Brochures the Why? What? Who? How?

Why?

Most companies these days have a website so I can hear you asking why do I need a brochure? A website cannot replace the immediate visual impact of placing a brochure into a prospective clients hands.

A well designed brochure will give your company credibility, clients like to see that a company has invested in itself and a well written and presented brochure will show just that.

As all of us business owners know, it is extremely difficult to get in front of your prospects and so most of our contact is made over the phone or by mail. A cover letter to a prospective client will only present a fraction of the information they require and whereas a letter may be read quickly and binned a brochure can contain all the relevant information and is typically kept by a prospect to be looked over at a later time.

What?

What is the purpose of my brochure?

Firstly, you need to define what your brochure should be doing and then carry out some research.

Do you need one or many? Are you going to have one brochure listing all your company’s products or a separate brochure for each product?

Who?

Who is going to be receiving your brochure? Are they for new or existing customers?

Is it for a specific campaign or for general use throughout your business?

You may require an initial lightweight sales brochure to draw in new customers and then a heavier information led brochure for requests for further information.

If you decide on two or more they will each need to be targeted to the different audiences because if you send out the wrong brochure you are just wasting your money.

How?

There are many thoughts on the best way to go about producing your brochure, the first is to employ everyone you need from copywriters, to marketing experts, to graphic design agencies and stock photo libraries but if your budget won’t allow for that you will need to decide what you can and can’t afford.

Have a look at some online brochures, speak with graphic designers/graphic design agencies and get some ideas of the price for design and print. If design does not fit into your budget there are many online templates which may be of help to you.

Always know who your target audience is and what message will get their attention. Find out what type of brochure and level of sophistication is crossing your target audiences desks, there is no point in sending out a tri-fold leaflet if your competitors are sending out glossy 32 page brochures, with matt laminated and spot UV cover.

Early research will save you time and money when it comes to getting down in writing what you want to say and you know your company better than anyone else. Take a look at your competitors, how are they selling themselves and is it effective? What approach have they taken and does any part of it jump out at you?

Do some customer analysis – think about what your customers want to know and then answer this in a logical sequence, speak with your existing customers and find out why they bought from you. Any testimonials are always great to include in your brochure.

For the front cover, think of the benefits of your product or thought provoking statements which will motivate your prospect to pick up your brochure and read it.

If you are using the one brochure for many products ensure you have a contents page as your clients will not want to be wasting time flicking through your brochure to find the relevant information.

Remember AIDA see previous post on “How to utilise your leaflets effectively”

Attention – Interest – Desire – Action

Ensure that you have included all key information in your brochure, your mailing address, telephone numbers, email address and website and get someone else to proof read it.

Do not include any information which is likely to change in the next 12 months, there is no point in spending several hundred possibly thousands of pounds if the information becomes obsolete before you have managed to distribute them all.

Have an idea of your print budget and how many your require and then with the help of your printer/print manager you can work out what you can achieve for your budget.

Remember you don’t have to have a standard size, depending on your budget you can change the size of your brochure to make it stand out from the crowd. However, if your brochure is going to be mailed out anything of an unusual size will cost more in envelopes and postage than a standard size brochure and so must be taken into account when working out your budgets.

Always ensure that your graphics are the highest quality possible (at least 300dpi – dots per square inch) so they will print satisfactorily. Make sure your text is enthusiastic and stay away from clichés, technical jargon and crowded text.

Use the right paper, if you are unsure ask your printer/print manager for some samples.

A brochure is not the end of your marketing material but should be used in conjunction with other advertising material such as direct mail, online promotions or as a tool by your sales people. A brochure will not close the sale; that is for you to do, so always remember to follow up sending out your brochure with a call.