Each year, businesses need to provide an annual report to serve two purposes – informing the company’s shareholders about the activities it has performed over the last year and reporting important financial information to the government.

When it comes to creating the annual report, many business owners face a dilemma – should it be printed or published online.

​As we’re approaching the end of this year, it’d be wise to make the decision now and initiate the process. In this post, we’ve jotted down the major pros and cons of both digital and printed annual reports to help you decide on the right one for your business.

Printed Annual Reports

While it may seem like an old method to have your business’s annual report printed, it offers some unparalleled benefits.
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• It’s an undeniable fact that digital spaces have become cluttered. The recipients of the annual report may need to spare a considerable amount of time to find it in their inbox. On the contrary, they can check out printed annual reports anytime and from anywhere.
• Top-tier print service providers have the ability to transform bland and boring annual reports into engaging ones with the help of innovative design styles and materials. Such additions lend the annual report a collectible value, increasing the business’s goodwill.
• Creating printed annual reports takes considerably more time and effort than publishing digital ones. These additional efforts demonstrate that you’re serious about your business’s growth, which is typically considered a positive indication by potential investors.

However, the process of creating printed annual reports involves some difficulties as well.

• The report has to be engaging enough in terms of graphic design and other elements, which require professional expertise. It means, in almost all cases, your business would need to hire a reputable print service provider for the job.
• Printing annual reports usually costs significantly more than publishing them digitally, and you’d also need to factor in the mailing costs.

​Digital Annual Reports

Here’re some unique advantages of having digital annual reports.

• You can quickly create a digital annual report, thanks to the availability of free and paid tools.
• Digital reports can easily be shared with others without bearing any additional cost. For non-profit organizations, this is a cost-effective way to attract more philanthropists.

Let’s take a look at some major disadvantages of digital annual reports.
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• There’ll be a high probability of the shareholders or potential investors not getting thoroughly involved with the report. This is simply because most people tend to skim online content.
• Free digital annual report makers often lack the features required to create truly captivating content. Therefore, you may either need to hire an expert professional or go for paid tools – both of which cost money.
• It may not be possible to send out digital annual reports to every intended recipient. This is because there’re still lots of people who aren’t tech-savvy or don’t have stable Internet connections.

How to Decide Between Printed Annual Reports and Digital Ones?

As now you’ve got a clear understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of both formats, it’s time to make the final decision.

Basically, the decision should depend on your business’s objectives and the report’s intended recipients. For example, if you want the report to be accessible to the general public, going digital should be your best bet. But again, you must consider the legalities as well in terms of meeting your business’s legal obligations to disclose sensitive information.

Printed annual reports will be your best option if you’re planning to provide potential investors with something tangible. It’ll also be
advantageous for older shareholders, in particular, who often don’t trust the Internet.

Ideally, you should maintain a mix of printed and digital annual reports and send them to appropriate recipients depending on their requirements.

For a huge number of businesses, the year 2020 was the most difficult one to sustain. As people locked themselves in their houses and flocked to online solutions, traditional businesses that weren’t quick to adapt their strategy lost consumers to online storefronts. However, things are slowly getting better now with states relaxing some rules and allowing traditional businesses to reopen.
If you too are planning to reopen your business or have already opened the doors, you must be thinking of strategies to win back customers. Check out these ideas to let the world know that your business is back again.

• Let your customers know of your cleaning regimen
  
  

A lot of customers are still cautious about visiting physical stores. Therefore, your marketing activities must include strategies to encourage them to come back. Keeping the current anxiety associated with COVID-19 in mind, it’s a must to keep your store clean and follow public health guidelines. Remember that if the customers see something unhygienic in your store, it won’t take much time for the negative impression to go viral. And this is certainly not the image you wish to project about your business. So, strictly follow the guidelines issued by the CDC and your state health department, and let your customers know that you’re doing it. Consider using big signage and standees, and have the details of your cleaning regimen printed on them clearly. It’ll help your customers remain assured that you’re doing everything to protect them from the virus.

• Share if something has changed
  
  

The ‘new normal’ has brought changes to almost everything associated with physical stores and hence, your customers won’t be surprised if your business has done something similar. However, the most important thing is communicating these changes to your customers clearly. Create banners and signage to inform them of the changes. Things you may want to mention include the maximum number of people you’re allowing in the store at a time, whether or not you’re accepting electronic transactions only, if you’re having senior hours, among others. Having changes in these times of uncertainty is absolutely normal. But if you don’t communicate these to your customers, they might assume that your business is still operating as it was doing in the pre-COVID situation, which might lead them to go elsewhere.

• Reconsider the pricing
  
  

These days, many of your customers might be looking for employment opportunities and hence, they’ll be the first ones to notice if the prices go up. So, why not provide special offers and offer discounts where possible? It’ll automatically help to increase consumer footfall while helping them save. If you’ve already done something similar or are thinking of doing it, contact a reputable printing company today to get innovative, eye-catching ideas to communicate your offers to the customers using printed materials.

• Leverage customer touchpoints
  
  

Whether your business is selling products/services both offline and online or just online, be sure to leverage customer touchpoints to let your existing customers know that you’re reopening the doors. When selling products/services online, ensure that every confirmation email includes the news. If you’ve customer service representatives, ask them to tell every caller about the reopening plans.

Closing thoughts
In addition to spreading the word, be sure to reward your loyal customers who’ve been buying from your business during the restrictions. Think of unique methods to thank them for their continuous patronage using signage and banners while letting them know of the reopening plans. While the present time is full of uncertainty, the above-mentioned ways should help your business win back lost customers in a warm and healthy manner.

Other Blog Posts that you might like:
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• Why Your Business Should Put Up COVID-19 Signs
• Why Use Direct Mail Printing To Reach Consumers During Covid-19
• How Promotional Items Can Breathe New Life Into Your Business

When it comes to distributing your business information, you rely on digital channels these days. Your potential clients can quickly learn about your business by visiting your website or social media pages. But what would happen if you’re going to see a client who has limited access to digital channels? How would you let him/her know of your company’s backstory, products/services, testimonials, and other crucial information? That’s precisely where traditional marketing tools like presentation folders can come to your rescue. And this is just one of many situations where professionally printed presentation folders not only serve essential purposes but help to establish your professionalism as well.

If you still haven’t started using presentation folders for your business yet, continue reading, and you’ll realize the true importance of this effective marketing tool.

Why your business should start using presentation folders right away

Here, we’ve jotted down three key benefits of using presentation folders that should help make up your mind.

1. Keep your presentations/documents organized

You’ve prepared a killer presentation for your business and printed it. But by the time you reach a client’s office, it’s all crumpled because you shove them into your briefcase. Your client notices that and immediately considers your business as unprofessional. However, when you use presentation folders, you can stay assured that everything is properly organized and securely kept. All you need to do is focus on your presentation or meeting.

1. Help your business stand out

When you send out information about your products/services or business proposals, you can maximize the impact by using branded presentation folders. Your clients probably receive lots of similar documents every day, and in case you cannot differentiate your business, yours will probably go unnoticed. But when you utilize branded presentation folders to send documents, the recipients will most likely notice them, which will help your business outshine the competitors.

1. Help to promote your brand

Since presentation folders are generally printed in A4/A5 size, you’ll get enough space to put your business’s logo, slogan, mission, and vision on them. You can also have them printed using your brand’s colors and mention your contact information on the covers. People who see the folders at meetings or conferences will get a clear picture of your business. They’ll remember your business after the meeting/conference even if they forget your presentation. And some of them might become your clients when they need products/services that your company offers.

Why presentation folders should be one of your primary marketing materials

By now, you’ve probably become convinced about using presentation folders for your business. Let’s see what makes these folders different from other marketing materials.

• They represent your business physically

When you hand a nicely printed presentation folder containing important documents over to one of your prospective clients, it creates a great first impression of your business. It helps to strengthen the professional facet of your business and establishes a personal connection as well, which often leads to business relationships.

• They are cost-effective

Presentation folders can be used for various purposes – from organizing documents for meetings/conferences and keeping public relations materials to gifting them as promotional items and utilizing them as complete marketing kits. So, by investing in high-quality presentation folders, you can fulfill a multitude of objectives. Moreover, when you partner with a top-tier printing house, you may get those folders at great prices, which means you can achieve your marketing goals without spending a fortune.

Wrapping up
As you can see, presentation folders let you show the best side of your business whenever you bring them along, which’s half the battle. So, make them an integral component of your business’s marketing effort today, and you should be able to see the ROI pretty quickly.
 
DFW Printing offers a wide variety of presentation folders - different sizes and custom imprints inside and out, business card slots and custom coating are available - contact us today to discuss your presentation folders!

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Many business owners overlook the power of promotional items thinking that they don’t have enough potential to increase sales. However, the truth is, these simple items have more power than many other marketing strategies. If you too belong to the above league and have been spending heavily on marketing and advertising without any significant result, it’s time to change your strategy.
In this post, we’re going to show you the factors that set promotional items apart from other marketing materials and the key benefits that you can enjoy by using them.

Why promotional items make your marketing strategy more effective

Here’re the key factors that help you understand why businesses love gifting promotional merchandise.

• They create a long-lasting impact

If your potential customers cannot even recall your brand, would it be possible for them to buy from you? Of course not, no matter how much you spend on advertising! And that’s precisely where promotional items allow you to outshine your competitors. When you choose relevant articles that can be used by your customers regularly, they’ll be able to remember/recognize your brand immediately whenever they need your products/services. While achieving this kind of instant brand recognition usually takes several strategies and considerable investments, promotional items make the process fast, cost-effective, and much more manageable.

• They help in target marketing

You can always advertise your products/services on billboards, television, or social media to place them in front of a broad audience. Still, you won’t be able to focus on your target audience specifically. But with promotional items, you control the distribution and ensure they reach people who might be particularly interested in your products/services. This leads to a more effective marketing strategy and better ROI.

• They help to build customer loyalty

Having a loyal customer base is the ultimate goal for any business owner. You need a robust pool of customers who’ll remember, recognize your brand and come to you whenever they need something related to your business. Instead of spending a hefty amount of money on other marketing materials, you can quickly build your customer base by using affordable yet highly effective promotional items. However, remember that you’ve to provide your customers with high-quality promotional merchandise to accomplish this goal. By gifting premium quality products, you can ensure that your customers will remember you as a good, customer-centric business.


Top benefits of using promotional items

Now that you know what makes promotional items different from other marketing merchandise, it’s time to understand their key benefits.

• They are inexpensive

Most small and medium-sized businesses don’t have the budget to conduct a large advertising campaign covering all the media. But it doesn’t mean that they cannot achieve their marketing goals. Inexpensive promotional items give you the perfect opportunity to reach out to your target customers. And if your business has the budget, you can invest the excess amount to improve your core business operations. Moreover, if you hand out unique promotional products, the recipients will tend to use and keep them for years. By making a minimal investment, you’re creating a commercial that the recipients will regularly see along with their family and friends at least once.

• They can be used like a business card

Just like you hand out your business card to introduce your business to potential customers, promotional items let you do the same but bring much better results. These products won’t be thrown away as people usually do with business cards. Instead, the recipients will be using them and remember your business for months and even years.

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Closing thoughts

Hopefully, by now, you’ve made up your mind to focus on promotional items. Just be sure to create ones that reflect your business’s mission and vision and are helpful to the recipients. So, make a small investment, start handing promotional items out to your target customers, and let them do the trick.

DFW Printing Company is offering a huge selection of promotional items - click here to browse:

​If your business store in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is struggling to attract adequate foot traffic, you’re not alone. As businesses like yours try to navigate the uncharted territory in this pandemic-affected landscape, they’re realizing the importance of making their customers feel safe and informed to encourage them to step inside their stores. To do this, businesses are increasingly getting custom signs printed. If you too want to walk down the same road, consider printing custom COVID-19 signage from an experienced printer like DFW Printing Company.

If you think this is an unnecessary investment in these tough times, you can’t be farther from the truth. As customers are acting increasingly wary, it’s your responsibility to use printed signs, banners, posters, etc., to emphasize how you’re keeping your store or restaurant safe and healthy for both your employees and customers. At the same time, educating people about the protective and compulsory measures you’ve taken for entering your store is equally important to promote, thus showing your business’s responsible side to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

If you’re still not convinced why your business store needs custom signage to attract more footfalls, here are some reasons that could make you change your mind:
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• Promote your caring side: Your business needs to promote the steps it’s taking to ensure the health and safety of all your employees to make shopping a safe experience for your customers. For example, your store may have taken preventive measures like running a daily temperature check every day before allowing each of your employees inside the store, having set up a hand sanitizer machine for them to use, running periodic disinfection of the facilities and high-touch surfaces, or having a provision for employees to take sick leave if someone feels unwell or has been running a temperature since last night. By printing posters and banners that talk about such steps, your business can prove it’s doing all it can to keep the space safe and healthy.
• Keep your customers informed: Is your store offering only take-out services or curb-side pickups? Has your business opening and closing hours changed? Is it mandatory for all store visitors to wear a mask? Or practice social distancing? By making sure your customers have the right and adequate information via custom printed indoor and outdoor signs, banners, flags, window decals, floor graphics and decals, etc., you can let them know what you’re doing to protect them. This would boost their waning confidence in your business due to COVID-19 and encourage them to make in-person visits to your store. You could even use custom signage to educate your customers about preventive measures they can follow to stay safe from coronavirus like not standing too close to others (by putting up floor decals or signs to stand 6 feet apart), frequently washing their hands, wearing a face mask, or avoid visiting a crowded place, etc.
• Put up other important notices: If you’re hiring, you could put up posters, banners, signs, etc. to attract potential employees’ attention. To avoid your store from getting crowded with these job seekers, your printed signs could prominently display your business email where potential employees need to send their resumes to get shortlisted and be considered for an interview. In case you - as an employer, are covered under the FFCRA (Families First Coronavirus Response Act) and must provide paid sick leave and expanded medical and family leave under the FFCRA, you must put notices in a prominent place on your premises. This requirement can be fulfilled by choosing a reliable print partner to print these notices. 

COVID-19 requires a lot from businesses like yours. Let us be your reliable printing partner to get your custom signage created and put up to instill confidence in your employees and customers. 

https://www.dfwprintingcompany.com/blog/why-use-direct-mail-printing-to-reach-consumers-during-covid-19

​https://www.dfwprintingcompany.com/blog/why-you-shouldnt-overlook-the-power-of-custom-printing-solutions