Printing for Less

At Printing for Less, we've offered high quality online printing services since 1996. Shop business cards, booklets, stickers, and more!

Marketing

Brochure Marketing – A Vital Component for Your Business

Brochure Marketing – A Vital Component for Your Business

brochure marketing samplesBrochure marketing can be a daunting task for many business owners and industrious entrepreneurs, but it doesn’t have to be. A straightforward approach, some solid design, compelling layout and messaging, and getting your brochure in front of potential customers is the goal. Marketing your business with brochures is really about hitting the right people, with the right message, at the right time.

Does Size Matter? Common Brochure Formats

One of the early steps in your brochure marketing project is to decide what size piece to use for your brochure marketing project. Key factors to consider are the amount of content you’re delivering and how you plan to deliver it. The most common sizes and uses are:

  • 8.5 x 11 brochures – ideal for flyers, fold-out pieces and standard mailers
  • 8.5 x 14 brochures – perfect for 4-panel brochure designs
  • 11 x 17 brochures – the most versatile size – provides full-size panels with half fold, or other creative folding options, great as larger mailers
  • 11 x 25.5 brochure – maximize your message with full-size panels with tri-fold or use as a fold-out product catalog

Don’t be limited by these sizes, however. Unique shapes and sizes are can be more eye-catching, and you are limited by only your imagination, time and budget. For ideas on how to make your brochure stand out, see our tips for designing brochures. Get brochure design and fold templates for the standard size brochures.

Business Cards are Good, but Brochures can be Better

Have you ever received a business card from an interesting vendor or business and wished you had more information about them at your fingertips? Many people like to have something on hand to look at, file and refer back to. And even with the preponderance of the internet for providing information, people expect that “real” companies will have quality printed sales and product materials. Don’t leave them short-handed, offer a brochure or sell sheet along with that business card to an interested prospect!

Point of View—the Customer’s, Not Yours!

While you have control over the content of the brochure, the look and overall feel of it, create the content from the view of your customer or prospect. Balance the amount of company information you promote with useful insight, product offers and services. Consider any questions you have heard from customers before and use the answers as a road map for your brochure, and organize the content accordingly.

Judging a Brochure by its Cover

Scanning a rack of brochures at a tradeshow, a hotel lobby and the brochures you receive in the mail, it’s easy to toss the ho-hum pieces based solely on their covers. Too much industry lingo? Boring. Nothing compelling? Garbage. No images to catch the eye? You guessed it—trash. Your brochure cover should both grab attention and outline why it would be worthwhile to open it up and read further.

Be sure to provide benefits of your products, and how your services will make their life easier. Running a great offer? Promote it on the cover. Opening a new store? Tell them about it, with directions to the front door. Don’t hide it, and don’t assume everyone will take the time to review the brochure past the cover. There will be an opportunity to provide more details about your products and company within the body of the brochure. Now is the time to pique their curiosity and get them to continue reading.

Speak to Your Reader

“I am talking to you right now, the reader of this article. The only significant goal I have is that you get good information, a plan, and solid ideas to make your brochure marketing project a success.” Did the tone of that sentence seem slightly different than the previous parts? It should have. It was more direct, more personal, and it was intended for YOU. Keep this in mind when creating content and copy for your brochure. When I open up your brochure, I want you to talk to ME. Hone in on the reader, not just the masses. This will help you increase response rates and levels of interest. Reading “our company can help many people be more efficient” seems bland compared to “at XYZ Company, our goal is to make sure that we personally work with you to help your company succeed on every level.”

Sell, Sell, Sell!

Be sure to promote your product and services thoroughly in your brochure. While company information, a brief history of how you got started or your greatest accomplishments are important, remember, you are ultimately trying to land a sale. Lay out the offer, the benefits, and how they can act on it.

Call to Action

You’ve worked hard to outline all the important components of your brochure – compelling design, engaging copy, the right audience. All your hard work will be wasted if you don’t tell your reader what to do after reading. Wrapping up the brochure with a distinct call to action is essential to getting a good response rate. Whether you are directing your reader to a website, impelling them to call you on the phone, asking them to redeem an offer, or driving them to your store, spell it out clearly.

A strong brochure design, printed professionally and actively marketed is a powerful tool in your business arsenal. Think of your brochure as another way to reach your customers, provide them with valuable information and benefits. As your brochure may advertise, “don’t wait, act now!”

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Get 20% Off

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get an instant 20% off your first print project.

Name(Required)
RELATED MARKETING & DESIGN TIPS

Shipping and Delivery

Everything you need to know about getting your order shipped to you when you need it, including making shipment changes and tracking your order

Read More >

Printing Metallic Ink on Business Cards

Add a little flash to your business card with metallic ink! Printing for Less offers metallic printing for your business card to get you noticed! Learn more.

Read More >

USPS Mail Layout Templates

Get USPS-compliant templates for printing EDDM postcards, brochures, newsletters, and more to ensure your mail fits USPS regulations. Print & mail EDDM!

Read More >

Soft Touch Coating for Printing

Soft Touch® Coating

Soft Touch® is a departure from the ordinary. It is a coating that, when applied, creates a velvety texture. The paper becomes “soft” to the touch and increases the tactile appeal. Soft Touch® coating creates a softer look and feel on printed materials, while creating a barrier which is fingerprint resistant. Darker color palettes will appear more muted and sophisticated when Soft Touch® is applied. To minimize the flattening of images, it is best applied over high gloss paper stock. Soft Touch® coating is applied in-line as a part of the printing process and assists with a quick drying time. This coating also protects the sheet from scuff marks during finishing operations like binding, folding, or cutting. A similar effect can be achieved by laying matte film lamination over the printed surface, however this process is more costly and time consuming than Soft Touch®, and adds excessive weight and thickness to the piece, making lamination less suitable for mailings.

Soft Touch® dries fast, is non-yellowing, and is eco-friendly. Luxurious and sophisticated are words often used to describe the effect Soft Touch® coating produces. This tactile sensation increases the engagement with your prospect or customer.

Sometimes referred to as soft feel, liquid velvet, or gentle touch, by various manufacturers, Soft Touch® coating provides an attractive and practical option that results in a svelte presentation. Almost any printed product can benefit from this coating. Create silky business cards, satin feel brochures, and velvety postcards and catalogs. You name it, we can do it. Call 800-924-2041 to consult with one of our printing experts.

You can instantly order amazing business cards, brochures, catalogs, postcards, and many other products with Soft Touch® coating. Incorporate Soft Touch® coating on your finished product to add a touch of class.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Get 20% Off

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get an instant 20% off your first print project.

Name(Required)
RELATED MARKETING & DESIGN TIPS

The Advantages of Self-Mailers in Direct Mail Campaigns

Learn about self-mailers as an effective but often overlooked element of a successful multi-channel marketing campaign.

Read More >

Printing Terms & Glossary

A glossary of terms used in the graphic design and commercial printing industry from Printing for Less. Learn the definitions of important printing terms! of collate printing, ream, and more.

Read More >

Getting Started

Nothing in print says “elegance” like foil stamping, but what exactly is it? Foil stamping, hot stamping or hot foil stamping is the application of pigmented or metallic foil to paper using pressure and a heated die. The die presses…

Read More >

UV Coating for Printing

UV Coating: High Gloss Print Coating Explained

Your printed marketing materials may be your best opportunity to get your customer’s attention in today’s increasingly competitive arena. Why not make them really shine, and catch their attention? You may want to check out the advantages and benefits of UV coating.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Get 20% Off

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get an instant 20% off your first print project.

Name(Required)
RELATED MARKETING & DESIGN TIPS

How to Create a Small Business Marketing Plan

Need help creating a small business marketing plan? We created a detailed step by step guide to get your marketing out into the world. Learn more!

Read More >

Digital Printing vs Offset Printing

What are digital printing and offset printing? Knowing the difference between digital and offset printing can save costs in the long run.

Read More >

Business Printing Shouldn’t be an Oversight

Your business cards, stationery, brochures, spec sheets and business printing in general, are integral to your new venture.

Read More >

How to Choose the Best Paper for Your Printing Project

How to Choose the Best Paper for Your Printing Project

Paper choice is maybe the single most important decision you’ll make when it comes to creating a great printed piece. It can have as much impact on the final product as ink and the design. It affects how, when, and where the printed piece can be used. It can also have a significant effect on price at higher quantities.

Essential Paper Knowledge for Ordering Print

The primary features that you need to know about when ordering standard printing papers are weight, finish and shininess.

In most cases, weight corresponds to thickness and stiffness. The higher the weight the thicker and stiffer the paper. Text stocks are regular paper and cover stocks are like thin cardboard. More details below.

Papers are either coated or uncoated. Uncoated paper is non-reflective like printer paper. Coated papers have dull/matte or gloss finishes. Dull/matte stocks are smoother and more refined than uncoated, but not shiny like gloss papers. The coated papers produce sharper and more vibrant printing. Learn more about these key paper attributes below.

If your print job is pretty standard and has no special effects or options, our standard house paper stocks will more than meet your needs. We use high quality papers and simply don’t carry low quality paper stocks so you don’t have to worry about getting burned with cheap paper.

However, if you want to stand out, just use something different, have special requirements or will be mailing your piece, please read on and learn the fundamentals of choosing the right paper stock, and let us work with you find the best paper for your project.

Usage: Picking the Right Paper

Don’t just think about how you want the piece to look, also think about what you’re going to use the final piece for, who’s going to be handling it, if it will be mailed (because the weight of the paper can affect your postage costs), and if the paper will be exposed to water, chemicals or extreme temperatures.

Choosing the Right Paper Material

Paper isn’t just made from wood. There are papers made from cloth, synthetic fibers and even plastics. These papers serve specialized purposes.

If you’re worried about your impact on the environment, there are speciality green papers that are made from more environmentally friendly materials, are sourced from sustainable forests, and biodegrade faster. Though most of our standard papers are sustainably sourced, other options are available.

Picking the Right Paper for the Job

Most of the print jobs we see are part of a marketing campaign, no matter if that’s a business card, a giant poster, a brochure or a postcard mailing campaign. Here are some things to consider when you’re choosing the paper you’ll need:

Are you going to use a detailed die-cut? If you’re going with a detailed cut, usually a thicker paper will show finer details better. Thinner papers tend to lose the details or have frayed edges where they’re cut. A premium paper would be benficial too.
Is the piece going to be mailed? If you’re going to mail the piece, keep the weight down because you’ll pay more per each piece if certain weight limits are exceeded.
Where will you store it until you use it? If you think the paper might be exposed to extreme temperatures, rain or dampness then you should use a paper that is resistant to these things.
Will you want to write on the paper? Nothing beats uncoated paper when it comes to writing, so in most cases, don’t use a coated, glossy, or heavily textured paper.
Will the paper be out in the elements? If the paper might get wet, pick a type with built-in water resistance or apply a supplemental coating.
Do you need the paper perforated? Thin, stiff paper works best for perforation.

Picking an Affordable Paper

Paper can have an impact on the price of any printed piece. A more expensive paper can add quite a bit to the total cost of a printing project, especially if you are printing large quantities. Ultimately you will need to choose a paper that works for your budget.

Our advice: pick a paper for function first – it won’t matter that your piece looks great if it doesn’t perform, hold up, or hits you with hidden mailing or shipping costs because it’s too heavy.

The standard papers available on our ordering pages are high quality and good value papers that print well for the majority of projects.

You can also dig deeper into this topic and see how paper choice affects specific printed products.

Paper Stock: Coated vs Uncoated

Paper stock is either coated or uncoated. There are a variety of coating finishes, and specialized uncoated papers, but all paper falls into one of these two categories.

Uncoated Paper

Uncoated paper has a non-glare surface and is absorbent. It has nothing covering the natural fibers and easily soaks up ink. Uncoated paper can be textured, for example, a linen finish, but it can also be very smooth, like printer or copy paper. Uncoated paper is the easiest to write on. Uncoated paper is generally used for things like:

  • stationery and standard envelopes
  • inexpensive flyers
  • newsletters
  • a final product you can write on

Coated Paper

Coated paper has been covered with a hardened clay material so that it will better display text and images with sharper detail and denser color. The coating can be a non-shiny matte, dull, gloss and cast coated (a mirror-finish high gloss), spanning the range from non to super glossy. Paper can be coated on one or both sides. Paper coated on one side is often used for low-cost postcards. Coated paper is more difficult to write on, especially with pencils or ballpoint pens. Coated paper is great for:

  • brochures
  • catalogs
  • postcards
  • packaging
  • a product that you won’t be writing on

Specialty Paper Coatings

There are also specialty coatings that can be added after a piece is printed. These can help protect the entire piece or can be used to create eye-catching effects. Click on the links to learn more details about these options.

  • UV coating and Soft-Touch coating can dramatically change the look and tactile feel of a printed piece.
  • Varnish can be used to protect a piece or be used to highlight specific details.

Paper Thickness & Weight

You have to think about the thickness and weight of paper at the same time. Both measure how thick, sturdy and rugged the paper is. A higher weight, thicker paper will stand up to a beating better than a lower weight or thinner paper.

Cover and Text Stock

When you’re talking about weight and thickness of paper, you can understand the difference with the terms cover and text stock. Cover stock is thicker paper that is often used as covers for books. We aren’t talking hardcover books – but more like paperback or softcover books, greeting cards, and the like. Text stock is the paper you’re used to seeing in desktop printers. Thinner, looser and more flexible, it is used as the paper inside a book.

Cover stock and text stock really have nothing to do with books although they use those terms. Cover stock is great for postcards, bookmarks, hang-tags, and anything that needs stiff, heavy paper. Text stock can be made into brochures, flyers, mailers and notepads.

What is Paper Thickness?

Paper thickness is usually mentioned when talking about cover stock, and it’s simply a measurement of how many hundredths of an inch thick a single sheet of the paper is. The thickness of a paper is expressed by points, where a point is equal to one thousandth or .001 inches. Paper that is 10pt is 0.01 inches thick, 20pt is 0.02 inches thick, etc.

Business cards are great examples of different paper thicknesses. Most business cards are printed on 12 or 14pt cover stock, while extra thick cards are printed on 18pt or 24pt (or thicker) stock.

Other products usually printed on thick papers include hang tags, door hangers, bookmarks, packaging, and table tents.

What is Paper Weight?

Paper weight is harder to define. Depending on what country you’re in, the weight of paper can be specified differently. The measurement comes from how much a ream of paper of a particular size weighs.

Paper is weighed in stacks of 500 sheets, and the resulting weight in pounds is the weight designation for that paper. If 500 sheets of text weight paper weighs 60 pounds, the paper is called “60# text.” If the sheets are cover stock that weighs 120 pounds, the paper is called “120# cover.”

In most cases, the greater the weight the thicker the paper. Could you have a thin paper that is also higher weight? Sure, it would be very dense. But the inverse, a thick paper that isn’t a higher weight, is uncommon. Here are some examples:

  • 60# text: copy or printer paper, like the paper used for legal documents
  • 80# text: heavier paper used for flyers, posters, or brochures
  • 120# cover: basically thin cardboard, great for postcards, business cards, and note cards

Choosing the Right Thickness & Weight

Paper weight and thickness have a huge impact on your final piece and it can be confusing. You should talk to a printing professional before you choose a critical stock, but here are some things to keep in mind when you’re picking paper thickness and weight.

  • Thicker paper produces better results for die-cutting, embossing and foil stamping.
  • Paper that’s being mailed as a self-mailer may have to be a certain thickness to pass US postal regulations (the final thickness has to be at least 7 or 9 point, depending on the size).
  • You pay to mail paper by weight so keep paper that will be mailed the right weight for the size of the mailing piece.
  • Thinner paper is usually cheaper and uses less material, making it more environmentally friendly.
  • If you’re printing a catalog or magazine-style piece, make sure the cover and interior paper stocks are the right thickness for your project, as there can be binding issues with some combinations and configurations.
  • Thicker paper is more rugged and can typically hold up to a beating better than thinner paper.
  • SmartFlex is a plastic paper that looks, feels, and acts just like paper but is water resistant and tear resistant.

Paper Brightness & Opacity

The quality and specifications of your paper can have a dramatic effect on the perception of the images and text printed on the paper.

Paper Brightness

Paper brightness is measured using a special blue light on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the brightest. The brightness of the paper affects contrast and impacts how readable print appears – the brighter the paper the more readable it will be. Brighter papers also display ink colors more accurately, vibrantly and purely, as the less bright papers are yellower, muddying the colors somewhat. This makes brighter papers better suited for the best quality printing used in high-end advertising or fine art reproduction.

Paper that is brighter makes colors pop and just looks better. A darker paper could be used to make a certain type of image have a darker, more muted tone but in general, brighter paper works best for colorful designs.

Opacity

Opacity is a measure of transparency or how much print shows through from one side of the paper to the other. Paper that shows nothing from the other side is 100% opaque (greeting cards, postcards). Paper that shows everything is 0% opaque (tracing paper). Opacity is particularly important if you are printing on both sides of the paper, as it can be unsightly, distracting and hard to read if content from the other side is visible.

UV Coating

UV coating uses ultraviolet light to quickly dry the coating, hardening it to a brilliant shine. UV coating blows all other coatings away when it comes to gloss, but is so hard it may crack when folded. UV coating is not a good idea for a piece that will be folded, scored, foil stamped or embossed.

It can be applied in small areas, termed spot UV, creating brilliant highlights on your piece. The high gloss has the effect of making colors appear even more vibrant and kinetic. If you want very high-gloss pieces with colors that explode off the page, UV coating is for you. Learn even more.

Soft-Touch Coating

This specialty coating changes the tactile feel of a piece. It creates a velvety coating that offers some protection while creating a soft feel to the paper. It is great on business cards or other pieces that will be held. In addition to making the paper feel soft, it also softens colors, creating a warm look to printed images. If you’re interested in this, order a sample from us because you have to feel soft-touch coating to really understand what it can do. Learn even more.

Varnish

Varnish is a clear ink that can be applied over the whole printed piece or in selected areas to add an artistic effect. When it is applied in a small area, it is called spot varnish. The varnish creates a glossy, satin or matte area on the printed piece, useful for highlighting a logo, part of an image, or a call to action.

Premium Papers

When you hear the term premium paper know that it really just refers to paper stocks that have the best attributes of thickness, texture, opacity, brightness and coating. Premium papers offer nicer textures, better coatings, higher brightness and greater attention to detail. They make just about everything look better – from color reproduction to properly setting embossing stamps and taking metallic foil or metallic inks. We offer a wide variety of premium papers that are on par with really expensive designer papers. Premium papers cost more, so they may not be right for every project.
There’s a ton of info on premium paper stocks here.

Paper FAQs

How does Matte compare to Uncoated stock?

A matte coating is still a coating on your paper. It may look matte, but it will resist smudges; and printing, especially images, will look sharper and more vibrant. Matte coated paper is usually ok to write on, but lacks the tactile feel of uncoated paper. Uncoated stock is naked paper – it’s perfect for writing.

Why should I use a flood color instead of printing on colored paper?

Printing on colored stocks changes the color of your images in ways that can be unpredictable and can change their look, usually by muddying or darkening them. Flooding a color creates a perfectly applied, predictable background for your design in the exact shade that you want. Your piece looks better because you are able to print full color images on the white paper, and simulate the colored paper by flooding the rest of the page. Plus, there are only a very few shades of coated stock available, so flood coloring is your only option in most cases.

What’s the difference between recycled vs sustainable paper stock?

Recycled paper is made from post-consumer waste and goes through a process to be turned back into paper or from pre-consumer waste like sawdust from lumber and furniture manufacturing. Either way it must be purified before it can be made into paper. Sustainable paper comes from carefully controlled forests that are replanted and renewed. Honestly, recycled paper could be considered a bigger burden on the environment because the process uses some pretty harsh chemicals. Before sustainable paper was your business card, it was cleaning the air.

What kinds of recycled paper do we have?

All of our house coated and uncoated papers have at least 10% recycled content. Most of that is pre-consumer content. We can order custom stocks with varying amounts of post-consumer recycled content up to and including 100% post-consumer recycled. Learn more about printing on recycled paper.

Why are custom stocks more expensive than house stocks?

We keep a lot of house stock… well, in house. We can offer a better deal on that stock because we buy huge amounts of it at a better price. But let’s be clear: we buy lots of really great paper. Our house stock is better than many standard or custom ordered stocks.

I need to know more about weight versus thickness / pound versus point size.

Thickness indicates how thick the paper is and is usually referred to in point sizes or thousandths of an inch. The smaller the point, the thinner the paper. Some synthetic papers like our SmartFlex material, are sold in a ‘mil’ designation, also equal to one thousandth – these are all interchanged measurements.

Weight is how much the paper weighs, usually measured in pounds. In some cases, paper can be thin and heavy, or thick and light – but usually thicker paper weighs more.

What is the lightest stock you carry?

60# uncoated text is the lightest and thinnest we carry in an uncoated sheet, and 80# gloss text is the lightest coated sheet. Both are approximately 3.5 points thick.

What’s a good paper stock to write on?

Any uncoated stock is best for writing. It’s naked paper, and it lets you write with ink or pencil without a problem. It also soaks up water and other liquids so it’s not a great choice if you’re printing underwater post-it notes. If you have to have a coated stock for better print quality, matte stocks can sometimes be used with certain types of pens. You’ll want to do testing to make sure you use a combination that works for you.

What kinds of paper are the most durable?

Generally speaking, the thicker the paper the more durable it is, but this can change quickly depending on how it is coated. Thick, heavy uncoated paper will turn into sludge if you drop it in water. Thin paper covered in a UV coating will brush the water right off. If you want the most durable paper of all, use the plastic-based SmartFlex. It feels like paper, acts like paper, and prints like paper but it is water resistant and tear-proof.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Get 20% Off

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get an instant 20% off your first print project.

Name(Required)
RELATED MARKETING & DESIGN TIPS

Get Our 2024 Summer Lookbook

Whether you want retail brands that support great causes, need products made with eco-friendly materials, want to support a small business… or all three—here’s a catalog of products that will help you create direct mail solutions that deliver.

Read More >

Printing Metallic Ink on Business Cards

Add a little flash to your business card with metallic ink! Printing for Less offers metallic printing for your business card to get you noticed! Learn more.

Read More >

European Sizes

Sending marketing across the pond? We offer European paper sizes in A4, A3, & printing options for your brand. Request samples or design help. Learn more.

Read More >

Printing Paper Type Descriptions

Printing Paper Type Descriptions

Paper 101 Make your print projects eco-friendly and sustainable with Printing for Less’s wide range of recycled and sustainably sourced papers.


Learn more about How to Choose the Best Paper Stock for Your Project. 

Standard House Paper Stocks

24# Uncoated Text and 28# Uncoated Text

  • The 28# is thicker and heavier than the 24#.
  • Standard uses: this stock is commonly used for envelopes, also called White Wove.

70# Uncoated Text

(is slightly thicker than copy paper)

  • This ultra-premium uncoated (non-glossy) white stock is guaranteed safe for laser printing.
  • Feels thick and substantial in your hands, and is the best type of uncoated paper stock available for full-color printing.
  • Standard uses: we exclusively offer 70# Lustre for stationery, envelopes, and newsletters.

80# Coated Text

(is the thickness of a quality magazine page) 80# Gloss Text

  • Standard glossy paper provides an excellent opaque base for rich process color printing.
  • Standard uses: brochure printing, catalog inserts, flyers, posters, etc.

80# Dull/matte Text

  • This stock is finely coated with a satin finish.
  • It provides an excellent opaque base for easy to read, crisp typography.
  • Standard uses: brochures, newsletters, catalog inserts, and flyers, etc.

100# Coated Text

(is 25% thicker than 80# gloss text) 100# Gloss Text

  • Similar to the 80# gloss text, but 25% thicker and heavier, for a more substantial feeling piece.
  • Standard uses: brochures, information sheets, self-mailers, posters, and door hangers.

100# Dull/matte Text

  • Thicker and heavier than our 80# dull/matte text for a more substantial feeling piece.
  • Provides a non-glossy, opaque base for detailed, crisp printing.
  • Standard uses: brochures, information sheets, self-mailers, posters, and door hangers.

80# Coated Cover

(is the thickness of a postcard or baseball card) 80# Gloss Cover

  • This stock is coated with a glossy finish, making photographs and other images look beautiful.
  • Standard uses: durable, heavy-weight brochures, catalog covers, and packaging.

80# Dull/matte Cover

  • Our dull/matte cover is a thick 9pt cover stock with a smooth, non-shiny coating.
  • It is well suited for detailed, crisp printing without sacrificing the ability to easily write on it.
  • Standard uses: typically used with our 80# dull/matte text option for catalog or booklet pages.

100# Uncoated Cover

(is the thickness of a standard business card)

  • This bright white, uncoated smooth #1 grade cover stock is 14pt in thickness.

  • You can easily write on this stock.

  • This heavier option is a great companion to our 70# uncoated text for texture consistency across your marketing materials.

  • Standard uses: great option for appointment or reminder cards and business cards.

120# Coated Cover

(is the thickness of a standard business card) 120# Gloss Cover

  • This is one of our most popular papers.

  • It is a heavy 14pt stock with a glossy, coated finish.

  • It makes photographs and other images look beautiful. UV coating, often called liquid lamination, is a great addition for added pop and shine.

  • Not recommended for cards that you would like to write on.

  • Standard uses: business cards, brochures, hang tags, and presentation folders.

120# Dull/matte Cover

  • Our dull/matte cover is a substantial paper with a smooth, non-shiny coating.

  • It is a heavy 14pt stock well suited for detailed, crisp printing without sacrificing the ability to easily write on the paper.

  • You can also add UV coating on the front of a dull/matte card to add pop to the side that isn’t needed for writing.

  • Standard uses: excellent choice for business cards, postcards, and greeting cards.

160# Coated Cover

(about 30% thicker than standard business cards)

  • At 18pt, this is our thickest and sturdiest paper stock.

  • It has a glossy, or dull/matte smooth finish that produces vibrant colors and professional image quality.

  • It works really well for die cuts and foil stamping.

  • Standard uses: business cards, postcards, hang tags and rack cards.

Premium and Specialty Papers

SmartFlex® Synthetic Paper

  • Our standard plastic substrate stock is flexible and water, heat and tear resistant.

  • Available in 6pt, 8pt, 15pt and 20pt thicknesses.

  • Tree and Pulp Free and 100% Recyclable.

  • Standard uses: maps, menus, door hangers, posters or any product that can benefit from the increased durability of plastic.

Premium Papers

  • Many Recycled Paper varieties from partial to 100% Post Consumer Waste.

  • Textured finishes such as laid, linen, ribbed and felt are available with and without watermarks.

  • Many colored stocks from light to dark colors for specialty projects.

  • Get your company and printed pieces noticed and stand out from the crowd with a premium paper stock.

Coatings

UV Coating

  • UV coating, often called liquid lamination, is a highly protective, ultra-shiny gloss coating that we apply on a special machine using ultraviolet light.

  • The solvent-free UV coating provides an extremely hard finish that’s chemical and abrasion resistant.

  • It makes details really pop! On deep colors, it results in a stunning, almost wet appearance.

  • Perfect when you want a durable, environmentally-friendly piece with a richer, high-end look and feel.

  • NOTE: UV Coating cannot be used on the addressed side of mailed pieces, unless the address is printed first and then the coating is applied.  Learn more…

Soft Touch® Coating

  • This coating creates a velvety texture.

  • The paper becomes “soft” to the touch and increases the tactile appeal.

  • It dries fast, is non-yellowing, and is eco-friendly.

  • Luxurious and sophisticated are words often used to describe the finished product. 

Learn about using recycled paper for green printing

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Get 20% Off

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get an instant 20% off your first print project.

Name(Required)
RELATED MARKETING & DESIGN TIPS

Somewhere Over the CMYK Rainbow

Using PMS Pantone colors, metallic inks, varnishes and custom paper with your InDesign project

Read More >

How To Make A Super Brochure Or Mailing Piece

Super brochures or mailing pieces can be a great way to advertise your business, as long as you have the right design in place. Get tips from our experts!

Read More >

Printing Adhesives

Print adhesives are used when two print pieces need to be attached or when a single piece is connected to itself.

Read More >

Successful Direct Mail Campaigns

Successful Direct Mail Campaigns

Direct mail is far from dead, in fact it is growing more effective in our digital, always-connected and always-distracted era. But, direct mail can be intimidating. It needs more work to measure, the creative can’t be cranked out of Canva and it certainly isn’t cheaper than digital outreach. At least not at first blush. Once you start to look at the return on investment for direct mail, you’ll see it is twice as effective at getting a response than digital methods.

Here’s how to get started.

How to Start a Direct Mail Campaign

Many of you have heard this before, but if you haven’t, the three keys to your success in direct mail are:

  1. The List
  2. The Offer
  3. The Creative

Clean Your List!

How important is your mailing list? It is responsible for 40% of the success of your mailing. If you have lots of bad addresses, your direct mail goes nowhere.

Unfortunately, the list generally gets the least amount of attention before a mailing. If you’re using your own customer list, be sure you have ‘scrubbed’ your list and eliminated any bad addresses – or updated any addresses that have changed due to customers moving, etc.

Need help? There is a National Change of Address (NCOA) database any good printer or mail house can use to check your list for address changes. People are added to this list when they fill out those ‘change of address’ forms at the post office.

The format of your address matters too – wrong punctuation, wrong spacing, and your mail goes into a dumpster. Again, any printer or mail house worth the money has software that checks address formats you have in your list to make sure they are valid. These services cost you a little money, but they are definitely worth it. Cleaning up your list costs less than printing a bunch of direct mail and throwing it in the garbage because it can’t even be mailed.

If you are renting a list for your mailing, make sure that the source is a good source that will provide good, ‘clean’ addresses that will get to the intended audience. Make sure that your list source is constantly updating their lists with address changes and eliminating bad, undeliverable addresses. Ask them when the last time their list was updated. If it was more than a month ago, you might want to dig a little deeper. Most reputable list sources are constantly updating their lists and records. They too know how important good, clean lists are to the overall success of the mailing.

Get a mailing list quote.

Learn how to build a quality list

How to clean a mailing list

New mailing list alternative: Every Door Direct Mail®

A great money saver for businesses whose target market is location based, like a single city, zip code or radius from a physical location. Easily mail to every resident or business within a specific mail carrier route for significantly less total mailing cost per piece.

Pick an Offer for Your Direct Mail

Whatever the direct mail piece, you should always, always include some sort of offer or incentive to take an action. Coupled with the offer is the “call to action” itself where you tell your recipients exactly what they are supposed to do after receiving your direct mail piece.

Often, businesses will turn their creative execution (and copywriting) over to a designer or agency that may not be as familiar with the keys to direct mail success. And the work they produce, while visually attractive, may be missing critical elements.

Be sure to work with your designers and make sure they understand that the creative they come up with emphasizes the offer and includes a call to action. It is your job to provide the content for the offer itself – and make sure you give it your best shot. Don’t expect much response if you’re only offering $1 off your next purchase of $100 or more. Make the offer as attractive as you can while still being profitable. You may need to experiment to get the optimum balance between response rate and profit margin.

Use Direct Mail Creative that Drives Results

Direct mail creative is different than other marketing creative. Here are the important elements to keep in mind.

Format. Understand both what you’re selling and your target market. Should you try to sell 6-pack of soda to a general consumer audience using a 9×12 envelope with a letter, and a brochure? That sounds like overkill for soda!

Should you try to sell a yacht to a filthy rich audience with a small, 4×6 postcard that didn’t even splurge for custom print effects? You’ll look like a loser.

However, I repeatedly see the second example come through our press room over and over again. Budget conscious businesses are skimping on their format trying to save a buck – but killing their response.

Don’t focus on cost of the printing first, focus on the format that will resonate with your audience and give your product the space it needs to shine. Once you have chosen the right format, then you can look for ways to cut costs and get the best return for your print investment.

Copy. Copy takes a back seat to visual elements. This is a mistake! Headlines are absolutely critical for communicating your value, and value is what turns people into customers. It’s simple – use your headline to communicate your offer and your product/service. I should be able to glance at a headline and know what you’re selling and understand your offer.

It may take a little time and some word-crafting, but keep at it till you find the right mix that communicates everything you need – in as few words as possible. Your call to action is as important as the offer. Make sure your call to action is clear and concise. Don’t confuse the recipient with too many response options (phone, fax, email, web address, etc.). Point them in one direction for the best response. Double-check your contact information before you mail. It’s an expensive mistake to provide a bad phone number or misspell an email address.

Give Your Direct Mail the ‘Billboard Test’

Regardless of the format of your mailing (letter w/ envelope, postcard, package, etc.), give a mock-up to a non-biased third party for their review. Let them look at the piece for 5 seconds and only 5 seconds (roughly the amount of time you have to digest a billboard as you drive by one on the freeway – hence the ‘billboard test’). Take the mock-up away from them after 5 seconds and ask them:

  • What is the product or service being sold?
  • What offer is being made?
  • What are they supposed to do as a result of getting the mailing?

If your third-party tester can correctly answer these 3 questions after reviewing your piece for 5 seconds, you have accomplished your goal. If not, it’s back to the drawing board.

 

Building a Quality Mailing List

If you are just getting started on marketing your business with direct mail and email marketing, building a quality list should be your top priority. It doesn’t do any good to have useful content or valuable offers if you don’t have any way to promote them or anyone to promote them to.

Assembling Your List

When it comes to building an email or direct mail list, it’s important to put quality ahead of quantity. The first step is to take a look at your existing customers. Do you have physical addresses for them? How about email addresses? Maybe your customer contact information lives in an existing ‘rolodex’ like Outlook, ACT, Goldmine, Salesforce.com, or in a drawer in the form of business cards with a rubber band around them. Whatever the case, you have a list in the making.

Segmenting Your List

Next, take a look at your list and see if there are any logical segments. In what ways can you slice and dice your list to send your customers more relevant content through email or direct mail? These segments could include gender, past purchase history, industry, order frequency, etc. If you are able to segment your list up front it may help you target your customers with specific content, making your communications more meaningful and driving greater sales.

Growing Your List

Lastly, just because you have a list of current customers doesn’t mean you’re done. You should strive to continually grow your list. Evaluate every customer touch point whether in person or online and put in place a plan to offer your customers the opportunity to join your list at each touch. For example, your website should include an online “Join My Mailing List” button. Give your prospect an opportunity to provide their physical mailing address by offering a free catalog or sample kit. Research has shown that 60% of your customers will provide their contact information to you if you ask. If you aren’t asking, you are letting a valuable asset walk right out the door.

A Clean List: The Foundation of a Successful Mailing

By Wes Kirk
You’ve crafted the message and packaged it in the perfect vehicle to send to your target audience. Now how do you ensure that your postcard, brochure or catalog gets into the right hands at the right time? Our mailing service expert says it’s all a matter of mailing list magic.
 

Most businesses have learned that a targeted recipient list, a compelling offer, a call to action and the right timing are all essential parts of a successful direct mail campaign. Yet all these important elements depend on one critical factor – having solid addresses on your list. Misfiring on your mailing list can make an otherwise well-planned mailing a disappointing failure.

Keep it clean and lean

As someone who handles a lot of mailing lists, I see common problems that can lead to delays or inaccuracies in mailings. The good news is that it’s not difficult to get your mailing list in good shape. Here are some easy tips to help you create a clean list and save you time in working with your mailing services provider or mail house.

Why leave it up to someone else to guess at the right address or proper ID to use when your marketing dollars are at stake? Here are some easy tips to ensure your mail house can execute accurately on your mailing to help you maximize your response rate.

  1. Export only the info needed for mailing, when possible. Many contact database programs have wizards that make it easy to specify which fields to export. Skip the phone numbers, email addresses and other data that isn’t relevant for addressing.
  2. Make column headings or field names clear. If you have multiple address fields, label the column you want to use as the primary address as “Mailing address.” This will help you better manage the data for future mailings and takes the guesswork out of addressing your mail pieces.
  3. When you need to include Customer IDs in the mailing, instruct your mailing services provider on which fields to use to ensure accuracy.
  4. If the software that generates your list can export the data in a variety of formats, check with your mail house staff on the best format to use. They can advise you on what format would be both easiest for you to manage, and a format they can use to process your list.
  5. If the list will be broken into separate mailings, such as staggered mailings with weekly drops, let your mail house know how you want the delivery sequence to happen. Which states, regions or customers should get them first, second, and so on? A good mail house can work with you to sort or split the list based on your plan.
  6. To help avoid delays, take a few minutes to review your list before sending it to your mail house. If it looks confusing, seems to be missing critical address data or doesn’t match your instructions, use the tips above to clean it up or call your mail house for assistance early in the process.

Following these simple suggestions to create a clean mailing list will help ensure your mail goes out to the correct addresses on time with the info you want included. Yet a clean list is only part of the equation for successful mail delivery. There are some additional steps that your mailing services provider can do to help you get your mail where it needs to go.

Tools of the trade

You may have the right addresses for your target audience, but that doesn’t mean the U.S. postal service can deliver mail to them. Formatting errors, typos and roving recipients in the list can reduce the number of pieces that get delivered successfully. That’s where two services performed by most mail houses come to the rescue: CASS and NCOA.

CASS stands for Coding Accuracy Support System

CASS helps improve the chances of your mail pieces being delivered to the right address. “CASS Certified” software is used to format addresses according to postal requirement and to identify addresses which are deemed “Undeliverable As Addressed,” or UAA. This not only helps flush out any incorrect addresses that need fixing, it also saves you money by removing the UAA addresses from the mailing. The rule of thumb is that, more often than not, mail sent to UAA addresses are not delivered and not returned. Your mail house can help you decide how to best handle the “bad” addresses for your mailing needs.

While the CASS service certifies the validity of an address, it does not check whether the occupant is still at that address. Mail houses have a second trick up their sleeve to locate a person or business’ current address, called NCOA.

NCOA refers to the National Change of Address

The NCOA service checks whether the mail recipient has moved and updates the address before the mail is sent. Your mail house can then send you the updated list to help you keep your address records current.

NCOA is a great option for certain types of mailing lists. Consider using it if you are targeting specific individuals or businesses. If you are blanketing a given neighborhood or zip code, CASS may be sufficient – especially if you want the address set up to say ‘OR CURRENT RESIDENT’, or another generic name.

Keep in mind that NCOA does not make your list 100% deliverable. Misspellings, movers who do not file change notices or incorrect move notices will still cause a First Class piece to be returned.

By working with a mailing services provider to manage your mailing list, you can increase the number of mail pieces that reach their targets, reduce your mailing services costs, and ultimately boost response rates on your mailing campaign.

Give us a call to find out more about how Printing for Less can work magic on your mailing, or visit our Mailing Services Help Center at Mailing Services Guide. We can also provide you with a mailing list to best target your marketing efforts. Call us for details.

 

Direct Mail Creative that Works

Matching the design of your direct mail piece and emails to your company’s image may seem like a daunting task, but can actually be fairly simple. Start by taking a look at your Web site (if you have one). Is there a central theme or consistent colors that are used throughout? If you already have some branding in place, carry that look & feel over to your email template or direct mail piece. By creating a consistent image, your customers and prospect will begin to recognize your company just by the tone of your marketing materials.

Direct marketing involves more than just creating a pretty postcard or email to send to your target audience. There are some critical elements that need to be included to optimize your results and get a better return on your printing and email investment.

  • Offer – What incentive have you included to get your audience to respond? The offer doesn’t have to be hard dollar value. Maybe it’s a demo, a free sample, or a useful article or whitepaper.
  • Call-to-Action – How does your reader redeem the offer? Do you want them to call you? Email? Visit the Web site? Send in a reply card? Whatever redemption process you choose, make it clear to the recipient.
  • Response/Contact Information – Don’t forget to include your contact information. Put it in bold right up front so the reader can’t miss it!

The next step is to test the effectiveness of your next email or direct mail piece. Give a sample to an unbiased friend and have them look at it for 5 seconds (and only 5 seconds), then put it down and ask them these two questions:

  1. What is the product or service being offered?
  2. What is the recipient supposed to do after receiving this postcard or email?

Use the headline to effectively answer the two questions above. Be sure to include a compelling offer – and call it out graphically so it grabs attention.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Get 20% Off

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get an instant 20% off your first print project.

Name(Required)
RELATED MARKETING & DESIGN TIPS

Getting Started

Nothing in print says “elegance” like foil stamping, but what exactly is it? Foil stamping, hot stamping or hot foil stamping is the application of pigmented or metallic foil to paper using pressure and a heated die. The die presses…

Read More >

Roll Labels

Roll Labels and stickers printed to your specifications. Durable, high-quality full color label printing with many standard and custom options available. Use your design or have us design them for you. Printed right and delivered on time, guaranteed

Read More >

Direct Mail Marketing: An Idea Book for Realtors

Boost Your Real Estate Sales! Download our Direct Mail Marketing Idea Book to learn innovative strategies that really work. Discover how direct mail’s 90% open rate can transform your business. Get it FREE today!

Read More >