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Creating a Marketing Foundation: Getting Started

March/21/2009 About Pernsickety

I’ve observed that most studio owners start to create marketing pieces before they have a well-formed business concept, a focused market target, and an appropriate business identity. Typically, when this happens, it becomes impossible for the studio to build a meaningful brand that gets the business recognized by the desired clientele. Therefore, long before the “foundation” marketing piece for Persnickety was conceived, Jim and I completed a marketing plan that covered the three vital elements I just mentioned. I’ll be explaining these steps and other planning aspects in future “About Persnickety” posts, but I wanted to show you the piece first, so that you can see the result of this important process.

I got the inspiration for our piece from a nifty mailer that Sarah Petty designed for Marathon’s BellaGrafica line; she sends hers to new parents, and you can see the piece by clicking here. My mailer does not use the die-cut window, but what I love about the design is it’s interactive feature: the recipient has to unfold each of the four flaps in order to view the images and read the message on each, then inspect the inserts that rest in the center portion of the marketing piece.

The illustration above shows how the piece appears when it is removed from its envelope. The two images below show the outside and the inside of the mailer.





This mailer is more expensive than the cards or brochures that I have used as client acquisition pieces in the past; but I’m confident that it will be cost-effective for numerous reasons:
  • It will be mailed to a highly targeted list of names provided to us by several local pet professionals who have identified their most qualified clients.
  • It’s pretty hard not to notice a marketing piece this intricate.
  • I’m using an appealing offer (a $100 gift card), which should attract attention of people who have seen our work hanging in the stores and offices of places they frequent with their pets.
  • Some of the mailers will be used as handouts at an open house and for members of a local dog training club in which we participate.
  • The piece is quite versatile, so it can be used for purposes other than client-acquisition mailings, and I will explain each by way of the illustrations shown below.
The first illustration shows the way the two sides of the press sheet are configured for printing. Note how the inserts fill the spaces in the four corners of the mailer.



Here’s how each of the inserts will be used:



The insert shown above is what the target-list recipient will see when the mailer is opened. It contains a glue-dotted laminated gift card for $100. Because we have a well-established reputation in the community for our pet portraits, I believe this will be an effective motivator for the clientele we are seeking to attract.



This insert will be included whenever the marketing piece is used, as it contains information about our business: the fact that our product focus is wall decor, as well as information about our accomplishments as pet portrait specialists.



This handy insert will be used as a note card, and it will be helpful for fulfilling requests for information or for other occasions in which a hand-written note is appropriate.



The final insert from this printing is one that will be used to fulfill requests for charitable marketing. We will provide each organization with 10 to 20 of the folders that include the insert that they can sell to attendees at their fund-raising event at a price they designate: we suggest that they consider a price between $20 - $50 to assure that all certificates are sold. The purchaser will receive a portrait session and a small “keepsake” portrait; and the charity must agree to provide the studio with a list of names of the purchasers so that we can get in touch with them to redeem the certificate.

But wait, there’s more! The folder also will serve as a “jacket” to house the circular Persnickety gift certificate shown below.



The certificate is a two-panel circular note card format that is part of the mPrint press-printed product line. Click here for more information.


And here’s the back, which repeats the design of the inside of the gift certificate, but using different images.


So I’m pretty excited about the look of the piece and how we’ll be able to use it for all these varied purposes:
  • A mailer and/or handout for client acquisition
  • A fulfillment piece for information requests
  • An insert that can be used for hand-written correspondence
  • A client education piece to use during planning sessions for portraits that include people
  • A handout to donors who purchased a session and gift-size image at a charitable event
  • A “jacket” for our circular gift certificate
As I said at the beginning, it took a lot of planning to get to the point that we were ready to commit to this marketing piece. I’ll tell you about that process in my next post.