Essential Print Marketing Materials for Small Businesses to Boost Local Presence

Full disclaimer: print marketing is not dead! Let’s get that out of the way first! In fact, when it comes to local marketing, print can be as crucial as digital, sometimes even more impactful! Tactile print marketing materials have a vital role to play in local marketing. And they can be particularly handy for small businesses looking to build strong connections in their communities.

In this post, we’re diving into the essential print marketing materials every small business should invest in, in order to boost their local presence. From must-have collateral to smart design tips and effective strategies, we’ll break it all down to help you get the most out of your print efforts. 

Why Print Still Matters in the Digital Age

• First things first, print advertising is known for its high ROI of about 112%, with the higher response rates it gets. So yes, print is still a great tool to drive action. 
• Secondly, the print ad market is steadily expanding and is estimated to reach $32.81 billion by 2025. This signals the continued optimism around print advertising. 
• Data shows that print ads take nearly 21% less cognitive effort to process. Evidently, you want to make your ads easier for your audience to process, for that’s when you can expect a response! 
• In addition to these benefits, we cannot ignore the fact that about 82% of consumers still trust print ads more than most other marketing materials. After all, print ads are more credible and less intrusive on the whole. 
• Finally, one of the most important benefits of print ads are known to hold attention longer with several readers spending about 20 minutes with print ads. And a well-known fact here is that digital ads are often ignored in seconds – users scroll past them or skip them if they are not already blocked by ad blockers. 

With all these benefits to reap, what are the print marketing materials you should be creating for your small business? Let’s find out! 

7 Print Marketing Materials Every Small Business Needs 

1. Business cards 

Let’s start with the classic – the first handshake your business probably makes with an interested lead – a business card! 

This may be small, but it is undoubtedly one of the most impactful print marketing materials for local marketing. Whether you are chatting with a potential lead at a community event or introducing yourself to an investor at a networking conference, handing over your business card makes your brand tangible. 

Unlike a quick social media follow, your business card stays in your lead’s wallet, reminding them of your brand, thus boosting recognition. 

So, how do you make the most of this print marketing material? 

• Have a stack of business cards with you at all times, especially when you attend local events. 
• Place your cards near the checkout counters where customers who have recently experienced your brand might want to share your details with others. 

KIMP Tips: 

Now, for some quick design tips for business cards: 

• Use your brand elements effectively. 
• Opt for quality cardstock – bad print and card quality can dilute the impact of even the most stunning designs. 
• Utilize both sides but ensure consistency in design. 
• Keep it clean and legible on the whole – here’s a design that makes the most of negative space to create a clutter-free minimalist design. 

To delve deeper, check out our blog on business card design tips. 

2. Flyers 

If you want to get the word out fast in your neighborhood, flyers are your best bet! From promoting your store opening to the launch of a new product or service and details about a big sale coming up, flyers come in handy on various occasions. 

Did you know that about 38% of flyers are kept for a few days before being tossed out? So, it is all about designing it right and distributing it through the right channels and at the right time. 

So, how do you make the most of flyers for your small business?

• Identify complementary businesses that share your target audience and hand your flyers over to your customers through them. 
• Distribute them with your local newspapers in the neighborhoods you wish to target. 
• Pin flyers to the bulletin boards in local apartment complexes, shop windows, libraries, and anywhere relevant. 

KIMP Tips:

Let’s talk design:

• Use big, bold text to highlight attention-grabbing headlines.
• Keep the text crisp – communicate the message clearly and immediately. 
• Add relevant and memorable images to boost engagement. 
• Stick to 2 or 3 fonts and a simple color palette to avoid confusing the readers. 
• Add a strong incentive that will encourage customers to retain the flyer with them, like an attached coupon they could use for a discount when they shop. This helps enhance foot traffic effectively. 

Want to dig a little deeper? Check out our blog on flyer design ideas. 

3. Brochures

Brochures are unique print marketing materials that allow small businesses to give potential leads a mini tour of their offerings before the actual encounter.

Once you grab attention with a business card and spread the news with a flyer, you need to focus on leads and customers who wish to dig a little deeper into what your business is and what value you create for them. That’s where brochures come in. 

Unlike flyers, brochures tend to be more information-intensive. And these can be double-fold or tri-fold designs depending on the amount of information to be presented. Therefore, you have more room to tell your story. Make the most of it and convince your customers to take action. 

How do you make the most of brochures for local marketing for your small business? 

• Add brochures as leave-behinds during client meetings. This helps build on the information you discussed during the meeting. 
• Use brochures for breaking down the most relevant details like product features, pricing/plans. These are the kinds of details customers will want to compare when making their final purchase decision. Therefore, they motivate customers to retain your brochures. 

KIMP Tips: 

Let’s talk design: 

• Make sure that the front panel stands out – this one should immediately hook your customers and convince them to read what comes after. 
• Ensure a logical flow of the information in your brochure. Tweak the layout and font styling accordingly for optimum visual hierarchy. 
• Use contrasting colors to ensure that the text is easy to read and visually appealing too. 

Want to know how to find the right brochure layout for your design? Check out our blog here. 

4. Postcards 

While flyers, brochures, and business cards are great for a broader reach, when you want to target a more specific audience segment, particularly those who have shown interest in your business or have transacted with you in the past, then postcards are the most effective print marketing materials. 

Direct mail marketing ventures like postcards offer more personalized messages and can therefore be very effective in boosting engagement. Moreover, when designed well, these can become impactful souvenirs of your brand, encouraging customers to keep coming back to your business. 

How do you make the most of postcards for a stronger local presence? 

• Work on the right targeting strategies. Reaching the most relevant audience through their mailboxes makes the most impact. 
• Convert postcards to event invites or exclusive coupons that will encourage repeat purchases. 
• Promote upcoming events or an early announcement of a store opening through postcards. This makes your customers feel like insiders. 

KIMP Tips: 

Now, for some design tips for personalized business postcards:

• Keep text to a minimum.
• Ensure strong branding in your postcard. 
• Add the right font and color contrast to draw attention to your CTA. 
• The text placement and visuals should be such that customers immediately understand why the postcard is relevant to them. 
• Like the design below, use your signature visual style to add a personal touch. 

Contemplating whether you need to invest in postcards? Read our blog on business postcards. 

5. Branded stationery 

While most other print marketing materials focus on converting leads and increasing foot traffic, there is one type of asset that helps build loyalty and strengthen your branding efforts. Yes, we are talking about branded stationery. 

Branded stationery continues to be some of the most underrated yet unique print marketing materials that can be resourceful in local marketing. Because they help reinforce the professionalism and credibility of your brand. What sets them apart from other marketing materials is that they are not merely promotional but also utilitarian. Therefore, there is a good chance of customers retaining them. This means continued brand exposure. 

How to make the most of branded stationery for small businesses: 

• From letterheads to notepads, coffee mugs, pens, and mousepads, make a list of the most relevant stationery items for your brand. 
• Use branded stationery as rewards or freebies with purchases, or place them in your reception areas for more exposure. 
• Make the most of relevant branded stationery kits for internal branding and employee advocacy. 

KIMP Tips: 

How do you design branded stationery that steals the show? 

• Keep your branding subtle but visible.
• Include crisp contact details like your website and contact number. 
• Prioritize clarity and simplicity.
• Focus on user experience. Create sleek and versatile designs. Most customers will not be ready to carry with them a pen that’s too gaudy or use a mousepad in bright colors. 
• As you see in the example below, ensure visual consistency across your branded stationery items. 

6. Loyalty/membership cards 

Another great print marketing material to reinforce branding through loyal customers is through membership cards or loyalty cards. These are cards that customers who choose to become part of your loyalty program carry with them in their wallets. This means that a slice of your brand stays with them, in plain sight, probably making an appearance almost every day. Therefore, good design goes a long way in boosting your brand recognition. 

Loyalty cards are particularly useful for small businesses where customers return regularly more than ones where purchases happen rarely like once a year. Think dry cleaners, pet groomers, local grocery stores, or coffee shops. For all these businesses, membership cards are useful to incentivize repeat purchases and, therefore, give customers a reason to shop from you rather than from your competitors. 

Here are some quick tips to make the most of membership cards for local marketing of a small business: 

• Explore the different options in loyalty cards like punch cards, stamp cards or the classic debit-card style PVC cards. 
• Use diverse channels like emails and social media to promote your loyalty programs and tell customers what they gain by becoming a member. 

KIMP Tips: 

How do you design membership cards that foster loyalty? 

• Prominently display your logo and brand elements. 
• Clearly label the card – highlight the membership tier.
• Personalize the card by adding the customer’s name or leaving a space for them to fill in themselves. 
• Make essential details like expiry date easily accessible. 

7. Banners 

As the final one on our list of most useful print marketing materials for small businesses, we have banners! Banners are big, bold, and built to be seen by people in high-traffic areas. 

Whether hanging outside your storefront or placed on a standee at a local event or used to reinforce your brand’s stall at a neighborhood event, banners can act as your personal billboards, without the hefty price tag. 

Banners are versatile print marketing materials that help establish your presence, communicate a time-sensitive message by quickly attracting attention, or even create brand recognition at a large scale. They are perfect for seasonal promotions, grand openings, new store location announcements or even promotions about your business expansion. 

How can you deploy banners to boost your local marketing efforts? 

• Find the best placement for your banner – the most relevant placement ensures conversion. 
• Tap into co-branded exposure by placing your banner at the store or near the store of a complementary business. 

KIMP Tips: 

Moving on to some quick design tips to create high-conversion banners. 

• Feature your logo and brand colors prominently. 
• If you have a brand mascot, feature it in your design to draw attention to your message and also humanize your design. 
• Avoid overcrowding your banner.
• Include relevant contact details and CTA. An even better option? Add a QR code that customers can scan. This can lead to a landing page that gathers contact details or provides them with further information. This can encourage engagement with your banner. 

Boost Your Print Marketing Efforts With KIMP Designs 

As you can see, print marketing materials can boost the local marketing efforts of a small business. From introducing your brand to encouraging engagement, ensuring clarity, and boosting loyalty, print marketing materials have diverse roles to play. Hence, it all boils down to how you tap into these types and how you effectively design them to deliver your message. This is where a reliable design partner like an unlimited design service, can make a big difference. 

With an unlimited design service and a dedicated design team at your disposal, you can explore the different types of print marketing assets for various touchpoints and therefore consistently strengthen your local presence. 

Ready to give your local marketing a nudge? Sign up for a KIMP subscription! 

Want to explore the perks of unlimited design before making the big move? Register now for our hassle-free 7-day free trial!