How many times do you pass up free opportunities to market your business?

You know what I’m talking about, someone contacts you and wants to spotlight your business but needs a bio.

Or maybe you donated to a group and they will publish your ad, but you need to send it to them.

Do you always have a hand out when you go to a networking meeting?

Does every place that your company is listed have complete and accurate information as well as an enticing description?

If not, it’s most likely because it takes time or you’re not sure what to say. Set yourself up for success and develop a corporate marketing kit for your business.

What is a Corporate Marketing Kit

In your corporate marketing kit, you will have guidelines for different types of advertising. If you already have a corporate press kit, some of the same information can be used for your marketing kit; however, you want to take it a step further and create ads and promotional items that can be used in a variety of settings.

Start with the Basics:

List your company name, address, contact numbers and web site address as it should be listed in advertising. This may seem like an obvious thing; however, it is important to have consistency, particularly if you are in a regulated industry or have registered trademarks or servicemarks.

Logo

If you have a company logo, note any fonts and colors that are used within the logo. If someone else designed the logo for you, make sure that you have a copy of the fonts. It makes creating cohesive ads much easier.

If possible, get the source files for the logo. If you can’t get the source files, get the logo in several sizes and formats. If there are variations of your logo, make a note of when and how each should be used.

Company Purpose

Write down why your company is in business . . . how you make a difference to your customers and clients. For example, Legacy Marketing provides marketing and business support services, but its purpose is to help customers grow their business.

Company Description

Write a description of what your company does, including the products and services that it offers. Include three versions, a paragraph, a half page, and a two page description. In the longer versions, include the history of the company and bios of key people.

Ads

Create template ads in a variety of sizes, quarter page, half page, and full page at a minimum.

Write sample ad copy for both informational and promotional appeals.

Marketing Collateral

In order to truly automate your marketing, have a variety of collateral pieces ready to go and define when each should be used. The basics to start with are:

Business Cards

  • Purse Stuffer: Examples of this would be a rack card, postcards, half sheet or quarter page flyers. It should be something that is small enough that people will pick it up and take it with them and yet gives enough information to generate interest and prompt them to visit your place of business or your web site for more information.
  • Informational: This type of marketing piece would be something to give to prospective customers who have expressed an interest in your product or service. Examples would be a brochure, pamphlet, or booklet.
  • Promo items: Have a plan for when you will use promo items and the types you will offer. If you have different target markets or product lines, you might use a different promo item depending on the venue.

Online:

In addition to helping build your business brand along with print advertising, online advertising can also affect your search engine rankings. Your online ads need to be focused and consistent to maximize results.

If there are specific keywords or phrases that you are targeting, they can be included in the text or banner link code to build search engine rankings.

Create search engine optimized banner and text ads and specify the html to be used for each. Make sure that all graphics and logos have been optimized for the web.

Putting the Pieces in Place

Creating foundation marketing pieces will promote a consistent message and allow you to take advantage of those last minute opportunities. To download a template to use as a base for a marketing kit, visit the Downloads section of legacymarketingservices.com

What are your best marketing pieces?