- Design that drives sales -
THE CHECKLIST

If you need online or printed promotions to drive sales then there are some essential things you need to do. This checklist goes over where to start, what to look out for and how to control your project:

1) The right marketing mix
Marketing is becoming increasingly fragmented and there are more routes to market than ever. Finding the right methods depend on where your target market can be found, how they buy and most importantly – understanding the pros and cons of each method. Print isn’t dead and email marketing isn’t redundant – they have their place and one size does not fit all. What mix works for your competitors? Test as many methods as you can until you find the right mix for you.

2) Marketing aims
What is the aim of the promotion – how do you want potential clients to respond and does this match with the communication methods they prefer to use? Do you have the resources to be able to cope with those communication methods? Data collection (email addresses for example) is also a valuable aim for promotional activities that shouldn’t be forgotten. You can then use that data for other promotions such as email marketing.

3) Give a brand experience
Have you checked your competitors to see what their design says about their market positioning? Should the selling style be direct or more subtle? A quick check online and noting down your first impressions will help define your offer and market positioning. Remember, it’s all very well communicating your brand values but your target market need to care about those values.

4) Consistent brand values
Do your collar and cuffs match?!  If your promotion has an informal and approachable feel, then elements like copywriting and photography will need to support those brand values. If they don’t then your brand values and market positioning will not be communicated clearly.

5) Guarantee your brand
Today it is often a basic requirement to make guarantees in order to authenticate your brand. This is often done using testimonials. This is especially relevant if the product is intangible – education for example. Awards or some other system of measurement can help underline credentials. Showing expertise (such as a blog or having useful resources available online) gives you a chance to show your knowledge, gives users a reason to stay on your website and helps with Search Engine Optimisation.

6) Create a mini focus group
Before you push the button for printed or web promotional material you may want to check it works! Send the design concept(s) to a few current clients (or people who fit into your target market) asking for feedback. Try to pull a consistent thread out of the feedback.

7) Define success
How do you know if a promotion has worked or failed unless you measure it? There’s never been a better time to measure marketing. For example, you could do an offline campaign that directs people to a landing page (specifically created for the purpose of measuring this campaign) on your website. Using google analytics you can then measure how many people have gone to that webpage in response to your campaign. To do this you will need a Content Management System (CMS) capable of allowing you to add pages to your website and the code for google analytics will need to be uploaded.