Reading an article day on Churchm.ag about “5 Reasons To Say ‘No’ To Cheesy Photos,” I started thinking–why would anybody want to use cheesy marketing materials whatsoever? Clearly there has to be a reason, because you see it all the time. Like all the time. So what is it? Let’s look at some hypothesis regarding this and their counterpoints.

1. Quality marketing materials are expensive: If you just want to get your name out there and let people know that your business is open to customers, why invest a ton of money for something that the customer base is simply going to toss anyhow? This already starts with a pretty pessimistic attitude–and one that isn’t necessarily true. First of all, while generally speaking, yes, as you increase the quality of your marketing materials, the price goes up. After all, hiring an aspiring 8th-grader who has a penchant for designing fliers in Print Shop Pro for $25 may seem like a great return on investment, lets look at this scenario real quick. Would you go to a black-tie gala wearing a suit or dress that a similarly aimed-for-the-stars 8th-grader designed and put together? Sure they may be a child prodigy, but then if you have a child prodigy and your paying her $25 to design your quality marketing materials for you, you’re probably breaking some sort of child-labor laws. In the case that said child is not a prodigy, you’d almost certainly abstain from using that suit that was made by a child. And that’s what your marketing materials are! They are the suit and tie that your business wears when it presents itself to your customers. So spend a little bit more for color printing that truly wows the customer! If you want people to notice you at that aforementioned gala, you’re going to wear your best. If you want people to notice your business, dress it in it’s best! There really isn’t such a thing as bad marketing, but truly remarkable marketing can make all of the difference in the world when somebody is considering whether to use Plumber A with ho-hum marketing materials containing no visual interest or call to action and Plumber B who has amazing, quality marketing materials and a call to action that is compelling.  And if you’re truly concerned about cost, give us a call today, and let us show you that in most cases, quality marketing materials are much more affordable than you had originally anticipated, leaving you wondering why you hadn’t made that call years ago!
2. Quality marketing materials are ineffective: “My clients just read the articles of my real estate newsletter,” you might say. But do they really? Have you taken the time to conduct thorough market research to see what clients do with your marketing materials? Do they go screaming to the mailbox on the 15th of the month only to tear open that tab on your black-and-white newsletter printed on lime green legal paper and read the articles? Maybe you’d like to think that they do, but chances are, nobody does. If you give comparables for the neighborhood, then people might open up the newsletter, peek at that to get an idea of the market and what their own property is worth then toss it in the recycle. But what incentive do people have to read the articles that you took time writing each and every month for the last 6 years? Would you open a cheesy lime-green newsletter that filled your mailbox every month and read the articles? If so, congratulations, you are a stand-up citizen. But most people simply aren’t. Now, lets replace that cheesy newsletter with one on UV-coated glossy paper and rich, vibrant images that show the best features of your newest listing, has space for those all-informative comparables (people love statistics and numbers), and has a recipe and factoid area about the area pertinent to that month. You’d love to get that, wouldn’t you? Quality can be the difference between somebody hanging your newsletter on the fridge and going straight to the recycle bin in the garage. I’ll let you do the math.
3. Quality marketing materials are not cute like my cheesy ones: I have a few particular local TV advertisements in mind with this one. The over-the-top-ness makes these ads stick out like a sore thumb. And after all, marketing materials are there to help you stand out, right? Well…sort of. Let’s go back to the analogy of the business in a suit at a gala trying to stand out. Sure, if you wanted to stand out you could always pull the Lloyd and Harry (Dumb and Dumber) stunt and wear obscenely bright suits that don’t fit the event whatsoever. They sure got noticed–but for all the wrong reasons.  And what did you do? You laughed at them. The same is true for ridiculous over-the-top marketing materials. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard somebody tell me that they refuse to shop at Buisness X because their marketing materials were literally annoying them out of giving them business! Maybe it brings people in to investigate. Maybe it even sticks in their mind. But why not show up to the party in a sleek new Ferrari with a dash of incredible cologne and a date that looks like they could model for magazine covers? People love Apple products not because they are obnoxious and stand out, but because they think they’re svelte, refined and high-quality. Which sounds more appealing to you? We at arbiter Creative can give you that Ferrari and hook you up with our hot cousin, even dress you in that stunning suit–for a lot less than you’d anticipate!
4. Quality Marketing Materials are hard to produce: Yep, they are. I won’t even begin to refute this point, because its true. Just like hiring a fantastic quarterback for a professional football team, talent and gifts aren’t something that are easy to come by. But here’s where you’re in luck: we are that talented quarterback with the 50-million dollar arm! Just think of how far your team could go by ratcheting up quality of your marketing materials to 11! We’re begging you for the opportunity to go throw touchdowns, coach! We can do it! Give us a chance! All you have to do is let us step in and play the game. The game we were born to play.