Pack a Punch With Four-Color Envelopes
An envelope is like a person’s appearance. Although it’s true that what’s on the inside is what matters most, no one will ever know if they can’t get past what’s on the outside. Like the jacket of a book, a four-color envelope can entice a reader to have a peek inside to find out more. 

Imagine you just had a fabulous invitation or direct mail piece printed.. The words were written by a talented professional and approved by top brass. Perhaps a focus group weighed in to ensure the message conveyed the right tone for the intended audience.

The Plain White Envelope With Black Ink
Now imagine that beautiful pitch hidden inside a plain white envelope addressed in regular black ink and arriving in the mail among others that look just like it. Worse, it will compete for attention among envelopes printed in four colors, alongside oversized brochures and glossy postcards.

What do you think will happen to your perfect pitch, the one that cost thousands to craft and weeks or even months to get approved? That’s right. It will rarely see the light of day. Few people if any will open that unexpected plain white envelope with black ink from the person or company they don’t know. An anonymous plain envelope practically screams “boring ad for a boring service” and that envelope’s destination is most likely the recycling bin.

The Anatomy of an Envelope
Most people don’t view an envelope as anything more than a container for mailing, with room for an address. But it’s so much more. There is a lot of available real estate on the average number 10 envelope, a lot of space for messaging.

Most addressing equipment, along with the United States Postal Service, require 4-¾ inches by 2-¼ inches space for the address and the barcode. The rule of thumb for the return address is “above and to the left” of your mailing address and the permit “above and to the right” of your mailing address. Everything left is a blank canvas to fill.

Filling Your Canvas
Now that you can visualize a four-color envelope as more than just the obvious, what should you put on it aside from the requirements? Well, for starters, ask yourself a few questions:

• Who is my audience?
• Why should they open this four-color envelope?
• What am I selling?
• What response do I want?

Creating a message that captures those answers will not only help your envelope get noticed, it’ll up the chances it’ll get opened. And every envelope wants to get opened!

Changing the Message and the Variables
Sometimes your call to action might need to change according to the audience even though the inside contents are the same. With Variable Data Addressing, it’s easy to change anything you want on your four-color envelopes, from the messaging and addresses to the postal information.

The Four-Color Envelope Difference
Kirkwood has been making companies look good in print since 1973. Reach out to discover what a difference four color envelope printing can make to your ROI. 

This happening before the pandemic might have felt like the end of the world if a child or husband walked into the room or interrupted my presentation.

Two years later, we don’t even notice when their cat crawls up their back or a child interrupts because they are hungry or thirsty. I’m able to see into their homes and offices – what kind of sports they follow, what kind of art there is and it all just seems so much more personal. I have so loved these moments.

It was also pretty hilarious as people were learning to use Zoom. How many times have you yelled “turn on your microphone” or you can only see the top of their head. My 26 year old daughter, who was quarantined with us, was constantly rolling her eyes bursting into the room yelling “TECH SUPPORT to the rescue!”

Despite all this, most of us were able to find the beauty in continuing our relationships remotely. I think because of the pandemic we are more open and vulnerable and had to let go of the small stuff, like worrying about the little things.

I’m ready for some serious outdoor time now that it is getting warmer, but I feel like I have grown closer to our clients and that I will always cherish.

It’s no secret that promotional products can be a highly effective addition to your existing marketing strategy. When used correctly, promotional products have the ability to increase brand awareness and keep you in front of your prospects for when they plan to use your products or service. Here are a few common mistakes to avoid when buying promotional products:

Waiting until the last minute
There are many promotional product companies that can handle rush orders with little to no problem, but waiting until the last minute costs more and it will give you less time to fix mistakes, should they arise. Supply chain issues have been discussed in all industries.  One of the hardest hit industry is Promo. If you know that you’re going to need promotional products for an event, make sure you give yourself enough lead time between your purchase and the event. If you need a timeline for your specific project, reach out, Kirkwood can help. 

The items aren’t tailored to your audience
One of the most common mistakes businesses make when buying promotional products is selecting a product that you like rather than one your audience will like. Rather than choosing items that appeal to you, try to pick items that your audience will enjoy and appreciate.

A common promotional item is koozies, and while they’re great for many businesses, they’re not right for everyone. If you’re an office supply store, a healthcare provider or a company that’s geared towards children, koozies may not be the right promotional item to throw into your marketing mix. On the other hand, if you’re a craft brewery, koozies would be more appropriate.  With thousands of products, Kirkwood can help, pair down your choices, based on your audience.

Too much or too little information
When was the last time you saw a pen that tried to cram too much information on it or a white mouse pad with only a logo? This is a common mistake that businesses make,  putting too much or too little information on their promotional items. It’s fairly common for businesses to pass out promotional products with nothing more than a logo. At the very least, give people a way to reach you – whether that’s a phone number, email address or website URL. 

Don't chose your product, based just on the price
If you’re on a tight budget, it’s easy to just buy the cheapest items you can find. However, when you have less money to spend, you should focus on quality instead of quantity. Don’t compromise your brand’s image with a cheaper version of a more expensive item. For example, if you have $5.00 to spend on each promotional item, you should buy the highest quality item you can buy for $5.00 rather than buying a cheaper version of the item so you can save money.
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When ordering your promotional items, don’t rush through the planning stages. Take time to find the right items for your audience, order far enough in advance and don’t dismiss an item simply because it’s more expensive.

At Kirkwood, we have an onsite showroom with thousands of products you can review. Finding the perfect promotional product sometimes happens when you actually can ho0ld the piece, verses seeing it in a PDF.  Reach out should you require help marketing@kirkwoodus.com. 

Pantone is directing its users to download Pantone Connect, an app that's available via the 
Adobe Extension Marketplace for use in Adobe Creative Suite, App Store® (iOS) and Google Play® (Android) for your smartphone, and as a web application for your web browser.

Pantone Connect provides access to more than 15,000 colors on the free version.  The premium, paid version includes more colors and additional features, such as accessibility support and collaboration tools. 

The jury is still out on how bumpy this change in workflow will be for both designers and printers, but will definitely mean an added cost for those who want to continue accessing the full gamut of Pantone colors within Adobe products.  At the time of this writing, the app costs $7.99/month or $59.99/year.  ​https://www.pantone.com/connect/pricing