14 August 2015
 Categories: , Blog

Rack cards combine the eye-catching shape of a brochure with the thicker durability of a business card. Yet these beautifully printed marketing materials can still linger and gather dust on a display rack if you don't motivate people to pick them up. Make your rack card useful to the people who pass them with one or more of these four tricks to increase the impact of your advertising efforts.

Educate Readers

All that prime space on a rack card doesn't have to get filled up with pictures of your products or copy extolling the virtues of your service. Think outside the box by printing useful tips, tricks, and hints on your card, either for the business area your company focuses on or the general geographical area around your marketing display. Don't worry about your DIY toilet unclogging tips being so helpful the customer won't call for your help -- even if they fix their problem now, your efforts to offer educational content helps turn them into a long-term customer.

Add Maps

Few things are as frustrating as getting lost upon first arriving in a new area. If you're advertising a tourist attraction or hotel, supersize your usual map that only shows your location and include street level details for as much of the city as possible. This keeps the rack card in a person's hands as they use and reuse the map, instead of the card ending up in the trash shortly after it is picked up.

Attach Samples

You can't staple a burrito or brand name t-shirt to a rack card, but you can include samples like:

• Fabric swatches or color adjusted photos to help buyers check how a product would match their home
• Tiny flat slabs of candy, gum, or other sweet treats
• Pocket calendars and other flat promotional items for a double attempt at marketing to the same person.

Keep in mind you may need to buy your own display racks for the businesses hosting your advertising materials if adding samples to the cards makes it hard for them to fit in the standard holders.

Include Coupons

It's been a classic technique to stick attention grabbing coupons on rack cards for the businesses printing the material. How about thinking outside the box by adding coupons good for the place displaying the cards instead? You may need to pay the restaurant or business displaying your rack cards to compensate for the coupon, but it's sure to get your materials a lot more attention.

Once you've made your decision, talk with professional printing companies, like M13 Graphics, and start sending out your useful rack cards today.