How to Choose Your Perfect Print
With so many print options to choose from, how can you possibly know which will be perfect for your business?
That's what this blog (hopefully!) answers!
Here's a quick breakdown of what we will cover. By all means, skip to the part that stands out for you:
How do you want people to judge your business?
What's the most popular choice?
What if you can't see your perfect print option?
Why do we show 'fulfilment' with print?
1 - How do you want people to judge your business?
Like it or not, your business is constantly judged - judged on its appearance. But this is good! You want people to take notice.
The key is convincing people to judge according to what your business is all about. What you stand for. Why your business exists, and who it sets out to serve.
How does this relate to print (I hear you cry!)? Let's give a couple of examples.
Example 1:
You sell stunning bespoke suits. The materials feel so luxurious, and they fit perfectly every time. But they aren't for everyone. The people who love your suits are doing pretty well for themselves and want to ensure they look their best.
Do you think these people would be impressed by a flimsy little flyer? Of course not!
They are buying something premium, so they expect to receive something premium.
For premium products, it's always best to go on a premium paper - 300gsm, and if budget permits, matt laminated too. As far as size goes, A5 is probably big enough as they don't need much content.
Example 2:
Your business sells discounted electronic products. TVs, laptops, fridges - you name it, you sell it! Some may have tiny scratches or be refurbished products; either way - they are great value. The people who love your business love a bargain!
Now, are these people going to want a premium flyer? No way; they want you to be as frugal with your marketing as absolutely possible.
They are buying a bargain, so expect your print to be as cheap as possible too.
Opt for 130gsm or less, with no fancy lamination. As you have many products, an A4 folded leaflet will give you the extra space needed to showcase them.
As these examples demonstrate - the size of the business has no bearing on your print. Instead, it's all about choosing according to what your ideal customer values most.
And remember...
Design and print are interlinked. So, whether we are designing your leaflet for you or you have that ready, make sure they align. E.g. A premium print should have a premium-looking design.
Equally, if you have loads of products you desperately want to highlight - don't cram them on a tiny A6 flyer - spread them across an A4 folded leaflet.
2. What's the most popular choice?
By far, our most popular paper choice is A5 170gsm double-sided silk.
Why?
For one, it's great value!
Beyond that, the size is big enough for most businesses. When it comes to design, less is often more. So flyers that are A4 size often end up with too much 'so what' content on them. Equally, A6 is so small it's often not noticed when amongst the post.
170gsm finds the happy medium between quality and price too. It isn't so flimsy that it comes across as cheap, and it isn't so card-like that people think you've overspent on your marketing.
Double-sided is an absolute must, irrespective of the paper you choose. In fact, we don't bother offering single-sided as an option. This is because it costs us no more to print, and it doubles your marketing potential.
Silk is a finish also known as matt. The alternative is gloss, which is used for takeaway menus, but not much else.
Gloss is shiny and sticky and comes across as relatively cheap. In contrast, silk is smooth and has a higher-quality feel. There's no cost difference, so virtually all our clients opt for silk.
You can opt for a lamination, again in both gloss and silk. As with the paper finish, almost all our clients choose silk lamination, if they choose lamination at all.
Lamination tops up your total price, but if your business is like the bespoke suits example, it's worth every penny. For most companies, though, it's not needed.
3 - What if you can't see your perfect print option?
If you've been on our leaflet distribution ordering platform, you may have reached the print section and not seen the options you're after.
Don't worry - we literally provide every conceivable printed leaflet you can think of! But to keep things simple, we only show our most popular ones on our site.
All you need to do is choose the option at the bottom of the print page saying, 'I don't see my ideal print option'. Then in the box, put the print specifications you're after, and we will get that quoted for you.
You can continue with your order too. We will simply invoice you for that element of the campaign a day or so after.
And, if you're really not happy with the quote and no longer want to go ahead with your leaflet distribution campaign, we will give you a no-quibbles refund.
4 - Why do we show 'fulfilment' with print?
If you're in the process of ordering with us, you may have noticed the word 'fulfilment' popping up. So why does our print price also state (include) fulfilment?
Simply, it's a combined price because the two go hand in hand.
The print without the fulfilment is pointless. The reason is that the Royal Mail have stringent requirements on precisely how we deliver your flyers to them. Any deviation from this equals ka-boom!
From packing your flyers into tiny (under 10kg boxes) through to printing and labelling each box, to palletising - if any error occurs here, Royal Mail will likely refuse your flyers and issue NO refund.
What's more, the queue to deliver the leaflets can be looooong! The likelihood of a standard courier service hanging around is slim. Therefore we use specialist couriers who guarantee to deliver no matter the wait (though they understandably charge us for this).
In Conclusion
If you've made it this far, you practically have a master's degree in the art of choosing the most appropriate print for your leaflet distribution campaigns!
As we often say, there's no exact science here, so just go with your gut!