How business stationery designs will impact your marketing

As an entrepreneur, you probably spend a lot more time thinking about how the content of your marketing correspondences will impact your profit and loss this quarter than you do worrying about how those correspondences look when colleagues, affiliates and consumers rip open the envelope. However, recent studies show it may be time to change that perspective.

You wouldn’t send an email without your company logo and formal signature attached at the end, would you? So why would you send a paper letter printed on plain white copy paper? Even if you hand-sign the letter, if you don’t have corporate letterhead then you’re passing up a stellar marketing opportunity.

Defining Stationery

Dummies.com defines business stationery as being a set of paper literature, including everything from letterhead to business cards. For the purposes of this piece, “stationery” will be used synonymously with “letterhead,” which includes paper and envelopes emblazoned with your company logo and the name, address, telephone number, administrator email and web address for your business.

Good stationery is made with standard size paper, either A4 or Letter size, or #10 envelopes. Professionals recommend using paper with a slightly heavier weight than standard printer paper, with 28lb or 32lb as the preferred options for small businesses worldwide. If your business isn’t currently using stationery, take notes! There are a lot of ways a single sheet of paper can make a difference in your business efforts.

What Makes Letterhead Essential?

There are dozens of reasons that company letterhead is a must-have for any business, regardless of size, but Szaboka.com lists the following reasons as being paramount to the usefulness of letterhead:

• Logo usage. Company letterhead allows you to put your logo and other corporate information on every letter you send without having to resize, reposition and rewrite it every time you’re about to hit “print.” It also provides consistency, showing anyone who receives one of your letters than you really do mean business—you have the business stationery to prove it!

• Brand identity. By having something custom designed and professionally printed, not only are you putting forward your company image but also supporting your brand identity by taking the design a step beyond your logo. The way your name is written, the header and footer, even the typeface and color choice can support or counter the brand identity you’ve built so far. Do it right! And you will reinforce everything your company stands for without saying a thing.

• Authority and accountability. With custom stationery, it’s much easier for consumers, colleagues and others to know that your company truly backs up the contents of your correspondences. It gives your letters a sense of authority, while giving your business a clear declaration of accountability. Everything printed on company letterhead is spoken under the company’s banner, and readers know that from the moment they see your logo.

Not only does custom business stationery make everything you write seem more “official,” it can also increase respect among your colleagues and consumers to realize that your company is truly the consummate professional it claims to be. This works both ways—with great power comes great responsibility—so company stationery should only be used for company correspondences, not letters home to mom.

How does it Help in Marketing?

Having stationery that puts your company’s best foot forward is integral to maintaining a professional brand identity. The more respectable and professional your company, the more committed your customers will be; the more loyal your customers, the more powerful your brand identity becomes; the more powerful your brand identity, the sooner you’ll be able to take advantage of the most effective marketing methods in the industry.

Marketing specialists agree that word of mouth marketing is more effective than all other types of marketing combined. According to Forbes, more than 90 percent of consumers trust recommendations from friends, family and even passing acquaintances more than recommendations made in advertisements and paid marketing efforts. With 9 out of every 10 people trusting word of mouth over your company’s most expensive ad set, how could you possibly pass up the opportunity to take advantage of it?

As it turns out, putting forward a professional image and increasing brand recognition doesn’t just help word of mouth, it drives it harder than anything else. If your brand is the one that everyone recognizes, it often becomes one that people trust—and people tell their friends about businesses they trust.

Whether you’re a pro who does his (or her) own design, or a small business entrepreneur looking to get stationery design by Designhill when next month’s marketing budget is set, this is a step on the way to becoming the best brand you can be. By fully fleshing out your corporate identity, offering unspoken but clear responsibility for your words and your correspondences, and by putting your company’s money where your mouth is in the areas of professional graphic design, you’re creating a brand worth talking about. It doesn’t get any better than that.