Is It Time To Update Your Corporate Collateral?
By Joel Black on 01/2/2014
As a small business owner, you know that it’s unwise to use words like “always” and “never,” especially in one sentence. But try this sentence on for size: Small business owners can always benefit from updating their corporate collateral and will never regret the exercise.
If this sounds like this statement was crafted by an optimist, then you can be one, too, by infusing your marketing materials with new life for the new year ahead.
Just as your business must remain relevant, so too must your marketing materials convey relevance, if not vitality. The fact is, corporate collateral that looks tired and outdated gives the impression that your business is pooped, too. And that’s hardly the message you want your customers to register, much less spread to others.
Partner With An Experienced Graphic Designer
When you partner with an experienced and enthusiastic graphic designer, the process of reviewing and updating your corporate collateral can be thought-provoking and energizing – exactly the mind-set you probably want as you begin a new year with only the highest hopes for your business.
Remember that your corporate collateral – your website, brochures, sell sheets, ads, postcards and even your business cards – don’t have to undergo wholesale change. Even small tweaks and updates will be noticed, whether people comment on them or not. In this regard, it also may help to remember that your corporate collateral is an extension of your business – a visual representation of your products and services and even your values. Much more than your image is at stake; the future success of your business factors in the mix, too.
Five Steps To Start Freshening Up Your Corporate Collateral
So in the spirit of an optimist but with the determination of a realist, freshen up your corporate collateral by following a simple and sensible five-step process:
Review all of your corporate collateral and update statistics and dates. Nothing screams “I don’t care!” louder than a website page containing a date from a previous year or two. Likewise, press releases can convey important and timely information about a business, but if you’re not generating enough regular news to warrant at least a bi-monthly release on your website, you might want to postpone this feature until you can justify the existence of this attention-grabbing tool.
Ensure that your corporate collateral capitalizes on all pertinent contact information, including social media links. If you haven’t entered the world of social media, now’s the perfect time to jump in.
Parse your website with a fine-tooth comb. Many businesses make the mistake of treating their sites as a one-time exercise – create it and then forget it – when in fact websites can be one of the best ways to continually generate new business. Create a customer-centered blog, update photos and content and amplify your FAQs page to demonstrate that your business remains customer-centered.
Entrust your graphic designer to enliven your corporate collateral with fresh layouts and visuals – the real “heavy lifting” of the entire exercise. Avoid radical changes – which could scare some loyal customers away – and strive for familiarity blended with vitality.
Turn to your graphic designer to help you create new corporate collateral, especially “evergreen” pieces that can be used at any time of the year. Such evergreen pieces might include a new testimonial sheet conveying the reviews of satisfied customers or a short and sweet “tip” sheet, courtesy of your company.
With the right graphic designer at your side, helping you every step of the way, you’ll be able to say, with conviction: Small business owners can always benefit from updating their corporate collateral and will never regret the exercise.
Have you been through this exercise? Share your experiences and knowledge below.
