Long before the days of SEO copy and pay-per-click ads, there was the brochure. Posted through letterboxes, picked up at trade events, or handed over by charming salespeople, they hung around our homes, on coffee tables and kitchen countertops, eventually put away only to be rediscovered and re-read months or years later.
When it comes to powerful ways to market your business, a brochure is up there with the best. Not only is a brochure relatively inexpensive compared to other forms of advertising but it can be given directly to your target audience. Plus, brochures stick around for ages.
Here are 5 reasons why investing in this tried-and-tested marketing tool written by a professional copywriting agency is well worth it. Plus learn about the 7 building blocks of a great brochure.
5 Reasons Your Business Needs Brochures
1. They’re Comprehensive
Compared to online adverts like PPC ads, which have character limits sometimes as low as 25, a brochure offers far more space for you to include all the important information your customers need to know. This allows brochure copywriters to go into more detail, anticipating questions and objections, and clearly identifying and explaining the benefits and USP of your product, brand or business.
2. They’re Versatile
There are many different types of brochures on offer depending on your needs. Here are a few different types for you to consider:
- Bi-fold: this is the most traditional type of brochure. It’s essentially a piece of paper folded in half like a booklet. It’s a simple and straightforward way to convey information.
- Tri-fold: like a bi-fold brochure, these are fairly common but offer slightly more space for more complex products and services.
- Gate-fold: these are associated with high-end brands and include lots of space for high-quality images or eye-catching graphic design.
- Flyers and leaflets: these usually only have a single page and are easy for people to ignore and pass over. Therefore it’s important to make them stand out with unusual and exciting designs.
- Parallel-map fold: these are ideal for those who need to communicate a lot of information as they have heaps of space for different sections of text.
3. They’re Very Accessible
You can leave your brochure pretty much anywhere that your target audience is likely to go, from trade shows and networking events to your reception desk or business lunches. You can also send them out in direct mail and media kits.
In this sense, brochures are an extremely targeted marketing tool and so more likely to get results.
What’s more, people don’t require access to the internet to read a brochure. They don’t need to take that extra step of typing in your website address. It’s right there, in front of them, ready to be picked up and perused.
4. They’re Physical
Sure, we’re living in an age of all things digital and everyone’s bemoaning the downfall of print. But a hard copy still packs a punch. In fact, a brochure is all the more powerful for being a little different. People value that you’ve invested time and money in printed material and tend to associate brochures with more trustworthy and established brands.
The online space is crowded and noisy. We all receive too many emails and have too many tabs open in our browsers. And so sitting down to read something you can actually hold and touch is refreshing. In fact, studies have shown peoplespend more time reading physical material than they do online and tend to understand it better.
Once people have closed a browser window or finished reading an email, they may well forget all about you. But brochures are here to stay.
In fact, ??brochures delivered via door-drop marketing stay in a house for 38 days on average and 23% get circulated around family members. During this time, your logo and company name will become increasingly familiar to people, building brand recognition.
5. They’re Cost-Effective
Brochures offer great value for money. Ordering a bulk load, in particular, usually comes with discounts and offers a solid return on investment. 61% of people buy products after seeing them in a brochure. For small businesses and startups with tight budgets, brochures are a cheap and effective alternative to online marketing such as PPC.
Additionally, provided your brochure copywriter includes evergreen information, it won’t date and can be used again and again.
7 Tips for a Brochure That Actually Brings in Customers
1. Answer Your Customer’s Questions
The first step for any brochure copywriter is to research and analyze the target demographic. You want to work out who your audience is and what their needs are. Think of all the questions they’re likely to ask and make sure each one is clearly answered. You don’t want to leave them with any doubts.
When running through the features of your product or service, emphasize what these features can do for your customer. What are the benefits? Why does that particular feature matter? How can it answer their particular pain point? Use words like “you” and “yours” to make it feel like you are addressing them personally.
However, be wary of including too much information. While you want your brochure to be comprehensive, you don’t want to overwhelm or confuse. Keep to the point and stay concise.
2. Choose a Catchy Headline
Like any other piece of content, an exceptional brochure needs a pithy and eye-catching headline. Most people will scan your brochure before examining it in more depth so try to communicate the essence of your message in your headline.
Brochure copywriting also means considering tone. Do you want to appear young, fun, and conversational or rather sensible, dependable, and informative? Exclusive and exotic or accessible and approachable? Your headline, along with the rest of your content, should align with your brand identity.
3. Break it Up
A wall of text is intimidating. Use subheadings and bullet points to break up your content into manageable and easy-to-digest chunks.
Create a clear structure that leads the reader from one section to the next in a way that’s flowing and natural.
4. Make it Beautiful
Hiring a talented designer to work on the layout and aesthetics of your brochure is money well spent. After all, you need it to stand out in a sea of many others, especially at trade shows where people leave with bags full of leaflets and flyers.
Good design—appealing colour schemes and thoughtfully placed white space—can also make it easier to read.
Include attractive imagery that feels up-to-date. Avoid generic and stock photography and make sure all images are the right size and high resolution. Illustrations can offer an original element to your brochure.
Just as important as the graphics and visuals are the ink and quality of the paper. Consider the difference between a glossy sports car magazine and a flimsy takeaway menu. People know when corners have been cut and are more likely to keep a high-quality brochure so it’s worth using the best quality print services as well as a great brochure copywriting service.
5. Bring in Backup
To really reinforce your message, include a couple of testimonials from clients or endorsements or accreditations. Customer reviews are extra powerful if you include a photo of the customer or their name. This will boost trust and instil confidence in readers.
6. Include at Least One CTA
To ensure your brochure offers tangible ROI, you need readers to take action. This might be to like or follow you on social media, sign up for your email newsletter, get in contact with your sales team, or refer you to a friend.
Use power words and clear imperatives. Make sure the contact information is easy to find and offer multiple channels of communication: website, email, and telephone number, as well as any social media platforms.
7. Start Distributing
Where you choose to distribute your brochure is ultimately up to you but a few places to consider are your reception area and any other high-traffic areas. You may also want to consider mail-outs as well as handing your brochure to prospective clients directly at events and meetings. This has the bonus of feeling personal and you’ll be right there to answer any questions.
Brochures: Here to Stay
It’s clear that the brochure isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It’s a cost-effective and ultra-versatile marketing tool that stands out and feels refreshingly different when everything else we read is digital. But while a great brochure will boost sales, a bad brochure will keep customers firmly away.
At Lime Copywriting, our brochure copywriting service is the first step in getting a high-quality brochure out into the big wide world. Our team of skilled brochure copywriters will create content for your brochure that hooks readers, clearly conveys your message, and persuades and encourages action. Find out more by getting in touch here.
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