Category: Marketing Insights

5 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Video in Print

Posted On: Category: Audio / Video Marketing, Custom Design & Printing, Marketing Insights, TechnologyTag(s): , , , , , , , , Posted By:

In the world of marketing, you’ve probably heard the old standby, “show, don’t tell”. But what if you could do both?

Video in print (VPA) is a powerful marketing tool that allows your brand or business to stand out from the pack. By combining motion, sound, and print into one single piece, you’re effectively creating a multi-sensory experience for the recipient, drawing them in and establishing that initial connection between them and your brand.

Now, that’s a formula for success.

And the benefits don’t just end there. Based on our extensive experience designing and producing unique marketing collateral for brands, we’ve compiled a list of four reasons why you should consider using VPA for your next marketing campaign.

Simply put, it’s an effective tool for communication.  With VPA, not only do you get the tactile enjoyment of print, but you also get the action. This allows you to create a more holistic experience for your customers and prospects because you are able to provide them with a variety of touch points where they can engage with your brand.

VPA is an attention-grabber. Capturing the attention of your audience is one of the most important parts of marketing your products and services. But it’s also one of the most difficult. Many of us are so overwhelmed by the volume of emails we receive, as they only add more to the “digital clutter”. If you want to get your audience’s attention, you’ve got to deliver your information in a way that will engage – sending a printed brochure with an embedded video screen is the sure fire way to do just that!

It pulls at the heartstrings. Fusing video with print opens up more opportunities for your messaging to resonate with your audience and for them to forge a connection with you. The combination of visuals and sound, and copy work together to create a powerhouse emotional experience if done right.

Video is perceived to be more valuable than text alone. It’s no secret that video is often much more labor intensive and expensive to produce. So, when you decide to share a video, your audience is almost guaranteed to notice. Because of this, people will often give you more time, more contact information and even pay more for your product or service.

It’s a clear winner. Think for a moment: What kind of learner are you? For most of us, we’re visual learners and then about a third of the population considers themselves auditory. So, why compromise? VPA can ensure that your brand messaging can resonate with all types of learners because the information is simultaneously delivered verbally and visually. Aside from being exceptionally powerful, this also means there’s less chance they’ll misunderstand or misinterpret your message.

Print marketing already has the proven success to resonate with consumers alike. So, combining a high-impact printed format with a video screen is sure to get the attention  you’re looking for from your target audience.

Visit us online at StructuralGraphics.com to see our Video in Print gallery and to learn more about our formats. In a hurry? We’ve got you covered. Our online ordering division, Red Paper Plane has video in print solutions with a faster turn time of only 7 days. Not to mention, we’re constantly adding new designs as well – so make sure you check out all that we have to offer!

Structural Graphics’ Look Back on 2017

Posted On: Category: Audio / Video Marketing, Dimensional Print Marketing, Direct Mail Marketing, Events & Awards, Technology, Virtual Reality / Augmented RealityPosted By:

As we delve into another year, Structural Graphics looks back at some of the most effective dimensional print projects we worked on in 2017, from SleekPeeks® to disco balls (and even a mini planetarium!).

SleekPeeks®

The introduction of SleekPeeks®, inexpensive virtual reality headsets created by Structural Graphics, made it possible for brands like Porsche and USPS to deliver the ultimate interactive experience to their audience.

Lincoln Video Mailer

At the National Postal Forum in May 2017, our high-end video mailer for The Lincoln Motor Company’s “See it First” campaign was selected as the Grand Champion Award winner of the Irresistible Mail Awards trophy. The Irresistible Mail Awards is a USPS program that highlights mail pieces that increase engagement through innovative design, print or digital technologies. Structural Graphics structurally designed and hand assembled the piece.

Disco Ball Invitation

Featured as the 60-second Super-cool Fold of the Week, our “Simply Cool Swinging Disco Ball Accordion Invitation” was designed and produced for the Regional One Health Foundation. They used this mailer to invite people to their annual ONE Night Fundraiser. The invitation shipped flat, but the paper die-cut spheres on the cover immediately twirl in succession when you open up the mailer to create the illusion of a dimensional disco ball.

Dish Network Pop Up Cube

Used as a unique handout at the CES Show in Las Vegas, this pop up cube was delivered inside a half-sleeve, giving the recipient a sneak peek of what was on the inside. As the cube slides out, it immediately pops into shape delivering information about Dish Network’s award-winning DVR, The Hopper®. Click here to see it in action!

This Book is a Planetarium

In her newest book, “This Book is a Planetarium,” designer, innovator, and author Kelli Anderson takes commonly known mechanisms and replicates them through pop-up paper designs. Kelli came up with the initial engineering in her studio and then reached out to the team at Structural Graphics to make the Planetarium piece in the book production-ready. When you place the flashlight of your smartphone underneath the Planetarium dome, the constellations are displayed as if you were viewing them in the night’s sky.

Audi Pop-Up Brochure

Our Circle Pop-Up Brochure Mailer that we designed for Audi and their printer, Hennegan, was awarded Silver in the “Dimensional Printing” category of the Gold Ink Awards. Presented by Printing Impressions, The Gold Ink Awards is the industry’s most prestigious print competition. It’s open to all creators and producers of printed materials, and encompasses nearly 50 categories within commercial printing, magazines, books, catalogs, digital printing and packaging.

4 Easy Steps to Design a Piece on Red Paper Plane

Posted On: Category: Design, Dimensional Print Marketing, Direct Mail Marketing, UncategorizedPosted By:

Are you a small business or solo entrepreneur? Do you need a marketing piece turned around quickly in order to meet a deadline? Do you want your piece to be of high quality but not for it to cost a fortune?

Have you heard about RedPaperPlane.com?

Red Paper Plane is the online ordering division of Structural Graphics. It provides clients with an easy and intuitive way to design the high-impact formats we’ve become known for, including pop-up cubes, greeting cards and the Flapper. And you don’t need to be a professional designer to do it! Using our online design tool, anyone can customize the direct mail formats with their logo, photos and text in a fraction of the time it used to take to place art to one of our templates offline.

Just follow these four simple steps:

  1. Choose your format.
  2. Download the template.
  3. Upload your artwork.
  4. Proof and order!

Whether you’re an experienced designer, a marketing professional or a small business owner, Red Paper Plane has created an online experience with your needs in mind.

6 Quick Tips to Improve Your Brand Photography

Posted On: Category: BrandingPosted By:

As any good marketer knows, first impressions are everything.

So, when a prospective client visits your website, glances at your portfolio and determines whether or not they will hire you, you better make sure your product photography is on point.

Product photography is so important for countless reasons. Not only can it stimulate a general need for your product, but it also showcases its usefulness, significant features and quality. Following these six basic tips will help you to master both the technique and artistry of product photography – and ensure that you never lose a lead because of it.

1) Follow the light. Finding a good source of light is essential when it comes to photographing your products. To avoid adding unnecessary shadows to your image, keep things simple: shoot in a well-lit area, use natural light when possible and be mindful of objects like clouds that may cast unnecessary darkness.

2) Choose the right backdrop. Use your background to complement your product, not distract from it. When just starting out, opt for a simple, single-color backdrop. The purpose here is to let your product be the center of attention.

3) Consider the human element. Using models may or may not be useful for you, depending on what you are trying to sell/ photograph. Perhaps you are a jewelry company looking to promote your new selection of necklaces. Or maybe you’re looking to mentor young students. Evaluate whether or not a persona will be able to show the value of your product and effectively tell the story of your brand.

4) Show scale. Give your audience a sense of how big or small your product is. By placing the product next to a common object, you can showcase a point of difference or feature how easy it is to use.

5) Play with focus. No one wants to look at a gallery of static images. To create a more dynamic spread, consider honing in on the key points of your product and pulling it forward from the background using your camera’s focus. This is a great way to highlight the quality of your product as well as its usefulness, especially if you’re looking to compare your products with a competitor’s.

6) Tell a story. It may seem silly to think that a product photo can tell a story, but keeping this in the back of your mind will take your images from good to great. Instead of photographing your product in front of a white background, consider capturing it in use. Place it in its natural environment. Or capture someone’s reaction to it. There are countless ways to set your images, and thus your product, apart by creating or playing into the emotions of your audience.

4 Ways to Execute a Powerful Marketing Campaign

Posted On: Category: Marketing Insights, UncategorizedTag(s): , , , Posted By:

So, you want to create a powerful marketing campaign, do you? Here, we’ve compiled four basic steps to take so you can smartly prepare, execute and drive actual revenue.

  1. Set your intentions.
    What do you want your campaign to achieve? That’s the first basic question you need to ask yourself. Be as specific as possible, as “I want more sales” gives you no yardstick to help you measure the distance to reaching your goals. Think about (or better yet, write down) exactly how many sales you want this year, specify the percentage increase in digital engagement you want to achieve or spell out exactly what locations you want to work to drive brand awareness.
  2. Create an action plan.
    Write down exactly what you’re going to do and when. This may sound simple, but the act of writing down your plan helps to organize your thoughts, think through superficial problems and, most importantly, visualize how and when your marketing plan or project will come together. Additionally, it will give you records to use when you go to evaluate the success of your marketing campaign.
  3. Act.
    As Nike famously says, “Just Do It”. You’ve spent weeks, maybe months, planning this campaign. Now is the time to act on it. Review your timeline and your metrics, choose the proper media and develop a communications plan among your team and any outside vendors. Decide how often you’ll need to (and can afford to) expose your messaging to your targeted audience.
  4. Measure your results, tweak and repeat.
    The campaign has launched, but your work isn’t over just yet. Now, it’s time to see how successful it was and make some adjustments. Go back to your marketing objective, look at the key performance indicators you sought out to measure and determine the campaign’s success. Did your marketing campaign achieve your objectives? What could you have done differently to make the campaign more effective? These are all valuable insights to help you and your team the next time.

The Flapper How To Guide

Posted On: Category: Custom Design & Printing, Design, Dimensional Print Marketing, Direct Mail Marketing, Ideas & InspirationPosted By:

The Flapper is one of our most popular and effective designs because of how interactive and engaging it is. Here are some quick tidbits about the Flapper:

  • It has increased campaign results for some clients by over 400% over previous campaigns
  • Gillette and others have used it as part of a magazine ad
  • It comes in multiple sizes
  • It produces mega results

Check out  Susie’s video that shows us just how easy and versatile The Flapper is to use.

You may also like take a look at our Flapper How To Guide.

Are you ready to design yours?

5 Ways to Incorporate Video into Your B2B Marketing

Posted On: Category: Audio / Video Marketing, Ideas & Inspiration, TechnologyTag(s): , , , , , , , , Posted By:

Video is one of the most talked-about subjects in the marketing industry right now, and with good reason. Did you know that videos increase people’s understanding of a product or service by 74%?

Everyone from social media strategists and content creators to businesses and brands are all jumping aboard this trend. Why? They all understand how and why video has become such a popular mechanism to win new business and increase audience loyalty.

But despite its growing relevance, one of the questions we get most is: How do I get started with video marketing? Here, we’ve included a few tips to help make your marketing videos even more effective.

  1. Choose the right files. To ensure the quality of your video and sound are exactly where you want it, we recommend using the following: a) video file format: MP4, WMV, AVI, MOV, (Codec: MPEG-4, Divx, Xvid 720P) b) Audio output: Mono speaker c) Sound level: 75-80 dB
  2. Keep it short. Video is a great vehicle for delivering your message, if it’s done effectively. Keep your videos short (30-60 seconds) and entertaining while still delivering on substance.
  3. Don’t forget the CTA. Perhaps it’s as simple as encouraging viewers to visit your website or call a direct line. Whatever the call to action is, don’t forget it. This will help you track responses and, perhaps more importantly, determine the success of your marketing efforts.
  4. Make your messaging digestible. In addition to keeping your content brief, remember to share your messaging in short, potent bursts. Perhaps this means separating your video into “chapters” or creating a YouTube series to really hit home your product or brand. Allowing viewers to enjoy your content in bite-size pieces ensures your audience will absorb more of the information you’re delivering.
  5. Consider Video-in-Print formats. Here at Structural Graphics, we have produced hundreds of thousands of video units for some of the top Automotive, Pharmaceutical, Financial Services, Manufacturing and Entertainment brands in the world. Check out our VPA Gallery here.

The 5 People You Meet in Marketing

Posted On: Category: Marketing InsightsTag(s): , , Posted By:

Thanks to Mitch Albom, we’ve already gotten introduced to the five people you meet in Heaven. But for us Earthly beings, who are still very much grounded in the here and now, this collective of people is still very relevant in our everyday lives.

Take marketing, for example. It can often be a mixed bag of personalities, backgrounds and skill sets. Some, you’ll find, have been in the industry for what seems like forever, while others, recent grads or transitioning professionals, are making their first foray into the space.

Below we’ve identified five personalities you’re almost certain to meet in the marketing world.

Which one are you?

THE VISIONARY

Wise. Early adopter. Clairvoyant. Regardless of what you want to call this person, you can always bet there’s going to be one in the group. This person is the one with a Rolodex so thick it puts War & Peace to shame. He seems to know everyone and everything as far as marketing is concerned, and often spins a yarn to prove it.

THE MILLENNIAL

Ah, millennials. This term of endearment usually refers to the youngster, maybe even the newb, in the group. Though these guys are generally new to content marketing (and maybe even the work force altogether), they have a deep passion for learning and are excited to dive in head first. At business meetings, they’ll arrive with notebooks from Rifle Paper Co. or an iPad, and they’re typically vocal about their new ideas. Contrary to popular stereotypes that millennials are the lazy generation, they can actually be a true asset to any company willing to evolve.

THE SOCIAL MEDIA SUPERSTAR

You know the guy: he’s the one who’s always checking his Twitter feed, uses words like “hashtag”, “engagement” and “SEO” in normal conversation, and has probably done a Facebook Live at least once in his life. This is the person who would rather read Google Analytics reports than Gatsby and asks if you’ve seen the latest video trending on YouTube instead of talking politics. This person eats, sleeps and breathes social media, and you better believe you can find him everywhere: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Vine, Tumblr, YouTube, Vimeo, Google+, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat. This list goes on.

THE PICASSO

Maybe she’s a designer who whips up brilliant infographics in an afternoon or comes up with fresh ideas for a native advertising campaign. This is the person for whom a lunchtime stroll can turn into a chance to ideate on the latest client project. She may be a bit flighty, but she always comes to meetings brimming with ideas. The Picasso’s favorite phrase is, “What if we did this…”.

THE STORYTELLER

Here’s how to recognize a master storyteller: This person cares more about engaging customers than immediate conversions. He’s worried less about ROI and more on brand loyalty. This person is always experimenting and has his finger on the pulse of what interests the company’s audience, whether that’s data, social media or experiential campaigns.

Can you think of some more personalities we may have missed? Share with us in the comments below!

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: CareStream Ultrasound Machine

Posted On: Category: Custom Design & Printing, Design, Dimensional Print Marketing, Direct Mail Marketing, Luxury & Specialty PackagingTag(s): , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Posted By:

I think we can all agree: there’s this general perception out there that the doctor’s office can be a pretty scary place, right? Well, not always.
Continue reading →

Why Video in Print Can Work for Your Brand

Posted On: Category: Audio / Video Marketing, Custom Design & Printing, Ideas & Inspiration, Marketing Insights, TechnologyPosted By:

“If a picture paints 1,000 words then one minute of video is worth 1.8 million.”
– Dr James McQuivey, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research

Within the last decade or so, the marketing landscape has changed tremendously. Traditional outreach in the form of catalogues and printed post cards has given way to email blasts and digital ads as consumers increasingly spend their time online.

This change in consumer behavior means that we, as marketers, must also alter the way in which we produce content for the companies and the brands we represent. Not only do we need to be more intentional with the stories we tell, but we must become more strategic in how we tell them.

Research shows that printed collateral continues to be a compelling and successful way to capture the attention of your target audience. However, when coupled with video, print has the capability to not only gain consumers’ attention, but also to hold it.

The statistics are there:

  • 70% of marketing professionals report that video converts better than any other medium (CodeFuel)
  • 90% of customers report that product videos help them make purchasing decisions (HubSpot)
  • On Facebook, video posts have 135% greater organic reach than photo posts (Social Media Examiner)
  • 76% of companies who have used videos in the past year report a direct business impact (AdWeek)

With the blurring pace of modern society, video is one of the few types of mediums that caters to the consumers of today, while still providing the value, relevance and trackable metrics marketing professionals are after. But how can we merge the strengths of print with those of video to create a singular high-impact marketing tool?

Our video-in-print brochures offer an effective option when it comes to getting your company noticed. One of the biggest advantages of combining these two mediums is the ability to enhance your brand messaging through engaging and supporting content. Video is highly visual and auditory, which means it’s easier for people to remember than text-based content. When consumers remember your video content, they, in turn, remember your brand. This can translate into better brand loyalty as well as more sales and leads.

Aetna used this dynamic video brochure to send information about its “smarter” healthcare solutions to consumers. The inside of the brochure featured a video screen with 6 buttons underneath it. By pressing each button, consumers could watch a video and learn more about each of the different solutions offered by Aetna.

T-CAAN is one of Canada’s oldest and most extensive networks of independent advertising, marketing and communication agencies. Information Packaging of Canada used this video handout at a recent T-CAAN event in Calgary. The mechanism they used was the Extendo. When you pull out the bottom panel, another panel automatically slides out from the top featuring a video about Information Packaging.

Nationwide Financial went “all out” and used this video invitation for its 2016 Nationwide Sales Invitational, a high-end event that rewards an elite group of advisors for their life and annuity sales volume and sales potential with Nationwide. The inside of this elegant mailer featured a video about the event complete with play/pause and volume controls.

What are you waiting for? Get in touch and let’s figure out how to take your marketing to the next level.