Printing marketing materials can help your business grow. With effective design, production, and distribution, you can introduce your brand to thousands, or even millions of new prospective customers, boosting your visibility and reputation in the process.  

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Unfortunately, printed marketing materials can also put a burden on your budget. How can you get printed marketing materials in a big city like New York without totally decimating your marketing budget?

Shop Around For The Right Printer

One of the best things you can do is shop around for the right printer. There are probably dozens of printing companies in your local area, and thousands of online printers to choose from. If you’ve only looked at one or two, you’re probably not getting the best possible pricing.

These are some of the most important strategies to follow in pursuit of a better printer:

•       Compare apples to apples. Just because you see a lower price doesn’t mean you’re getting a better deal. Companies may adjust their prices in accordance with a variety of variables, including paper stock, printing demands, and level of quality control. Always make sure you’re comparing apples to apples when you get two quotes for a similar project. It’s the only way to tell for sure if you’re getting a measurably better deal.
•       Look online. Online printers tend to offer better prices, in part because there’s more competitive pressure online to reduce price as much as possible. If you haven’t yet shopped around for an online printer, now is the time to start.
•       Skip aggressive marketers. When you encounter new printers, consider how much time and money they’ve spent on marketing. If you see the printer’s name all over the place, and you’re constantly bombarded with advertising from them, consider skipping them entirely. Though not always the case, companies with high marketing budgets and aggressive marketing policies tend to have a higher cost basis, and they make up for this by charging higher prices.
•       Don’t neglect quality. Finally, don’t neglect quality. The quality of your marketing materials is going to play a massive role in determining their impact. It’s usually not worth saving money if you end up with an inferior product that your customers don’t like.

Keep Your Designs Simple

You can easily save money on your printed marketing efforts by keeping your designs as simple as possible. You might be able to make an awesome first impression by including some lavish foldouts and novel design elements, but a simple piece might be just as effective and much less expensive. Obviously, you’ll need to consider the quality of your designs carefully, but there’s usually no reason to splurge on unnecessary eccentricities.

Print In Higher Quantities

Another way to save money on a per piece basis is to print in higher quantities. Most printers adjust their pricing based on the quantity you’re ordering; the more you print, the lower the per piece price will be. If you’re advertising an upcoming event or a very temporary sale, this strategy may not be a good fit for you. But if you’re printing evergreen materials that are likely to be relevant indefinitely, you should print the highest quantity you can afford.

Negotiate

If you want a better price, consider simply asking for it. Some printers will be open to negotiation, allowing you to secure a lower price and better terms than you would get otherwise. In a worst-case scenario, the printer will simply deny your request and you can either agree to the original price or move onto a different printer.

Consider Offering A Trade

If you’re a small business and you’re working with another small business, you can consider offering a trade. Instead of paying money for your printed materials, you can offer a product or service of your own in exchange for those materials. If the arrangement works out well for both of you, you can tap into it many times in the future, securing ongoing printed marketing materials without spending a lot of money.

Invest In Your Own Equipment

For some projects, it may be cost effective to invest in your own printing equipment. For just a few hundred dollars, you can get a decent printer to have in your office. For a few thousand dollars, you can get access to something even more robust. You’ll also need to pay for things like cardstock, ink, and toner, and printing everything yourself can be time-consuming. However, this strategy may work out in your favor in the long run.

Printed marketing materials are always going to cost money. But they probably don’t need to cost as much as you think. With a handful of basic strategies, you can greatly reduce your marketing expenditures and thereby increase your return on investment (ROI), effectively increasing your overall marketing value.