Effective marketing materials delicately balance efficiency and art. The goal is to convey your brand messages accurately and succinctly, while also being unique, memorable, and emotionally compelling. If this sounds difficult, it becomes even more so when you consider that organizations often need high-quality work done under extremely tight turnaround times. Thus, the key to producing marketing materials in a fast, cost-effective manner that does not sacrifice quality is to treat it as a long-term project, with milestones and metrics along the way.
Know your brand and key messaging. This is a fundamental but often forgotten step. Without an in-depth knowledge of your client or organization, their markets, their positioning, and their approved language, PR and marketing professionals risk delivering final products that alienate or confuse, rather than impress. And when speed is critical, having previously developed and approved messaging is crucial.
Understand your goal. Be clear about the materials’ intended form and audience. Is this a basic overview PowerPoint deck designed for a walkthrough audience at a tradeshow, or a highly technical one geared towards I.T. specialists? Is the brochure meant to function as an introduction to the company, or rather to inspire readers to take action on a particular issue?
Secure a top-notch designer. Visuals matter. For your materials to be read, they must first be noticed. To this end, talented designers are worth their weight in gold, as a bold and beautiful product always makes a great impression. In contrast, the inferior quality of even one set of marketing materials could affect your success for months.
Create your timeline. Not every marketing deliverable requires a Gantt Chart to track its progress, but even under a 48-hour deadline, a project timeline and an understanding of who on your team will deliver which piece by when is critical to completing your deliverables on-time and on-budget.
Follow up. Again, it may seem basic, but timelines are useless without frequent check-ins to ensure that everything’s on track. Is the copy ready? Does the finished layout look good? Is the printer, web coder, or video editor on schedule? Stay ahead of your looming deadlines.
Breaking down and keeping track of all the little details of a big assignment make all the difference in producing top-quality materials and maintaining delighted clients and organizations!