Know Your Media: The Difference between Print Collateral and Web Collateral

In creating and printing marketing materials, time is often of the essence. However, there are some differences you may need to consider when planning for your print collateral versus your Web collateral.

Print Collateral

In the world of print, time matters all the more. There is just not much room for last-minute production. It’s important to not wait when it comes to materials for a trade show or book launch. Often, the work required to prepare the materials for physical printing can take weeks and requires a significant amount of time to ensure all documents are ready to print, especially if last-minute text or graphics changes are required. This is especially the case when using offset printing.
With today’s technology, time has been sped up and digital printing can now accommodate more last-minute and smaller quantity runs for customers. However, time is still critical. When working with a graphic designer, be aware of this extra time and work with them to meet those specific timeframes. Otherwise, that trade show booth or that book jacket may not be ready on time. And, if it can meet the deadline, the cost often goes up significantly to compensate for the extra production time.

Web Collateral

However, time is not necessarily a key component or factor for Web collateral. It operates on a different time table. This means that it can work in an on-demand, need it now environment. Once the content and design is approved, it can be up on the Web in a matter of minutes.
As such, it has become a much more cost-effective and convenient way to regularly update marketing collateral as well as reduce the costs associated with either keeping old, irrelevant materials on hand. Another benefit of selecting Web collateral is the ability to quickly customize and personalize the collateral to meet different audience members across multiple channels.
Time Management Tips
To help the graphic designer help you meet your deadlines for any type of project, there are some key tips to remember that can make this happen:
•    Give the graphic designer all the important dates you need so that they can work backwards from those dates and plan their production schedule.
•    Be sure to understand that the schedule the graphic designer then gives you is pretty close to being written in stone and needs to stay that way in order to meet your deadlines, especially if you want print collateral.
•    Communicate often with the graphic designer. Having the right information can and will speed up the process by shortening the number of revisions that may be needed so that there can be some “wiggle” room in the schedule in case the deadline has been moved up.
•    Be patient and be reasonable. The graphic designer wants to help you make every deadline with collateral that meets your exacting requirements and helps you achieve your objectives.

An Integrated Approach

Simons Studios works and plays in both worlds, so they can help you achieve an integrated approach to your marketing needs. With this timetable in mind, contact them now to get started with a new campaign that gets you noticed in the real and virtual worlds.