Your marketing materials are a reflection of your company and your products. Every choice that you make in designing your marketing materials, from the color scheme to your font choices tell your clients who you are. However, do you know who you are? Do you know what image you are portraying to your clients? What is your design telling your potential clients?

If you are not sure, or if you just want to make sure, your marketing materials are still giving the message that you want, you need to do an analysis of your materials.

The best way to do this is with a survey. Ask people to look at your marketing materials and tell you how they feel. What do they know about your products from your marketing strategy?

One big point that survey takers will probably make note of is your color scheme. If you are using soft colors, like baby blue and light green and a soft yellow, that could give off a relaxed image. If you are using black and white, that might give off a straight-shooter image. No nonsense here. Alternatively, your color scheme could run to the other side of the gamut, with bright, vibrant colors screaming “look at me!” at the readers. This could show an energetic product, or it could be annoying, depending on whom you ask. Be sure you survey people that are in your target consumer group – teenagers would probably find bright colors exciting, while senior citizens could find them distracting or annoying. Who are you trying to reach? Moreover, again, what is your message?

What is the quality of your marketing piece? Did you use commercial color printing? Along with choosing the right color scheme is making sure that these colors are printed well in your materials. There is a big difference between the richness in color between your desktop printer and a professional printer.

Your photos or other images also convey a strong message. Analyze what kind of feeling your photos evoke. Are you using photos that are sharp, clear and almost aggressive to the eye? On the other hand, was your photo taken with a lens that lent a softer, dewier look to invoke a perhaps nostalgic image? Also, evaluate the colors in your photo, and how those colors mesh with your font colors or your paper color.

Moreover, speaking of font, what size is your font? The bigger the font, the more “louder” your design becomes. In addition, sans-serif fonts (the ones without “feet”) are bolder and have a sense of strength about them, whereas a flowing cursive can give off a regal feel.

How well are your marketing materials bringing in business? You can ask how people heard of you on your Web site, or in person. If they have their flyer with them, or say, they picked up a brochure. These are good signs that your marketing design is working.

Another way to analyze your materials is to write a purpose for each one. Then take a careful look – do the materials achieve that purpose? This could be where the surveys come in.