Marketing is about more than just printing some brochures or handing out a few flyers. A solid marketing campaign is going to be composed of a variety of different forms and a strong knowledge of what those forms entail, including the timing involved with each.

Take for instance calendar printing. This is going to be a once a year marketing push. You'll need plenty of time in advance to design your calendars, decide on the right type of images you want to use, the theme, and ensure your color calendars get into people's homes. Because you're only going to be doing it once a year, you'll need to put more time into planning your calendar printing and designs than you might with other, smaller forms of marketing, because if you don't end up with the best calendar possible, you'll have a whole year before you can get another shot.

Postcards are about the exact opposite. They're more often than not a continuous, yearlong form of marketing. You'll be sending out postcards on a monthly, if not weekly basis to different customers to gain the fullest impact. Instead of a single postcard push, you need to have a certain amount of your attention always focused on getting the next postcard out there.

Posters require more research than they do time to implement. The locations you focus on will be one of the most important factors to consider, and takes a front seat to everything else. That means you have to be prepared for a lot of research ahead of time.

Brochures are a bit of a middle ground. Because a brochure is harder to create, most companies aren't making new ones every other day. Instead you'll see new brochures every few months or so, and are likely going to be connected to larger events that require a strong marketing presence. Big sales, product launches, and other major events will have brochures along with them.

What exactly does this mean for you? Before getting into any kind of advertisement you need to first be aware of the time investment needed. If you treat postcards similar to calendars and only do a single, once a year postcard campaign, you'll be failing to capitalize on the strength of the postcard; just as if you're constantly designing new brochures, you'll probably end up spending more money than needed.

Whatever kind of advertisement you decide to use you need to do your research first to find out the best way to implement your marketing. Timing is going to be a key factor. If you want to keep your message out there, look into postcards, flyers, or posters, rather than brochures. Only by understanding your advertising options and what work they require will you be in a position to best pick the one for you."