A well-designed brochure can be one of the most effective marketing tools for your business to get products and services into the hands of the masses (especially for small businesses). But, it’s important to get it right.
Why should your business use a brochure?
A beautifully-designed, eye-catching brochure is half the battle when it comes to getting your business noticed. By taking the print marketing path you’ll gain endless capabilities and benefits to both potential and existing customers. We’ve gone over a few to give you an idea.
Versatility
The design, layout, texture, and distribution of brochures are exceptionally versatile, allowing creative freedom in advertising. Brochures create a reflection of your business, and you can easily tailor the information to suit. They can be mass distributed by post, physical handouts at events, or however you wish to circulate them to your audience. This means you can print a lot at once because you know you’ll be able to use them at some point in the future.
Provide information
Brochures give you the opportunity to provide information about your business, products, and services in a succinct and visual way. For example, you could do this in story form to tell the narrative of your business. In addition, you can provide incentives to prospective and existing customers. It’s also easier to convey the appropriate messaging with your audience in a brochure than it is in a magazine or newspaper advert, as you have more ‘real estate’ on the paper that can be filled. And when compared to digital advertising, research has found that consumers read digital screen text 20%-30% slower than printed text, which means brochures are more engaging for getting a business’ message across.
Low cost option
Brochures can be produced at a very low cost, especially compared to other marketing options such as radio or TV advertising production, which won’t see a decline in cost anytime soon. Plus, (generally speaking) the more brochures you order, the less expensive each one becomes.
Good for referrals
As simple as the concept may seem, brochures can be handed from person to person in a free referral system. It sounds old school but the ability to refer a company and hand over the brochure can be crucial to low budget campaigns, and it does happen — so it definitely shouldn’t be discounted.
How to get started making your business a brochure
Choose which style of brochure you want
There are many options when it comes to brochures, from content to design and layout. While businesses generally opt for the tri-fold design, there are other alternatives, including:
- Half fold brochure – The half-fold is exactly how it sounds. A bit like when you’re making a birthday card, you fold the paper in half.
- Gate fold brochure – The gate fold (unfolded like opening a gate) can either be single or double. The single gate fold is traditionally used for graphic-heavy designs. The double gate fold is usually used for larger presentations.
- The four-panel fold – The four panel or accordion fold is good for promotional leaflets or programs as it opens up completely flat.
Of course, these can also be used together if you wish. It all comes down to what the business needs to effectively communicate, and how.
Create excellent copy
While copy is only one aspect of a brochure, it’s a pretty crucial element. Write too expressively, and you’ll lose your audience; write too simplistically, and you won’t be able to convey your business accurately. Follow these 8 tips to get the most out of your copy.
- Before you start, know what you’re trying to sell and who you’re trying to sell it to. For example:
- For new customers, you’ll need basic brochures which answer the most frequently asked questions.
- For reaching broad audiences, a mass market brochure with more detail on why your products and services are useful would be a good option.
- If you want an immediate impression, over the counter brochures that are simple and eye catching are best suited. These usually have only the essential information and are best for word of mouth distribution.
- If you want to incentivise existing customers to come back, a sales brochure that might promote a discount or special offer can increase productivity quickly.
- The cover is important — try to include an idea or a solution on the cover rather than just your business name.
- Speak to your customers, not at them. Determine your target audiences’ age, lifestyle or qualities, then show them you can solve their problems with your product by promoting trust, familiarity, and loyalty.
- When describing products or services, use specific language and get to the point. This is not the time to be smart with your copy, stay simple and informative.
- Sell benefits, not features. Emphasise how your products or services benefit the customer, not what they do.
- Don’t get too technical. If you need to be technical try to use visual aids such as graphs or diagrams rather than including it in the story.
- Be consistent in your voice through all your marketing collateral. Use the same tone and style across all mediums to ensure you present a unified brand position.
- Always include a call to action, and give your readers the information they need to get in touch with you. This could include a website, phone number and email address, plus any social media channels you have.
Charm them with the design
Designing a brochure is not a simple task, so we recommend you utilise the expertise of an experienced brochure designer. They can assist you to use the full space available, while you still maintain control over the project. Brief the designer, and make sure you have good communication about what you want. If you want graphs included, tell them. If you want specific images used, tell them. They can’t read your mind so make sure you explain to them exactly what you want. But, remember, they’re the experts in all things design, style, functionality, and appearance. At the end of the day, having a poorly designed brochure is going to cost you more, as your audience won’t engage with it effectively.
Get it printed
The final step to print is exciting and still very important. The quality of your brochure can define how it is received by potential customers. Poor-quality paper or graphics won’t show any confidence and will be thrown out immediately; quality brochures are more effective in the long run. If you’re looking to start print marketing for your company, at MVP PRINT we have a broad range of design and printing options. Our brochures can be printed on a variety of paper types (laserbond, gloss or silk) and in a number of sizes. Contact us about your brochure-printing needs today.
