Harnessing the Marketing Power of Summer

When is the best time to get your message in front of a potential customer? When no one else is in their ear! This is what makes summertime marketing so powerful. Many businesses slow down their marketing during this time of year, making it a perfect time for you to get even busier.

 

Let’s look at ways businesses can leverage this season to maximize success.

 

1.    Seasonal themes and trends: From beach vacations and outdoor activities to barbecues and festivals, summertime brings a host of seasonal themes and trends that provide a perfect backdrop for captivating campaigns. By aligning your marketing messages with the season, you can tap into the excitement associated with summertime and create unique experiences and a sense of urgency.

 

2.    Outdoor advertising opportunities: With the arrival of warm weather, people spend more time outdoors, providing unique opportunities for outdoor advertising. Whether it's billboards, banners, sidewalk signs, or experiential marketing activations, broaden your reach through strategically placed advertisements in parks, beaches, outdoor events, and popular tourist destinations.

 

3.    Social media Engagement: Summertime fuels engagement as people share their experiences and adventures with friends and followers. Organize contests, giveaways, or user-generated content campaigns encouraging customers to share their summer moments featuring your products or services.

 

4.    Product diversification: Many industries experience shifts in consumer preferences and demands during the summer months. For example, the fashion industry sees an uptick in summer apparel and accessories sales, while the food and beverage industry witnesses increased demand for refreshing seasonal drinks and snacks. By launching summer-specific collections, you can cater to these changing consumer needs and capitalize on seasonal demand.

 

5.    Increased foot traffic and tourism: Summer is a peak travel season, with people embarking on vacations, road trips, and exploring new destinations. Businesses located in tourist hotspots can leverage this influx of visitors by collaborating with local tourism boards, offering special promotions for tourists, and creating destination-specific experiences.

 

6.    Seasonal sales and promotions: The summer season often brings a host of holidays and celebrations that you can capitalize on using seasonal sales, promotions, or limited-time discounts. Create a sense of urgency by setting deadlines and “act by” dates.

 

Summertime marketing offers distinct advantages that set it apart from other times of the year. Embrace the vibrant spirit of summertime and unleash the power of targeted seasonal marketing to drive growth, engage customers, and foster brand loyalty.

Use Print to Inspire Positive Change

Nonprofits rely heavily on donations and volunteers to fulfill their missions. While email and social media are growing in importance, print motivates donors and volunteers in a way that other channels don’t. Let’s take a look at the many types of printed materials that can move your mission forward and help you make an even greater impact in the world.

Postcards: Postcards are a great way to keep donors and volunteers informed about upcoming events, fundraising campaigns, and other important updates. They are also an excellent tool for expressing gratitude and recognizing the contributions of supporters. Even better, personalize them! Thank donors for recent gifts and update them on how their donations are being used.

Letters: While email may be a fast and convenient way to communicate, a well-crafted letter feels more personal and taps more deeply into people’s emotions. Use letters to convey a sense of gratitude, urgency, or excitement that is difficult to replicate through digital channels. Share stories of impact, ask for donations or volunteer support, or recognize the contributions of individual supporters.

Calendars: Calendars can help to keep supporters engaged throughout the year. Feature images and stories of your work, as well as key dates and events. Distribute calendars to donors and volunteers as a way to say thank you or as an incentive for making a donation or signing up to volunteer. Calendars can be sold as fundraising products, too.

Brochures: Brochures can be used to introduce you to new audiences, provide more detailed information about your programs, and promote your mission at campaigns or events. Use well-designed, colorful pieces to highlight your achievements and demonstrate the impact of your programs. Not every nonprofit uses brochures in this way, so this is a great way to build credibility, differentiation, and trust.

Catalogs: Nonprofits that sell products as part of their fundraising strategies can use catalogs to showcase their offerings and raise money for their mission. Use the larger pages offered by print catalogs as a canvas to tell the stories behind your products, highlight the artisans or communities that produce them, and demonstrate the impact that each purchase can have.

It's easy to see why print remains a valuable tool for nonprofits. The emotional impact of a beautifully printed piece, held in your hands, can’t be replicated in other channels. So use the many tools of print to communicate your mission, impact, and needs to supporters in a deeply personal way that helps you build stronger relationships and inspire positive change.

Getting It Right: The Power of Consistent Brand Colors

Have you ever wondered why certain brands instantly catch your eye and remain etched in your memory? One reason is their consistent and reproducible use of brand colors. Think Coca-Cola Red, McDonald’s Yellow, and Facebook Blue. Whether on a direct mail piece or retail packaging, buyers recognize these brands based on color alone. Highly identifiable brand colors are a company’s most significant marketing asset.

 

Do you have highly identifiable brand colors? If so, how do we, as your printer, ensure that these colors are accurate and consistent from run to run?

                                              

Steps to Great Color

We start by printing to industry standards. In the commercial printing industry, these include GRACoL, SWOP, XCMYK, and for spot colors, Pantone.

 

The printing process is complex, however, and various factors, including the settings on the press, the base color of the substrate, and the type of inks, impact your color. It is also dependent on the printing process used. Offset, digital, and wide-format presses all reproduce color differently. To compensate for these differences, we adhere to rigorous standards, use sophisticated color management software, and employ best-in-class color measurement tools.

 

We measure how close we are to the target color every time your job is run, whether it’s a repeat job on the same press or a project spread across multiple presses. To do this, we use a measurement called delta E. (The word “delta” means “change.”) A delta E is the change from one color to another. If you spec a color, the difference between your proof and the final color is measured in delta Es. Although a delta E can be as small as one, the human eye has trouble distinguishing differences this small. Most customers find delta Es between two and four to be acceptable.

 

Consistent color also requires your files to be adequately produced. If there are errors in the file, it limits the ability of our systems to compensate. Great files in = great printing out.

 

Take Time to Get It Right

If you have colors that are critical to your brand identity, take the time to sit down with us and talk about them. Let’s go over your expectations and steps for proper file preparation. Working together, we can ensure that your brand colors are reproduced consistently, repeatedly, and accurately.