Why you should provide CMYK files for print

We’ve seen it dozens of times. Clients who supply RGB artwork often find that the color on their finished piece has shifted. The fact is that all full-color print files should be created and supplied to your printer in CMYK. There are cut-and-dry reasons for this. Lets take a minute and try to unravel why CMYK is king of print. First, lets define the key players when it comes to color:

RGB Color Space
RGB is a color space intended for the screen. Its acronym stands for Red, Green and Blue. All of the colors within the RGB color space are created by some combination of red, green and blue light. RGB is what is known as an ‘additive’ color space. When the colors are added together you get the color white. Likewise, when you remove all of the color, you create black. The RGB color space has a large range of colors that it can create—16 million to be exact. This range is known as ‘gamut.’

CMYK Color Space
Conversely, CMYK color space is intended for print. Its acronym stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (denoted as ‘K’ so it is not confused with blue). CMYK is often referred to as four-color-process. It is called a “subtractive” color space, because the removal of all colors results in white, where as the addition of all colors results in black. Although you can produce thousands of colors with CMYK, it has a much smaller range—or gamut—of colors than RGB does.
Now that we have called out the players, we can start to understand why RGB artwork doesn’t translate well to print:

Differences in Gamut
After studying the definitions of RGB and CMYK color spaces, the concept that RGB has a much larger gamut than CMYK is pretty evident. When an RGB file is supplied to a printer, the printer must convert the file to CMYK. There is just no other option. Because of the difference in color ranges (gamut), when the RGB file is converted, it is forced into a smaller range of colors. Through the conversion process, the software analyzes the image and reconfigures the colors into the closest CMYK equivalent. This can leave the new CMYK image looking dull in comparison to the original RGB image.

Differences in Medium
RGB is for screen. CMYK is for print. The two color spaces are created for their own specific purpose and in order to get the best results, they need to be used as they were intended. When colors get duller in RGB to CMYK conversion, its not because CMYK is a inferior color space, but that RGB simply has properties that it cannot replicate. Techno-bright colors can be achieved in RGB because the colors are created from light, whereas the paper CMYK inks are printed on cannot emit light and thus, cannot produce as bright of colors. The fact is that sometimes screen colors are just not reproducible with ink and vice-versa.
Now that you have all this RGB/CMYK knowledge, you probably want to know what to do to make sure you don’t have to deal with RGB to CMYK print conversion surprises. There are a couple tips that should make your print projects turn out as you have envisioned them:

Edit your photos in RGB, but place them in CMYK
If you have to make edits to photos used in your piece, you will want to make the major edits in their native, RGB format and then convert the final image to CMYK. The reason for starting in RGB is because the gamut is greater, you have the ability for much more precise editing. Once your edits are made, convert the file to CMYK and save a copy of the image for placement into your artwork.

Design in CMYK
Always make sure to design in CMYK. If you are working on a design element in Photoshop, make sure to be working in CMYK, or you could get an unpleasant surprise when you go to convert the file to send for printing. This also goes for files created in InDesign and Illustrator. Both of these programs give the option to work with RGB colors or in RGB mode, so make absolutely sure you are working in CMYK by making sure all swatches are created in CMYK (in InDesign) and that your Document Color Mode (in Illustrator) is set to CMYK.

When you have a solid understanding of RGB and CMYK color spaces, it makes it easy to produce the right kind of art for the right medium. Hopefully this little primer on RGB and CMYK usage will serve you well and help you avoid unexpected color conversions in the future.

Marketing in a down economy provides an opportunity to come out on top

Studies show that those who advertise in a recession are more likely to increase sales in the future. In fact, marketing in a recession could be one of the best ways to grow your business long-term. When a recession hits, every business’ knee-jerk reaction is to cut their spending—and they usually hit the marketing budget first. Everyone else is doing it, you should too, right? Wrong. This is the exact reason you should advertise in a recession. There is much less advertising clutter flying around, which makes those who are advertising even more noticeable.

You see, if you advertise throughout a recession while your competitors are not, that gives you a unique opportunity to capitalize on your competitors’ err in judgement. With less advertising competition you can increase awareness of your brand, which can easily convert to market share when a consumer needs your service—whether that may be during the crunch or after it.

The secret to successful marketing is to be top-of-mind when a consumer needs a product or service. In order to be top-of-mind you must make your business known, and be visible and available when your prospect needs you most.

McGraw Hill has done several research studies on recession advertising. Some of their findings are as follows:

• Sales statistics of companies that maintained or increased advertising during the 1974 recession showed a 132% growth, post-recession.
• Following the recession of 1981–82, those who maintained or increased advertising spend throughout the recession achieved higher sales than their competitors in the three years following that recession.
• By the end of the three years following this recession, the sales of those who had continued to maintain their advertising throughout the recession had risen over 256% higher than that of their competitors.
• Another study in 2001 found that recession advertisers’ market share had grown to 2.5 times that of the non-advertisers.

That being said, can you really afford to pause your advertising?

Sure, everyone’s funds are tight in a recession, but for those who choose to maintain or increase their advertising throughout come out ahead post-recession. Plus, if you find your business to be slower than usual, putting some real effort into creating and implementing a well-crafted marketing plan is a valuable way to spend that time.

What is the difference in delivery times between postage rates

Choosing between postage classes can be a confusing thing. Just how speedy is First Class mail in comparison to Standard Mail? Lets sort out the facts. First-Class mail is usually delivered within 1-3 days when mailed locally from the post office your mail was sent from, or 1-5 days nationally. Standard Mail (formerly known as Bulk Rate mail) costs less, but takes slightly longer to be delivered. Standard Mail usually takes 4-8 days when delivered locally from the post office your mail was sent from, or 10-14 days nationally. The benefit with First Class mail is that it has priority over Standard Mail, which means the delivery times are much more consistent. Depending on the time of year, Standard Mail can take longer than normal to deliver because the First Class mail will be delivered first. This problem may be able to be avoided if you plan your mailing ahead and mail earlier during peak seasons, such as holidays. However, if your promotion is absolutely time-sensitive First Class postage is the best way to go.

Great marketing is never done

So many businesses only give their marketing serious thought when times are tough. This thinking is not sound because marketing takes time to take effect, and if you wait until you need instant results you will have waited too long. In order to grow a strong organization, you must create an ongoing marketing plan that works seamlessly. Your marketing must be a continual process.

The key to successful marketing is to craft a plan that can be implemented easily and effectively on a regular basis. A good marketing strategy will employ several types of media. So how do you know what media types are right for you? Trial and error is really the only way to know. Stay open-minded. A medium that you may think is ineffective might just work really well and vice versa.

On that same note, make sure you give each medium a fair shot. The value of a medium cannot usually be judged by a one-off attempt. Your message or approach may need tweaking or your timing may be off. Make sure you test and track each approach with a substantial trial. Some staple media are: direct mail marketing, email marketing, paid search advertising and social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.). If there is a publication that is distributed to your target market you may wish to try placing an ad in the publication, but those results will be harder to track. Don’t forget to work cold calling or cold emailing into the plan. Literal one-to-one communication is a dying art, and you will be surprised to find the impact of real person-to-person communication can be very rewarding.

Once you have determined which medium to try, make sure you think carefully about the relevancy of each of your messages for each specific medium. You will probably find that your messaging needs to be tweaked for each media outlet (i.e. direct mail needs to be concise, persuasive and offer-driven, social media might be much more personal and casual, paid search will incorporate keywords and targeted landing pages, etc.).

When you have found a mix of media that works for you, put a plan in place to implement these strategies regularly. This plan should become part of your regular routine and shouldn’t be so cumbersome that you get bogged down by it. A smaller organization’s mix might include 3-4 marketing outlets, whereas a larger organization may include more.

The purpose of the plan is to make your marketing workload predictable, however it is important that you make sure the messaging you send out is not predictable. Branded, yes. Predictable, no. It is vital that, no matter the medium, your content remains fresh and relevant to your prospect’s self-interest. No one wants to hear time and time again about how great you are, but would probably love to hear about how you will make their life better or easier.

You may not see instant results from your marketing plan. Prospects need time to move through the sales process. Sometime they just don’t need what you are offering for months or even years. But when they do, your steady marketing should have positioned you in a prominent place in their minds. Over time, a consistent marketing plan will aid in stabilizing the flow of incoming clientele to your business.

Nonprofit Tip: The value of a single story

As an organization, its easy to get carried away selling the good of an organization as a whole. However, studies show that donors have a more favorable reaction when the goals of an organization are expressed using a single story. It seems a donor can step into the shoes of one person much easier than those of a group or entity. When telling a single story, you can go into much more detail about that person—details that hang in your donors’ minds, details that enable them to relate to your mission, details that motivate them to give. The fact is that people form a connection with the story of a single person much easier than that of a collective. And this connection drastically increases their incentive to give.

Are you harvesting the power of your existing customers?

As direct mail marketers, we often get so focused on obtaining new customers that we forget to nurture our existing customers. The fact is that existing customers are an incredibly profitable piece of your prospect base.

Why nurture your existing customers?
In a nutshell, the 80/20 rule should be reason enough to reconsider how you are handling your existing customers. The 80/20 rule states that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers. With a rule like that, you’d have to be crazy not to consider investing in your existing customers.

Not only does an existing customer cost much less than a new one—less marketing dollars, no training on your internal processes, you already understand their expectations and communication style—but a customer who purchases not only once, but twice is much more likely to keep coming back. They are also more likely to refer, and referrals give a great boost to your bottom line. Consider how many contacts each of your customers might have—25, 50, 100? Imagine how long it would take your sales force to not only locate but to make contact with that many prospects. These leads are at the tip of your customer’s finger, which means your existing customer could turn into a great tool for growing your business.

How to tap into the power of repeat customers and create referrals.
First and foremost you’ve got to get in your customer’s head. What you think they value about your product or service may not be the case. It might be your sales representative’s quirky sense of humor, rather than your low pricing that keeps them coming back. Dig around a little and try to read between the lines as to why they are loyal. Once you know why they love you, you can use that to your advantage. You can do this in several ways.

First, whatever you are doing that they love you for, keep doing it and find ways to continue improving to satisfy them even more. Never let your service slack just because you feel you already have them as a customer. Be consistent in your brand values in terms of product, service and communication. Stay in contact with them, and keep it as personal as possible. Watch out for their best interest and work to keep them impressed. After all, these people are potentially walking advertisements for your company. They are worth a few extra minutes on the phone or an extra email updating them on the status of their project or a new product they may find interesting. When applicable, feel free to acknowledge that you always appreciate their quality referrals. And if they refer, ALWAYS remember to thank them personally!

Second, consider how you can use your knowledge of their needs to produce more business from them. For example, if they consistently purchase one product or service from you, but you have a second, companion product or service that could benefit them, make sure to point this out. With today’s technology, you could even offer up this product while making a splash in their mailbox with a personalized direct mail campaign.

The moral of the story is to pony up and start treating your loyal, existing customers like they matter. After all, they potentially make up the bulk of your livelihood. If that isn’t worth a little of your time and money, I don’t know what is.

New USPS Flat Automation Changes Flat Mail Panel Requirements

The USPS recently announced that it has acquired new equipment to enable the automation of flat-rate mail. As a result, the mail panel requirements for these pieces have changed. The biggest change is that the mail panel portion of your flat-rate mail must now fall in the top half of your piece. As defined by the post office, for pieces not enclosed in an envelope or polybag, the top half of the piece is either one of the shorter edges when the bound or final folded edge is vertical and on the right-hand side of the piece. The address may be parallel or perpendicular to the top edge, but never upside-down and of course the postage must also fall within this top half. As for placement of your delivery address and return address in relation to the postage, feel free to continue positioning these items as usual, with the postage to the right or upper right of your delivery address and the return address about 1 inch above and to the left of your delivery address. These changes are effective immediately.