Online businesses can no longer be simply online. More and more, we are seeing web-based businesses invest in print collateral. Their greatest challenge is to figure out how to create effective print design to promote their online business.

Print Design Philosophy

One of the great things about designing for print is that you can create the most bold, colorful designs you can imagine. The crucial bit is to recognize the difference between creating a busy design, and a complex design.

A print design can have a lot of color and depth and interesting stuff for the eye to absorb, but it has to focus on one central message.

Print designs can’t be laid out like a web page, with a bunch of different elements to look at, because viewers simply aren’t going to browse around your printed piece. You need to grab the viewers’ attention in 3 seconds or less, get the message across, and hope they remember it!

Now, What to Print?

Before designing, you need to choose what form your print collateral will be in. Different printed items appeal to different audiences. Luckily for companies with small budgets, online businesses can generate traffic using inexpensive forms of printing such as business cards, flyers and postcards.

Smaller items are more convenient as people can take and keep them. That means they are carrying your URL home with them and don’t have to attempt to memorise it from a poster or billboard.

One of the most effective printed marketing forms is direct mail. It might be junk to some but it is also a tried and tested technique with significant evidence proving its effectiveness. So to us it is a classic. It can deliver a massive ROI because it delivers your URL to your audience’s home and simply asks them to sit at their computer and check out your site.

For more ideas about the best print collateral for your business, talk to the Dobson’s team today!