Marketing Information

Take the Test: Do Your Marketing Materials Really Grab Attention?


Today's constant bombardment of marketing messages means your materials must grab your prospects attention in the first few seconds, or your efforts are wasted.

How do you know if your marketing materials will prompt prospects to keep reading? Take this simple test: hold each of your marketing pieces at arm's length and answer the following questions:

1. Got white space? If your materials look crowded, add white space by increasing the sides, top or bottom margins. Try adding extra blank spaces between each section so the information is more readable. You should also add headlines to break up the text. Consider editing your copy and eliminating wasteful graphics to gain even more space.

Too much white space pushes prospects away just as much as when there is too little. To make sure prospects give your piece more than a glance, add meaningful content or graphics to keep prospects reading.

2. Do the graphics really pertain to what you're selling? Include graphics with meaning and get rid of the rest. Effective graphics should either further the prospect's understanding of your products and services or provide additional information necessary to the buying decision. They should not push the prospect away from the selling process by acting as fillers without meaning. Consider adding illustrations, diagrams, or happy customer photos to keep things meaningful.

3. Are the headlines readable? Reading sales literature is just like reading the newspaper - most readers scan the headlines to determine if they'll continue reading the rest of the article. If you cannot clearly see your piece's headlines at arm's length, you need to make the font bigger. Typically, marketing materials use at least a 14 point bold Arial or Helvetica font for headlines and an 11 or 12 point Times or Times New Roman font for the content that follows.

4. Where's your contact info? If you can't find your contact info within 1-2 seconds, prospects won't find it either. Whether you want prospects to call, email, or write you, provide your contact information on every single side of your marketing materials, and make sure it stands out from the rest of the content.

Incorporate these ideas into your materials, add meaningful, benefit, sales-oriented copy, and prospects will use your materials for their true purpose - to express interest in what you're selling.

Nancy J. Wagner of Cut to the Chase Marketing is a speaker, writer, and marketing strategist who helps small businesses increase their sales with effective marketing materials and websites. Download her free 9-step marketing plan at http://www.CutToTheChaseMarketing.com


MORE RESOURCES:

Marketing Pilgrim (blog)

Publishers Clearing House to pay after deceptive marketing claims
Baltimore Sun
In addition to the payment, the new judgment includes additional restrictions on the company's marketing as well as additional conditions to prevent ...
Publishers Clearing House: Deceptive or Simply Good Marketing?Marketing Pilgrim (blog)
New Agreement on Publishers Clearing House Marketing PracticesWHSV
Publishers Clearing House to increase protections against deceptive ...ABC15.com (KNXV-TV)

all 199 news articles »


Independent (blog)

Sony: We'll Never Beat Microsoft on Marketing Budgets
Escapist Magazine
Peter Dille, SCEA's senior VP of marketing, doesn't think that Sony will ever match the deep pockets of Microsoft's marketing department. ...
Sony Applauds Buttons Prior to Playstation Move ReleasePC World
SCEA's Peter Dille On Move & PlayStation PhoneTheSixthAxis

all 149 news articles »


Marketing Week

Revlon Brings Global Marketing Focus to Corporate Strategy
MarketWatch (press release)
"We see tremendous opportunity to build our brands with world-class marketing, which requires a talented senior executive leader to set brand strategy and ...
Revlon Names Coca-Cola's Goldin as New Marketing ChiefNASDAQ
Revlon creates global CMO roleMarketing

all 18 news articles »


Aerosonic Corporation and Kellstrom Defense Aerospace Inc. Sign Marketing and ...
MarketWatch (press release)
We are excited about the opportunity of marketing these quality products through our worldwide distribution channels." Aerosonic Corporation, headquartered ...

and more »


Bizjournals.com (blog)

Win throws ValleyCats marketing curveball
Bizjournals.com (blog)
The win sparked an instant marketing dilemma: The front office woke up with 36 hours to get the word out before the first pitch of Saturday's home game in ...

and more »


SuccessFactors Chief Marketing Officer, General Manager of SMB to Present at ...
MarketWatch (press release)
SAN MATEO, Calif., Sept 09, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Today, SuccessFactors, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFSF) announced that the company's Chief Marketing Officer ...
SuccessFactors Chief Marketing Officer, General Manager of SMB to Present at ...One News Page

all 48 news articles »


John Hancock Hires Exec To Expand Its Retirement Presence
Wall Street Journal
He also previously served as vice president and director of product development and marketing for MFS Investment Management and vice president of retirement ...

and more »


Schumer Blasts Issuers For Deceptive Card-Marketing Practices
Collections & Credit Risk (blog)
Some credit card issuers are using a “dirty trick” to get around the new Credit CARD Act by marketing small-business cards to consumers, ...

and more »


ViaWest Names Sales and Marketing VP
techrockies.com
... the colocation and managed services provider, said this week that it has named Paul Gerrard as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. ...
ViaWest Announces New Executive Vice President of Sales & MarketingIT News Online

all 10 news articles »


Julian Schnabel's Miral turning a marketing nightmare for Harvey Weinstein
Daily News & Analysis
Julian Schnabel's Miral, starring Freida Pinto in the title role, is becoming a marketing nightmare for Harvey Weinstein. Pinto's character in the film is ...

and more »

Google News

home | site map
© 2006