Marketing Clique

It's somewhat of a surprise, but marketing and sales still rely heavily on paper-based collateral. The reality is that businesspeople of all generations will still hold onto and study something that's printed on paper.

Given the evergreen approach of using paper in your marketing and sales efforts, put your best foot forward:

Business Cards - A crisp, professionally-design business card still makes a favorable impression. Some of what happens is subconscious: people get an impression of your company's quality and style. A thin, flimsy card may give the wrong impression.

Marketing & Sales Collateral - B2B sales collateral has changed. Partly because of a growing trend to becoming more open, authentic, and transparent, there is a willingness to share information that builds trust with buyers. Sellers add value by providing helpful information that benefits the buyers, regardless of whether they buy. For example, marketing automation SaaS company, Marketo, offers a formidable resources page on their website. Marketo's Definitive Guide to Lead Nurturing is an exceptionally well designed [paper] guide that adds value to any marketer who's trying to figure out lead nurturing.

• If you're going to hand out whitepapers, or other paper marketing collateral at a conference or trade show, make sure they're quality. Yes, most people will throw them away before they leave. But you've got a chance to make an impression. What kind of impression do you want to make?

Proposals - Once you are ready to propose, it's a good practice to provide a paper-based proposal for your prospect. Ideally, the proposal will be something you can present to the prospect in person. These days it's becoming increasingly common for proposals to be delivered as attachments to emails. But if you get a chance to deliver a beautiful full color paper proposal, do it.

Hand-written Thank-you Notes - Diana Huff recently wrote about 7 Old Fashioned Marketing Tips That Set You Apart. She reminds us that the hand-written thank-you note is a welcome differentiator in today's digital world. I couldn't agree more. Sending your client a hand-written not on quality stationery makes a statement about you and your business. Show your clients and prospects that you have some class and care about their business, personally. It's okay to be personally grateful in a professional relationship.

Training & Instruction Guides - If your product or service requires training, there's another opportunity to show off your brand and create a favorable marketing impression. Training collateral is all-too-often overlooked as a branding and marketing opportunity. Take the time to ensure your training materials are presented in a way that allows your company's product or service to be presented optimally.

Can you think of any other paper-based opportunities for your company to step it up? Let me know if you have an example, positive, or negative, that illustrates the importance of paper-based collateral in today's digital world.

Thanks for reading this digital post. If we end up doing business together maybe I'll send you a hand-written note!