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How often do you screen your emails? About how many marketing emails do you open per day ̶ 10? 5? 1? None? Maybe you don’t even see those marketing-related emails because you have filters set up in your email inbox to filter out “the noise.” Because that’s what marketing materials delivered to us electronically have become ̶ noise. About the only time we open marketing emails is when we are in the market to purchase something immediately. Otherwise, we file it away and forget about it.

Keeping our own habits for consuming marketing content in mind, how do you get the word out to your customers about your rental store’s products and services?

Let’s go retro, or some may say try a throwback, by offering printed literature. However, just printing literature won’t just get their attention ̶ you need to add some pizzazz, some flare and maybe even some special effects.

Here are four tips to help you incorporate printed materials back into your rental stores marketing efforts:

First, talk to some local printers and ask for samples. See if there is any previous work they have done that you would like the replicate or use ideas from. There are so many different options out there to choose from including foil, specific die cuts, special matte and shiny papers or just special effects to the paper that you don’t have to start from scratch. These options may cost you a little bit more to implement, but they create a “wow” factor that will increase the likelihood that customers will take notice and give some time and attention to your content. Heck, they may even take the piece with them and show others.

Second, when developing a new printed piece, the first rule of thumb is to K.I.S.S. (keep it super simple). People don’t have time to read a lot of content; they barely have time to check their email so you know they have limited time for everything else. Make sure you focus on what’s most important to your customers. Also, keep in mind what you want the outcome of the project to be: Target new customers, increase rental opportunities, increase fleet utilization and so on. Being very specific about your desired outcome will help clarify what needs to be highlighted in your marketing piece.

Third, always include LOTS of pictures or other graphics ̶ everyone loves images. Remember the old adage: A picture is worth a thousand words. Let the images help sell the story.

Lastly, it is important to have others review your content to make sure that there aren’t any spelling or grammatical errors or that there are claims that are incorrect or not approved for publication

Once you are done with writing and designing your piece, now what? Get some quotes! Go back to those print vendors you talked with in step one and ask them to bid on your project. Once your project is at the printers, be sure to ask for proofs before they mass produce your content. This allows you to do a final review to catch any last-minute changes that need to be made.

At Genie, we have found print literature to be extremely helpful and beneficial as it allows us to connect with you, our customers, more personally ̶ and it gives you something to look at when we leave your store. If it works for us, it can work for you with your customers. Give it a try!