BROCHURE DESIGN

Brochure Design Tips

The purpose of your brochure may vary from business to business. Some are designed to display services, whereas others are focused on selling an idea. No matter what the focus of the brochure is, it needs to be readable, intriguing, and functional. The brochure must grab a viewer's attention and hold it long enough to deliver the pertinent information.

How do you grab your customers' attention with just a piece of paper?

You could try by giving the viewer a paper cut, but that's not the kind of attention you want, is it? Seriously though, with so many brochures out there, how do you stand out? The answer is quite simple. Make sure your brochure is professionally designed, written, and printed.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when you hire a freelancer or agency to design your brochure:

1. Copy or Text is the key.Anyone can write copy, but only a skilled copywriter can write easy-to-read, strong sentence structures that articulate your company's message. Think of hiring a copywriter like trusting your lungs with a family doctor, wouldn't you rather go to a specialist?
    
2. Question Everything. No matter who is writing your copy, make sure the headline on the front of the brochure is in the form of a question. This question should make the viewer want to open the brochure to learn more. Try to focus on a problem that is most common in your target industry then tie it directly to a solution you provide your clients.
    
3. Color Matters. Stay in tune with your corporate colors. This will help keep an overall brand image in tact as well as strengthen the brand.
    
4. Type Issues. Typography should be relevant and thought out. Type is so strong that it can make or break a brochure. Stay away from typical fonts and try to stand out from other brochures in your field.
    
5. Picture This. If you do not need pictures to articulate a message, then do not use them. Most of the time people are prone to use so many pictures in a brochure, they don't realize they are clouding their message and making their brochure ineffective. Pictures are great, especially when relevant, but they draw reader's eyes away from the copy which you have spent so much time perfecting. So, use pictures with taste and if at all possible, don't use them at all.

Brochures, just like all of your marketing efforts, are very important and should not be taken lightly. 90% of the time you get what you pay for when it comes to design and printing. If you try to cut corners on your brochure you will end up spending more money down the road when you have to get it redesigned. Make sure you do it right the first time, and you will have a brochure that helps you make the biggest return on the investment.

Polishing up your company brochure

Your company's brochures and printed marketing pieces play a crucial role in gaining new customers, maintaining current ones, and ultimately growing your business. Your printed materials speak for your company when you're not there. What are your current pieces saying right now? Are they conveying a professional image? Are they sending a clear message that a potential client can identify with? Are they prompting a call to action; motivating a person to inquire for more information?

Why do we need brochures?

If done right, your brochure is one of the most important documents for your company. For example, you wouldn't go meet a perspective client without a business card because your business card holds your most personal information that introduces you as a person. Your brochure, on the other hand, introduces your entire company. It is important that your brochures are effective in conveying your company's best image. What kind of introduction are your brochures making right now? Many times a brochure is the first thing a potential customer comes in contact with before ever calling your company, visiting your store or meeting with a sales representative. It is extremely important that your brochure is making a great impression for your company.

Here are four key points on building effective brochures that say the right things. Take a look and see how your company's current pieces compare.

1. Attention
   The most important thing for a brochure to be effective is getting the attention of a prospective client. Color and creative graphics do this the best. Do not make the front of your brochure wordy. In fact, keep it to one or two main headlines. The headline should be brief and effective such as, "Do you have too much month at the end of the money?" This headline is simple and will strike home with someone who has a hard time budgeting their finances. Remember, at this point you are just trying to get their attention. If you overwhelm them right away with tons of text they will not want to bother picking up your brochure much less reading it.
   
    
2. Interest
   While getting a prospect's attention may be the most important thing, keeping their interest is the hardest. This is where most brochures fail, thus losing the prospect. People tend to read marketing material in a "What's in it for me?" mentality. In other words, you need to quickly show that you understand the reader's problem. Once the reader can say, "Hey, they are talking about me," you have piqued their interest in your product or service. Then show them ways that your company can better their situation. Keep your text light and easy to read. Too much text can clutter your piece. Always remember this rule of thumb, if your brochure is too hard to read it won't be.
   
    
3. Demand
   An appetizer is a small taste of something to make you crave the main meal. Your brochure should be treated the same way. Give the prospect just enough information so they crave more. Leave some things unanswered so they have to call and find out more information. Touch lightly on the main topics--do no let the brochure tell everything. A mistake people often make is designing their brochure to be a sales representative. A brochure is not a sales representative. A brochure should simply get people excited enough to want to inquire for more information. It should whet a prospect's appetite, not fill them completely.
   
    
4. Action
   If your brochure has done its part up to this point you should have legitimate prospects wanting to learn more about your company. You must now tell them clearly how they can go about taking that next step. Also, do your best to provide a variety of options they can take advantage of. For example, provide a phone number and a Web site address. Or print a form for them to fill out and send in for more information. Bottom line, make it as easy as possible for them to take that next step such as a toll free number, a prepaid business reply form, or directions to a form they can fill out on your Web site. All of these can help expedite turning prospects into customers. Lastly, you only need to print your company's contact information once. Why? Because it is more professional and prospects don't need to be blasted by your phone number all over the piece or printed in a large font. After all, a brochure is just one piece of paper, not a billboard that people are passing at 60m.p.h. If they are interested they will find your number.

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