Category: Print Production

Four Designs that Offer a Grechrome-extension://ohhcpmplhhiiaoiddkfboafbhiknefdf/TMToolbar/image/tooltip/webicon_green.pngat User Experience

Posted On: Category: Custom Design & Printing, Dimensional Print Marketing, Print ProductionPosted By:

When I think of the term user experience I tend to think of product and software development, which is the context in which the term was coined. However, the principals of good user experience (UX) design apply just as well to marketing and campaigns. When you’re designing a direct mail piece, a landing page, or even a print ad, the user experience is a crucial consideration. This is especially true when these components are put together in an integrated campaign.

User experience is always top-of-mind in the Structural Graphics design department. How will the recipient interact with the piece? Is the message of the mailer clear and focused? Is it interesting and engaging? And, of course, does the online experience flow smoothly from the printed piece in a way that makes sense to the user?

One aspect of an integrated campaign that can be easily overlooked is the strength of the messaging on the direct mail piece. Usually the goal is to drive the user to an online asset, but consider the fact that some users won’t have immediate access to a computer. Or perhaps they just don’t want to visit the landing page. Is your messaging strong and compelling enough to stand on its own, without the assistance of online component? Is there an off-line call-to-action like a BRC or a phone number?

Below are four dimensional print designs that offered great user experiences. They are all strong performers and proven designs. They can stand on their own as a powerful direct mail piece, or as part of an integrated campaign.

flapper 1The Flapper® is a classic performer and a brilliant storyteller. When the user first picks up the piece they immediately recognize that there is something more than just a flat postcard. Its four selling panels fold in succession to keep the user engaged and interested.

The 4-Window Pull™ is a highly interactive and 4window 1effective design. The story begins when the user picks up the flat piece and notices the four tabs. Each tab pulls out from each side instantly providing twice the copy space. It immediately distinguishes itself from all of the other mail in the pile. Simple and engaging.

Flipbook 1The Flipbook is a truly interactive design with a wide range of applications. It’s a natural story teller that keeps the user engaged as they flip through the pages. With tons of options and sizes, the Flipbook can be used as a great sales aid, catalog, or promotional mailer that requires a large amount of selling space. It ships virtually flat but the user experience is anything but.

The Book-Cube™ is a favorite amongst marketers.  It provides Book Cube 1such a unique user experience that you really can’t get anywhere else. The piece ships flat, but when opened by the user, it jumps into shape. Using a set of hidden rubber bands, this will grab anyone’s attention. It provides ample selling space and can be highly customized. You can include a little booklet carrier, or an attention-getting tab that folds out.

Above are just four of the many examples of great user experience we can demonstrate.  In fact, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention, touch. Many of our clients have used touch to create an engaging and interesting direct marketing piece. We can use beautiful premium paper stocks to create a high-value feel; think, glossy, rugged, soft – the possibilities are limitless. Furthermore, we can use a really neat “fuzzy” finish like we did for this Tide magazine insert.

Five Tips for Effective Landing Pages

Posted On: Category: Custom Design & Printing, Dimensional Print Marketing, Marketing Insights, Print ProductionPosted By:

As we have spoken about before, landing pages are an increasingly effective way to increase the ROI of your online and offline promotions. They provide a great avenue to drive prospects to when you’re looking for a specific response, like filling out a form. Landing pages have become a staple with our clients, even those who market primarily with direct mail. For more about our personalized landing pages check out this earlier blog posting.

Landing PageThrough our experience with developing effective landing pages, I wanted to offer your some tips to keep in mind when you’re strategizing about your own campaigns. Hopefully you’ll look to us for help when you’re working on such a campaign, but nevertheless, here are some tips.

1. Always provide a clear call to action. This is a fundamental rule of marketing, but it applies especially to landing page design. The reason you don’t send prospects directly to your company website is you want a more focused experience for the user. Let them get in, perform the action you requested and get out. Having too many options only makes things more confusing to the visitor and will more likely result in abandoned visits.

2. Make sure the headline on your landing page matches or closely resembles the link or printed piece that drove them to the page.  Continuity is important and it’s key that the visitor instantly identifies the page and that it is what they’re expecting to see.

3. People tend to read the beginning of the page and the end of the page for headlines or bullet points. Write your copy and lay it out in such a way that accommodates this behavior. Your best points on top, followed by a nice bulleted list. Wrap up with repeating what you want them to do and why, and send them on their way.

4. Limit navigation choices. Your goal is to keep them on the landing page until they perform an action, so try to limit or completely eliminate their ability to click off the page. Many pages I have seen offer a direct link to the company website. You’ll have to do your own testing, but in most cases this is not a good practice.

5. Don’t hide things. One of the biggest annoyances I have with landing pages are they become so focused that the publisher seems to be deliberately trying to hide something. Give the visitor all of the information they need to perform the call to action you’re requesting. For example, you may have seen a page that says something like, “Fill out this form and you’ll receive a gift worth $500 and a free ebook”… or whatever. It’s obvious to most people that there is more to it than just that. When I see something like that I am immediately skeptical and usually jump ship. Sure, I would like a $500 gift but I am not willing to gamble on what it’s going to cost me unless I know ahead of time.

If you would like to learn more about landing pages or discuss an upcoming project please give us a call or visit our website. Ironically, we don’t have a landing page setup to discuss landing pages, so our company website will have to do.

Content Structure and Cutting Through the Information Landscape

Posted On: Category: Branding, Design, Marketing Insights, Print ProductionPosted By:

By, Andres Aguirre

The media landscape today is evolving at an extraordinary rate. The ways in which we create, perceive, process, and interact with information are fundamentally altered almost faster than we can realize. Whether it’s the new mobile computer technology such as tablet computers, or discovering a brand new use for an old apparatus, technology itself and the vast amounts of content that it brings are able to be structured, purposed, and formatted in virtually limitless styles.

The way in which the content is structured has much to do with the way in which the information can be used. Sometimes content on the web can be very broad and open-sourced, enabling cooperation and expanding creativity. It can also be streamlined and dispersed for a wide audience, or vice versa, funneled or filtered, and personalized to match a specific user or viewer depending on the intended purpose of the information itself.

The truth is whatever the intent, there’s an absurd amount of information out there, and because of this, getting your information into the right hands is quite complicated. If the intention is to sell, then simply placing your message ‘out there’ is not going to cut it. The chances of someone coming across your ad, clicking through, and then deciding to purchase are extremely slim, so as a result content structuring has become user-centered and highly personalized. People are constantly searching for ways to organize and simplify the content that they care about. The internet learns a lot about you and what you like, so it can filter and display relevant content based on your previous browsing patterns. Some examples of this are applications such as Flipboard for the iPad. It takes content that you and your close circles of friends are interested in, and it arranges and presents it to you in a coherent magazine-like format. Facebook and YouTube also feature algorithms for filtering and displaying only the content that is similar to the content that you have previously engaged in.

For advertisers, this user-centered tendency of organizing content means that you can have enhanced targeting online. You now have a better guarantee that your message will be relevant and more effective online. Yet, users will also become wary of this fact and you still have no guarantee that the user will engage in what you have to say and that it will transform into some sort of interaction with your business.

This is where Structural Graphics comes in. A highly engaging and interactive piece is hard to ignore. People will remember that 3D book cube with lights that popped out from a holographic folder, and the morphing roller with sound. Chances are highly likely that they will keep it, show it to friends and thoroughly digest that content because it’s not online, and it’s not competing for their attention in cyberspace. Instead, it’s completely demolishing those competing envelopes containing bills.