Creating the Right Brochure

There are few better selling tools than an attractive brochure placed into the hands of your customer or potential customer. Creating such a brochure does not have to be a difficult task. Here are a few steps to follow.  

Decide on Your Purpose
Brochures fall into two broad categories — those that introduce a new product or service to a likely customer and those that turn an already interested customer into a buyer. To be successful, a brochure should have a precise objective and a target reader in mind. It's best to create the least elaborate brochure likely to achieve its objectives. The content of your brochure will depend on the specific service or product you want to promote. Product photos, testimonials, benefits, your unique selling proposition, and contact information are all components to consider.

Use Color
Today’s market place demands color. Full color is especially important if the product or service you are offering needs color to show its features. Most product brochures, for example, won’t work effectively in anything other than full color. Can you imagine any food, cosmetics, florists, or auto brochures being done in black and white? Even service businesses can benefit from a color presentation. Financial or legal services may get by with black and white or single color, but dental services, veterinarians, home improvement, hair stylists, or similar services will usually opt for color. Take a look at the mailers you receive or the ad inserts in the newspaper - color is now the norm.

Get Good Design
Of course, a lot more goes into an effective brochure than just color. Type fonts and sizes, white space, choice of images, and layout, along with the essential message, all combine to determine if your brochure will have the intended result. A professional designer who thoroughly understands your marketing message is the optimum way to go. If you do not use professional design, be sure to collaborate closely with your printer to insure that your final product will print as you intend.

Tie into Your Website
We live in a digital world. Your brochure, like your business card, should contain information that will direct your customer to your web site. You might even consider using a QR Code that will allow a customer or prospect to access your web site immediately with his smart phone.

 10 Common Mistakes to Avoid
 1. Not emphasizing the unique selling proposition of your business.
 2. Being concerned with the looks, but forgetting the sales objective.
 3. Omitting essential contact information.
 4. Omitting product information critical to the reader’s decision-making.
 5. Including details that become outdated too quickly.
 6. Giving insufficient thought to how the brochure will be distributed.
 7. Using text that is lost in the background color or too small to read easily.
 8. Including low resolution or poor-quality images.
 9. Allowing a busy or complex design to distract from the key selling message.
10.Not proofreading very carefully before submitting your file for printing