We received so much positive feedback from last month's blog post on busting the jargon around graphic design that we thought we'd treat you to a glossary for printing terms! So here goes...

Binding
Method by which pages of a publication are held together.

Bleed
Additional printing area outside the normal printing area. Necessary for the allowance of the mechanical cutter in the trimming process.

Creep
Tendency of a printed image to drift out of register or position during the printing process.

CTP
Abbreviation for 'Computer to Plate', the method of making printing plates direct from digital media.

Die cutting
Process that uses sharp steel blades, laser beams or water jets to cut predetermined shapes into substrates.

Digital proof
Soft or hard copy proof produced from digital data on a display or on a substrate.

Drilling
Process that uses drills to bore holes in a substrate, for example in paper inserts which will be bound in a ring binder.

Embossing
System that uses dies to press raised images or textures onto blank or printed substrates.

Encapsulation
The process of covering and sealing printed paper or board with a tough waterproof, plastic film. An overlap is usually left around the edge. Often mistakenly referred to as 'lamination'.

Fill in
Undesirable effect in which small non-image areas are filled by ink.

Gloss lamination
A printing finish that gives a high gloss sheen often used on brochure covers, menus, magazine covers or presentation folders.

Gravure printing
A process in which the printing areas are below the non-printing surface. The recesses are filled with ink and the surplus is cleaned off the non-printing with a blade before the paper contacts the whole surface and lifts the ink from the recesses.

GSM
Measure of paper density. Stands for ‘Grams per Square Metre’. The higher the GSM number, the heavier the paper. For example, standard A4 office paper is 80 gsm.

Hickey
Imperfection on a printed sheet caused by unwanted particles that can cling to the image carriers during lithographic printing.

Imposition
Positioning pages in order to ensure correct sequence when the resulting print work is converted to final page form.

Laminating
The application of transparent plastic film, usually with a high-gloss or matt finish, to the surface of the substrate to enhance its appearance, increase the thickness and stiffness and to increase its durability. Differs from 'encapsulation'.

Letterpress printing
A process in which the printing surface of metal, plastic photopolymer or rubber is raised above the non-printing surface. The ink rollers and the substrate touch only the relief printing surface.

Lithographic printing
Process for printing from a smooth surface, called a plate, to a substrate, generally paper. Based on the rule that ink and water repel each other. The image area of the plate is treated to receive and transmit ink to paper via a blanket. The non-image area of the plate is treated to attract water and thus reject the ink from the ink roller.

Matt lamination
A printing finish that gives a subtle, tactile effect, and forms a protective coating over the print. Gives a less glossy finish than gloss lamination.

Moiré
Interference patterns that can appear at regular frequencies when two or more patterns on an image interact with each other (for example a fine check pattern).

Offset printing
The most commonly used printing technique in which the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface.

Pagination
Making up into page format.

Perfect binding
Adhesive binding – gluing together individual pages or signatures directly to the cover of the book. Best used when the spine thickness is from 3mm to 25mm.

PP
Acronym standing for 'Printed Pages'. For example a brochure may have 16pp.

Perfecting
Printing the second side of the sheet. Also known as backing up.

Process colours
The colours used for four-colour process printing: yellow, magenta, cyan and black.

Raster Image Processor (RIP)
Processor that creates a bitmapped image from any other form of electronic file.

Register marks
Small reference patterns, guides or set of fine line crosses, added outside the image area to provide points for alignment and registration of subsequent colours in printing operations.

Run on
The additional cost to print further copies at the same time as the main print run.

Saddle stitching
To stitch with wire through the back of a folder booklet or brochure. At a larger pagination this method will not work, and a different option such as perfect binding will be used.

Screen printing
Often called silk screen printing. A stencil process with the printing and non-printing areas on one surface, the printing (image) area is open screen. The substrate is placed under the screen and ink is passed across the top of the screen and forced through the open (image) areas on to the substrate below.

Self cover
A brochure or booklet having the cover in the same substrate as the text pages (inside pages).

Signature pages
Professionally printed books have many pages printed per sheet of (large) paper, which is then folded and cut where necessary to produce a gathering or 'signature' of several smaller sheets.

Spot colour
Colour created from a single ink, which is not one of the process colours.

Spot UV
A special printing finish you can apply to specific areas on your print work to make it shinier. For example you can apply UV varnish to your logo.

Stitching
Method of binding pages in a booklet, for example using wire, thread or metal/plastic rings.

Stochastic screening
Printing process that uses the variations of spacing of tiny dots of uniform size and density to render tones.

Substrate
The base material that images will be printed onto, for example paper or card.

Web printing
The use of rolls (or 'webs') of paper supplied to the printing press in a continuous form. Generally used for runs in excess of five or ten thousand impressions. Typical examples of web printing include newspapers, newspaper inserts/ads, magazines, direct mail, catalogues and books.

So you're a business owner and you've heard that Twitter is a great marketing tool. You've set up an account and are faced with Twitter's text box asking “What's happening?”

What should you say?

Before you start typing away about your latest offers, take a step back and consider your social media strategy. This needn't be a long and drawn out process. We've written a blog post with some tips to point you in the right direction.

Now you know why you're doing it and who you're talking to, it's time to get tweeting.

1. Use a catchy headline, clear English, and interesting content
Don't forget that Twitter is fast-paced. People usually skim-read the thousands of tweets that pop up in their news feeds every day. Try to make yours stand out.

2. Rewrite and repeat your best tweets
If you worked hard on a blog post or are proud of your new product or service, don’t be afraid to tweet about it a few times. When you repeat your tweet, make it different - don’t tweet the exact same words every time.

3. Tweet breaking news
If you tweet breaking news there is a good chance others will share the news as well, and your tweet might just spread. Make sure you use a hashtag...

4. Use #hashtags
Using a hashtag is as simple as adding the ‘#’ sign before a single word or phrase without spaces. If you tweet with a hashtag, anyone who does a search for that hashtag may find your tweet. Remember: don’t over-tag a single tweet and use hashtags only on tweets relevant to the topic.

5. Tweet about trending topics
By tweeting about a trending topic you give your tweet greater exposure than it typically will receive. Getting retweeted is an excellent way of extending your influence on Twitter. Retweets can lead to more followers, more traffic to your website, and more publicity for your business.

6. Use pictures
Twitter's own research has proven that including an image with your tweet increases engagement (i.e. more people will see, click on and retweet your tweet).

7. Use links
This isn't essential, but if you include a link to your own website (especially a relevant page) this can drive more traffic to your site. Use a URL shortener like bit.ly to save space – you've only got 140 characters. If you use a scheduling tool like Buffer, the system will automatically shorten any URLs for you.

8. Tweet often
It sounds obvious, but with over 300 million users worldwide (and growing), there is plenty of other noise on Twitter so you need to be persistent to make an impact.

9. Say thanks
Out of common courtesy it's worth taking the time to say thanks if people mention or retweet you. Also they will be more likely to retweet you in the future.

10. Help others
Help others get their message out and they will be much more likely to do the same for you.

11. Include @mentions
If you include the Twitter user name of others in your blog post, they'll be notified that you mentioned them. There's a good chance they will retweet your post when they find out they are in the post you are sharing. This often works for big brands too – but only if you say something nice about them!

12. Time your tweets
We use Buffer and Hootsuite to schedule our social media posts at the optimum times for ourselves and our clients. Scheduling your tweets in this way can help your content get maximum exposure.

13. Avoid too many self-references
If you focus too much on “me” and “my business”, tweets can resemble pushy sales pitches. Of course you need to talk about yourself, but remember that Twitter is a social platform so people will lose interest if it's only ever about you.

14. Run a Twitter competition / freebie
The better the prize you are willing to give away, the more likely people are to retweet your link. And if you offer a free online course, eBook, or digital content, you are more likely to get engagement.

15. Install Twitter buttons on your website
Installing a Twitter button onto every page or blog post on your website makes it easy for people to share your content. You can get one from Twitter and you'll probably be able to do this without your web developer's help.

16. Analyse your results
Use Twitter Analytics to find out what you're doing right (and wrong). You can drill down into the data to find out what's working best for you.

A call to action (CTA) is an image or line of text that prompts your customers - and potential customers - to take action.

This action could be anything: download an eBook, sign up for a webinar, get a coupon, attend an event, get in touch for a quote, etc. A CTA can be placed anywhere in your marketing - on your website, in your social media posts, in an email, or even at the end of a blog post.

CTAs are especially important on websites. Every site should have a ‘goal’ it wants users to complete.

So, how do you do it and what do you say?

1. Focus on the value your CTA provides
You need to communicate the benefits of responding. What will the user get out of completing the CTA? A special offer? Useful information? Early notification of an event or deal?

2. Address the user’s questions about the CTA
The user needs to trust you. They may have to make a payment or supply personal details. This means they often have questions which will need to be answered before they take action.
For example, make sure you tell people signing up for a newsletter how often you will email them. They will also want reassurance that you will not sell their details to a third party, and can unsubscribe at any time.

3. Don’t use too many
It’s important to focus your actions. If you use too many CTAs the user may become overwhelmed. Try to guide the user step by step. If you have more than one CTA, make sure they are distinct. If they are too similar users may not tell them apart.

4. Think about how you position your CTA
On a website, you should place it high on the page and in the central column. On other marketing materials, make sure it’s clear and easy to read.

5. Use blank space around your CTA
The more space you place around a CTA, the more attention you will draw to it. If you clutter your CTA with surrounding content it may get lost.

6. Consider using an alternative colour on your CTA
Colour is an effective way of drawing attention to your CTA. This is especially true if the rest of the website or marketing material has a muted colour scheme.

7. The bigger the better…within reason
The bigger your CTA, the more chance users will notice it. A large CTA also allows you to add more text. But don’t forget that size isn’t everything! As mentioned above, position, colour and surrounding space are also important.

8. Use urgency or scarcity to encourage action
Creating a sense of urgency by limiting supply will encourage people to act. You could use tactics such as:
- Offering limited time discounts
- Limiting supply
- Highlighting how quickly you are selling out
Some airlines and hotel booking websites show you how many other people are viewing that flight or hotel right now. This spurs people into action as they fear they might lose out.

9. Don't be annoying
You’ve probably experienced it yourself – people can be put off by the hard sell or an intrusive approach. For example, on websites try not to use too many pop-ups as users will simply click away from your site.

10. Follow through on your CTA
Consider what happens AFTER a user responds to your CTA. There might be a signup process or email confirmation. This process should be streamlined to ensure that users follow through to the end.

So here is our call to action....contact us to find out more about how we can help you create a website or marketing materials that work hard for you!

For all businesses, and particularly SMEs with restricted budgets, social media can be a valuable and very cost-effective method of marketing communications. That's if you know how to use it.

It's about involvement and brand-building, getting your name out there rather than using it as a direct sales tool. Compare it to being at a party. The person who stands there all evening talking about ME! ME! ME! will end up alone as everyone will slowly get bored and wander off. The person who asks questions, responds, gets involved and has interesting things to say will attract the bigger crowd. That's not to say you can't shout about how great you are now and again of course!

To make the most of this valuable marketing tool, make sure you've worked out your social media strategy. This isn't as difficult as it sounds. All you need to do is ask yourself some questions:

1. Why am I using social media?
Is it for website traffic? Conversions? Brand awareness? Creating a brand identity? Creating positive brand association? Communication and interaction with key audiences? Maybe it's a few of these.

2. Whose attention am I trying to get?
Okay, so you want to market that new line of products, for example. You still need to know your target audience for that product.

3. Which platforms do I want to use?
If you have enough time and resources to handle multiple social networking sites, that's great. If not, it's important to focus on one or two, or you could spread yourself too thin and end up going days or even weeks without activity.

4. Who's going to manage my page?
Would your social networking activity fall under a current employee's responsibilities, or do you need to bring in new talent? Will you do it yourself? Outsource to a professional? If you ever find yourself without the staffing resources to manage your page, don't stick your head in the sand, find the time to do it yourself or pay someone else to do it.

5. What's going to be the personality of my page?
Keep an eye on the 'voice' of your social networking site. People buy from other people, not from other companies so it may be useful to pick a person (yourself?) to represent your business.

Take some time to answer the questions above and you should have a clearer idea of where you want to go.

HOW DO I GET THERE?

If you're an SME or sole trader, you might have limited time to devote to your social media. That's fine. You can use tools like Buffer or HootSuite to schedule your posts.

You should also try to draw up a schedule – otherwise you'll either (1) never use your social media accounts, or (2) find yourself wasting time clicking endlessly from one link to the next...

There are a multitude of social media platforms out there. Don't think that you should be using them all. Stick to one or two that you think will be most suitable for your product or service, and devote your time to making sure they are kept up to date. Better to have one useful, well-maintained account than five half-used or dormant ones - it could reflect badly on your business.