Prestige Printing & Media Solutions

Don’t Forget the Finishing Touches

prestige — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:52:49 +0000

Blog Update #175 – Friday, May 18, 2012




Even if your marketing document is coming together perfectly — with compelling copy, a stunning layout, and quality photos — remember it’s not complete until it’s “finished.” A document’s finishing touches help portray its overall quality and importance and can take it to the next level. Here are a few finishing touch options that will help you create a marketing piece you and your customers will love: Spot varnish is available in gloss, matte, or satin finishes. Gloss varnish is often used to enhance the colors of printed photos and make ink colors throughout the piece appear more vivid. Matte varnish is used to reduce glare and improve the readability of small text. Satin varnish offers a blend of both. A contrasting spot treatment can really make a logo or other information pop (such as a glossy logo on a matte background). Metallic inks are available in a variety of colors and are a great way to add interest with a shine and luster not available in standard inks. Foil-stamping is an easy way to create focus on text or imagery, such as enhancing a classic, elegant logo. Die-cutting is used to create a unique shape, outline, or edging. Embossing involves creating a raised 3D impression using a custom die under high pressure. Laminating can greatly increase durability and offer water protection. In addition to protecting a printed document, lamination can also enhance its appearance. Other finishing options include (among other things) collating your pieces into sets, separating, folding, stapling, punching or drilling, padding, scoring, numbering, index-tabbing, packaging/shrink wrapping, and spiral, wire, comb, saddle-stitch, or perfect binding. No matter your finishing need, from simple to spectacular, we can help you determine the perfect finishing touches to help your product really stand apart from the competition.

Build Business Relationships with Greeting Cards

prestige — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:32:42 +0000

Greeting cards are a great way to show your family and friends you are thinking of them on their birthday or holidays. They are also a powerful yet underutilized tool for businesses to reach out and connect with valued customers, professional acquaintances, and other businesses.

While holidays and birthdays are the most common times greeting cards are used, businesses can also use greeting cards for business event invitations, staff introductions, product or service announcements, exclusive promotion or discount offerings, gift card holders, employee recognition, thank you cards, follow-up notes, customer anniversaries, grand openings, and more.

Next time you’re looking for a creative way to send a friendly greeting to your customers, give the timeless touch of greeting cards a try.

HTML vs. Plain Text Emails: Which Should You Choose?

prestige — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:59:07 +0000

After seeing the visual difference between HTML and plain-text emails, it’s hard for many companies to send anything but fancy HTML formatting with every email they send. However, just because you can make HTML emails doesn’t mean you always should.

While HTML messages typically have flashy graphics that grab attention, they also lack a personalized touch and feel more “salesy.” In addition, HTML emails take longer to download, use more disk space, and often gain a bad rap for privacy threats, potential viruses, and information tracking. If a recipient doesn’t accept HTML emails (due to security, bandwidth issues, privacy, etc.) or an email program doesn’t interpret it correctly, your message will appear in plain text with random code that is extremely difficult to read.

Another reason to consider plain text is that more and more people check email on their cell phones, and many still have issues displaying HTML correctly.

Because email is a method of communication, many people believe the focus should be on the message and not how pretty it looks. But marketers also understand that sometimes the only way a message will get read is if it exudes visual appeal.

One solution may be to send emails embedded with both plain text and HTML, or to create a combination of both (an email that looks like plain text yet features basic ROI tracking, a share link, or social media buttons). And don’t forget, we’re also here to help anytime you’d like ideas for communicating in print!

Making Your Case: 7 Keys to a Strong Case Study

prestige — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:00:29 +0000

Everybody loves a good story, and your prospects are no exception. That’s why case studies are so effective. Unlike marketing pieces that focus solely on product features and benefits, case studies present true stories with relatable characters and real-world challenges. A well-produced case study reads like a feature story in a business magazine. It paints your company in a positive light, but it doesn’t go overboard. Instead it tells a credible story (backed by facts) readers are compelled to hear. So how do you achieve this goal? Here are a few tips to get you started.

Introduce the customer. Start your case study with a few details about the customer you helped and their business. Who are they? What do they do? What markets do they serve? Who are their key players?

Explain what brought them to you. What was the challenge they were facing? What prompted their decision to seek help? And why did they choose you to help them, rather than your competitor?

Be specific when describing the challenges your customer faced. If numbers are available, use them. They’ll not only make the study more interesting to read but will also provide an added level of credibility and urgency to the situation.

Discuss the process. What steps did you take to solve the customer’s challenge? Who was involved? Why did you choose one option over another? Think like a reporter, and provide details, so readers get a sense of being there “behind the scenes” as decisions were made.

Show tangible, real-world results. As with your earlier explanation of the challenge being faced, the more numbers you can provide to support the results of your effort, the more effective your case study will be in persuading prospective customers that your products or services can produce similar success for them.

Use the customer’s own words to tell the story. Ask your customer to provide you with quotes you can use in the case study. Better yet, have whoever’s writing the piece interview key players at the client company as part of the process. Quotes add credibility and will give the case study more of an authentic, feature article feel.

Make it applicable. Readers will relate to your case studies better if they can see themselves in the companies you’re profiling and the challenges you’ve helped them overcome. Choose customers with compelling stories, measurable results, and broad appeal. If you serve several niche markets, create separate case studies for each.

Complaints: Problem Solvers in Disguise

prestige — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:42:05 +0000

Blog Update #169 – Friday, April 27, 2012




While it’s hard to think of customer complaints as a good thing, most of them are actually great problem-solving tools for your business. Valid complaints expose problems that cost your business time and money. With that in mind, here are a few ways to deal with and learn from customer complaints: Offer several convenient ways for customers to express their dissatisfaction, such as customer surveys, comment cards, a toll-free number, a dedicated email address, and an online feedback form. Listen to customers, and let them tell their story without interrupting. Apologize for the issue they are experiencing. Take necessary actions immediately to resolve the issue and re-establish rapport. Ask customers for suggestions for improvement. Sometimes the solution may be easier than you think. Thank customers for bringing issues to your attention. Gather as much data as you can about customer complaints, and share them within your business. While all issues should be addressed, you may want to start by fixing those that waste the most time and cost the most money. Follow-up with customers to be sure their issues were solved and that they were satisfied with the outcome. Customers who complain and have a problem solved are generally much more loyal than those who are simply happy with your business. Regardless of the issue at hand, one of the easiest ways to ensure customer satisfaction is by reminding them you’re all ears.