All right, business owners. Here’s a hypothetical situation for ya. Let’s say that a man strolls into your office peddling printer cartridges. And let’s also say that this guy is wearing an expensive suit, classy shoes, and shiny cufflinks, but for underneath his jacket, he has chosen a tie-dye T-shirt.
Tell the truth. You’d think he was a little weird, right?
In fact, you might even see him as weirder in that outfit than you would if he just showed up in the tie-dye T-shirt, sneakers, and jeans. The weirdness is not so much in the casual T-shirt as it is in the fact that he’s mixing and matching his sophisticated business attire with a ratty weekend shirt. Either the informal look or the classy look would be a much better choice than a hybrid of the two.
The same concept applies to your printed materials. If you look at all of your print collateral as an outfit, it should match from head to toe. We’re talking about envelopes, brochures, leaflets, letterhead, business cards, folders, fliers, fact sheets, direct mail pieces, and anything else you happen to have in your printed materials toolbox. There should be a consistent look and feel throughout the entire body of marketing collateral.
Why should your printed materials match? Part of it goes back to the plight of the printer cartridge salesdude. With a mismatching outfit like that, the guy just wasn’t looking his best and didn’t leave a great first impression. In the same way, a welcome folder full of mismatched printed materials is going to leave a weird vibe with its recipient. It may be a bigger deal to some people than others, but in any case, it’s not helping you put your best foot forward.
The other reason matching is so important has to do with branding. In addition to its lack of visual appeal, the printer cartridge man’s outfit would leave everyone with a lot of questions about what he is trying to communicate with his look. People who see him will think, What kind of fellow is this? Is he a hippie? A professional salesman? A guy who forgot to pick up his dry cleaning? If your printed materials don’t match, you could be leaving your customers with similar confusion. Every document generated by or for your company should be in line with your brand in an effort to present a consistent picture of who you are as a company.
So it might be time to do a closet cleanout and assess your printed materials. If there are a few printed pieces that don’t match the rest, replacing them can update your company’s image and effectively communicate your brand. Whether your printed pieces are more like parts of a tuxedo or a Halloween costume, you’ll be good to go as long as they all match to make one spectacular ensemble.
