan Distribution? A Costly Mistake
Printed promotional goods are part of marketing, and they include catalogs, fliers, coupons and so on. You may need to print a large number of letters or types of catalogs to be used in different places. Observe harmony in your printed advertisements.
Be careful in designing. The designers need to know which target market they are designing the catalog for. For example, if the catalog is specialized for managers, its design and printing type should be different from what is used for the general public. Prepare your plan based on the target market and your distribution capability. Knowing the target market determines the design type, the number of prints and the distribution type.
Consider these issues before printing, rather than printing first and then thinking about the distribution method. Sometimes a lot of money is wasted because you did not plan the distribution before printing. Excessive distribution or publication does not have a negative impact. What matters is the plan according to which you deal with it, and whether it matches your marketing plan.
Attaching photos to the catalog is greatly important, and the concept of your message in the photos is even more important. An interesting thing happened at the Canadian Fisheries Fair, where there was more demand for catalogs than for products. A photo of a lobster was printed in high quality on laminated cardboard. They ran out of catalogs on the first day, because the catalogs had been designed and printed so charmingly that they functioned as a promotional gift.
You can design printed materials so they can be used for other things. On the corner of the catalog, a ruler can be placed, for instance. This prevents the audience from discarding the catalog. Or you can design a ruler next to the annual calendar to give it double use. One of the most attractive printing materials is the bookmark, which is actually a kind of brochure: a piece of paper placed next to the book to keep track of a reader's progress.