If your business is struggling, there is no worse idea in the world than to cut your advertising budget. Skimping on promotions when you are in the hole is the surest way to let your biz completely go down the toilet. Come on, think about it — if your store or service has already slipped under the radar, the only way to save it is to reinvent your image or business strategy AND to let everyone know about it. So stop wallowing in financial fear and pity and start putting together a new ad campaign. The cheapest way to do this, and one of the most effective, is by printing advertisements in the form of flyers, posters, postcards, and business-size cards, and distributing these materials as broadly as possible. (Oh, and if business is booming, great! But don’t rest on your laurels! Promoting your biz in its heyday can ensure that it stays on top.)
Some businesses are reluctant to invest money in ads of any kind because it can seem like an unnecessary expense. But this could not be further from the truth. It is important to trumpet the fact that your business exists. And investing in advertising is exactly that — an investment — and it can reward you handsomely if you do it right. Let’s look at a few printed products you can have custom-made by a reputable printer to see what the exact cost breakdown is.
Flyers: Printing ads like custom flyers is so inexpensive, it’s almost embarrassing. One thousand — that’s right, ONE THOUSAND — printed flyers can be yours for a mere $75 if you go to the right printer. Better still, that’s the price for flyers printed on premium 16pt cardstock. That breaks down to a cost of just 7.5 cents per full-color flyer. Let’s say you run a nightclub, and one of those flyers lures in a customer who ends up spending $100 in your club. Heck, let’s say, conservatively, that that happens 10 times out of a thousand flyers that are given out. Right there, your flyers have helped bring $1,000 into the club, for a mere $75 investment. And chances are your full-color flyers are going to be a lot more effective than that.
Business cards: If even $75 seems like a lot of money to put into printed advertisements, you can save even more loot by thinking outside the box and using business card-sized printed cards as flyers. These small-size ads get your message across in a hand-sized format, so they save some trees while reaching your customers all the same. Plus, some customers seem to actually prefer to take small-sized advertisements, perhaps because they realize they can quickly tuck these “mini-flyers” into their purses or wallets, instead of having to hold onto them by hand forever and ever. Best of all, business card-sized prints are the most affordable printed products around. If you print 5,000 full-color, 16pt cardstock cards, you might pay as little as $100 for the whole lot. That’s a rate of 2 cents per card. If you would rather print only 1,000, you might pay only $35, which means each card costs you a mere 3.5 cents. As with most industries, buying printed products in higher quantities means you get a better rate, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t get a good deal when you print in modest quantities. Take advantage of the inexpensive business card format to promote sales, openings, or special offers, and you will see huge results from these tiny cards.
Postcards and EDDM: Finally, postcards are another remarkably affordable way to bring new blood to your business. There’s a strategy many businesses are turning to which eliminates the need to hire people to stand out on the street to distribute printed materials like flyers and cards. That strategy is EDDM – Every Door Direct Mail – and it works like an absolute charm, without costing you much at all. Some printers offer a one-stop-shop on the service, where they design your postcard, print it, and mail it to entire zip codes or neighborhoods for very low prices per printed piece. With this mailing strategy, it might cost as little as 54 cents per postcard to design, print, and then saturate a 1,000-resident neighborhood with your mailers. With this method, you can also be 100 percent sure that your targeted market receives your ad.
So there you have it – the real low-down on what it costs to print advertisements. Make these affordable marketing methods part of your business’ normal outreach initiatives, and you will see a steady increase in traffic at your store or business, guaranteed. It would be a waste not to give it a try!
About Jenny DixonJennifer has been apart of the EliteFlyers.com team for over 15 years. She brings a deep understanding of web marketing, thoughtful strategies, that she's able to design, manage, print, deliver multi-media campaigns to meet all client's goals. Her personal portfolio includes high-end design and printing of business cards, flyers, post cards for elite businesses and individuals from all over the world.
