You might be surprised that despite the popularity of online communications, print collateral is surviving - and thriving.
Which means Brochures and Sales Letters aren't headed for the archives just yet. In fact, they're more popular than ever with your clients.
Good Brochures enhance your company's image, drive sales and generate leads. Sadly though, good brochures are hard to find. Most, I'm sure are never opened let alone produce any significant returns.
One of the biggest mistakes is assuming that a Brochure can be all things to all people. It can't!
Without determining its position within the sales cycle and adding relevant content, a brochure is just another piece of pretty paper. And given they're not cheap to design and print, it makes sense that they're held as accountable as your sales team.
First of all - by itself, any piece of marketing collateral is worthless. But if it's integrated into a well orchestrated marketing plan, supported by friendly customer service and a differentiated product, it can go a long way in fulfilling your marketing goals.
Does my Business need a Brochure?
Unless your business is 100% online then it's more than likely you'll be relying heavily on some print collateral. And the longer your sales cycle is - (from enquiry to purchase) the more important print materials become.
But before you rush to design a new brochure, have a think about the type of brochure you need.
Because - not all brochures are the same.
Let's look at some of the popular types.
- Point of sale brochures
- Lead generating brochures
- Sales support brochures
- Response to further information requests
Point of sale brochures
This is probably the most popular (and common) type that generally grace the counters of most Banks and Professional services providers. (Dentists, Lawyers, Doctors etc).
They're designed to arouse curiosity about your services, enhance your company's image and highlight the benefits of doing business with you. Designed for clients to tuck away in their pockets and save for when they need you.
Lead generating brochures
These are generally designed to accompany a sales letter which is often mailed out to prospects who are unaware of your existence. The aim of this mailing is to generate enquiries for further information about your products or services. The copy needs to be customer focused and include a powerful call to action to encourage an immediate response.
Sales Support brochure
Generally used as a "leave behind" after a sales presentation. Attendees don't need to take notes as your brochure summarises your presentation's key points. Good for trade shows and sales meetings.
Response to further information request brochures
This type of brochure is sent to prospects that have already shown some interest in your product or service. They might just need some more information before committing to a purchase. This type of brochure is commonly used in B2B sales and needs to further highlight your product's benefits - and features - especially if it's a high tech product.
Included in this should be a strong call to action or a limited time special offer.
There are of course other types of brochures you can have such as a product list with accompanying prices.
I'm not a fan of these as prices can go out of date very quickly. In this case you could design a product list with a removable price list insert that can be updated quickly and cheaply.
What size does my Brochure need to be?
Well, that depends on the type of brochure you need.
Brochures vary from the popular tri-fold A4 that fits neatly into a standard DL envelope or a counter stand to a 12 or more page A4 booklet. It just depends on the purpose and the content you need to provide to motivate your audience to take action.
For example: if you're selling an expensive piece of high tech equipment to the medical profession, it's going to take a lot more than a simple tri-fold to clench the deal.
On the other hand - if you're trying to promote your business' products or services to a targeted audience - a tri-fold Slim Jim will do just nicely.
Do's and Don'ts of creating a Brochure
- Do - make your brochure about your audience - not you
- Don't - attack the competition in your copy
- Do - have a headline grabber to attract attention and motivate your reader to open the brochure
- Don't - use jargon in your copy
- Don't - brag about yourself or your company's achievements
- Do - address potential barriers to sales in your copy
- Do - include full contact details and addresses. Maybe even include a map
- Do - show understanding of your client's needs, fears, problems or concerns
- Do - show them how your products or services can help
- Do - focus on the tone and voice of your copy and make sure it's targeted to your audience
- Do - spell check your copy for spelling mistakes
- Don't - use reverse printing (white print on a dark background) it's hard to read
- Don't - use a fancy or hard to read font - keep it simple
- Don't - make it longer than it needs to be. Be ruthless in removing repetitious sentences or filler words
- Do - balance visuals (graphics and pictures) with copy (words)
- Don't - forfeit words for pictures unless the picture says more than words written in the same space can
And after all that - do consider quantities before going to print. Decide how many brochures you need to fulfil the purpose and stick with that number.
Although it may be tempting to take advantage of a reduced cost for a larger print run, brochures can go out of date very quickly. You don't want to be stuck with 1,000 brochures that are obsolete because you've updated or changed something in your business. (Trust me, it can happen more often than you think)
Besides - in marketing, testing and measuring results is critical in determining the power of your collateral to deliver results. If you don't get a favourable response from your brochure, you'll need to change it.
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