Brand building and name recall are important aspects of any business. These factors help create a corporate identity. With a well built up corporate identity, consumers may assign their trust to you and your products. As such, you can expect sales growth and consumer loyalty.
Letterheads are part of the ways how businesses build their corporate identity. Along with other marketing paraphernalia like business cards, brochures, posters and advertisement, the letterhead can enhance the image of a company/ product. This is why normally letterheads are part of the marketing plan. It is one of the most frequently sent out piece of corporate paper, probably more than the marketing brochure or flyer.
To optimize its marketing potential, the letterhead should be effective in sending its message across. Whether the point of a letterhead is to sell a product, build your brand or company awareness, or just to get your name out, it should be well designed.
The basics in effective and well-designed letterheads include having the correct information and a good print layout.
Your letterhead will carry vital information about your company. It should have your telephone and fax information, as well as your office address. It would also be helpful to have a general inquiry email address in there as a lot more people a preferring to correspond online. As such, all information in the letterhead should be double-checked for correctness. It would be a waste of paper and of your printing investment if any of these information were incorrect.
At the same time, the layout of the letterhead should be conceptualized well. First of all, it should be easy on the eyes of the recipient. Badly laid out letterheads may just frustrate some people. Bad layout also wastes the marketing opportunity in letterheads.
Some elements in layout that you need to consider include color, font size and font style:
1. Regarding color, choose colors that blend well with your logo. It is always necessary to have your logo in the letterhead as it builds brand recall. The color of the letterhead will then depend on what works best with the logo. You may also consider black and white printing if it provides the best look for your letterhead. Cost difference between black and white and colored printing is negligible. The overall look of the letterhead should be the deciding factor.
2. Font Style and Size: With millions of fonts available and more added each day, it is important to select the right font for your letterhead. In terms of style, your selected font should not contrast your most used font in typing out daily correspondences. Too much contrast in terms of font style may make the whole document look off. Likewise, using unfamiliar fonts may lend an amateurish feel to your company. Since letterheads are generally used for business correspondences, your selected font style should lean towards formal, business-style fonts.
As for font size, always remember that your goal is to be readable to your recipients. What’s the use of contact information, an amazing tag line and a really convincing call to action if your recipient cannot read the information?