Direct Marketing - How to Design Your Own Letters
Saturday, November 23, 2013
With the growth of small businesses in the U.S., designing your own letters is an interesting venture in producing marketing collateral. A well-designed letter can improve credibility, sales and marketing exposure to prospects. Before you start your endeavor, consider the possibilities available in making a minimalist attempt in choosing color and figures to reach a deeper level of connectivity to your market. Focus on the basics, then explore other options available in your publishing or word processor software.
Brainstorm Letter Designs
1
Define your audience, purpose for contact and perceptions of your business. Make an effort to make your designs appropriate for the industry and buyer and streamline the consistency in marketing collateral starting with a letterhead and introductory letter design. After you identify your target market, check your competitors' letter designs to understand the basic format in letter designs.
2
Select a sheet of printer paper (or A5) you plan to print for marketing. Draw X's in the areas you want to keep as white space. White space can include the sides, header or footer of your design. Consider contracting texts to less than 150 characters per line for aesthetic visuals. In marketing, the more white space, the better. Your letter design should show clean, minimalist imagery to capture the audiences' attention in as few words as possible.
3
Add your company's logo on header and adjust the size to 10-by-10 pixels to limit its distraction from the letter's body. You may add lines, additional characters or shapes to compare the visual benefits. You can change the size of your logo, font and lines to match the current designs of your other marketing collateral. Keep the design professional by using industry fonts, colors and flair to match your company's image.
4
Place contact information on the footer of the letter design. Ensure the font, colors and lines are symmetric to the header for consistency. Add the company's slogan in a small, 10 point font (preferably the same font as the header), then increase the margin white space to condense the letter's copy.
Publish Letter Designs with Software
5
Use a publishing or word processor software such as Microsoft Publisher, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop or Inkscape to design the letter. Use the A5 outline as the guiding principles in translating the structure, style and font for consistency. Focus on the letter's white space, font style and size, color scheme and length.
6
Check the letter for spelling and grammar, mismatched colors, uneven lines and white space. Ensure the content is aesthetically pleasing by professional standards. View the letter design in "Proof" or "Full View" in the publishing software to make final adjustments.
7
Finalize the letter design by printing it and making necessary edits. Revisit the publishing software to make the necessary changes before sending it to print or printing from your computer.
Tags:
Direct Marketing, Marketing
Brainstorm Letter Designs
1
Define your audience, purpose for contact and perceptions of your business. Make an effort to make your designs appropriate for the industry and buyer and streamline the consistency in marketing collateral starting with a letterhead and introductory letter design. After you identify your target market, check your competitors' letter designs to understand the basic format in letter designs.
2
Select a sheet of printer paper (or A5) you plan to print for marketing. Draw X's in the areas you want to keep as white space. White space can include the sides, header or footer of your design. Consider contracting texts to less than 150 characters per line for aesthetic visuals. In marketing, the more white space, the better. Your letter design should show clean, minimalist imagery to capture the audiences' attention in as few words as possible.
3
Add your company's logo on header and adjust the size to 10-by-10 pixels to limit its distraction from the letter's body. You may add lines, additional characters or shapes to compare the visual benefits. You can change the size of your logo, font and lines to match the current designs of your other marketing collateral. Keep the design professional by using industry fonts, colors and flair to match your company's image.
4
Place contact information on the footer of the letter design. Ensure the font, colors and lines are symmetric to the header for consistency. Add the company's slogan in a small, 10 point font (preferably the same font as the header), then increase the margin white space to condense the letter's copy.
Publish Letter Designs with Software
5
Use a publishing or word processor software such as Microsoft Publisher, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop or Inkscape to design the letter. Use the A5 outline as the guiding principles in translating the structure, style and font for consistency. Focus on the letter's white space, font style and size, color scheme and length.
6
Check the letter for spelling and grammar, mismatched colors, uneven lines and white space. Ensure the content is aesthetically pleasing by professional standards. View the letter design in "Proof" or "Full View" in the publishing software to make final adjustments.
7
Finalize the letter design by printing it and making necessary edits. Revisit the publishing software to make the necessary changes before sending it to print or printing from your computer.
