Creating a Marketing Brochure for Your Business
In today’s age of digital marketing, many business owners focus solely on their online marketing efforts. Of course, there are definite benefits to utilizing the relative ease and enormous reach of social media, content marketing, and paid search, but it’s important not to forget the classic approach, too.
There’s something special about having a little tangible piece of a business’s essence that you can hold in your hand or put in your pocket and take with you. Case in point: folded marketing brochures. Of course, not all folded brochures have what it takes to truly engage your customers.
We’ve all had the experience of staring at a wall of brochures and picking out the ones that really grabbed us. But what was it about those particular brochures that made us want to take them with us? And what is that magic that makes us actually pick up the phone, send an email, or get in the car and head across town to pay a business a visit, just based on their folded marketing brochure?
You want to maximize your return on you brochure investment, so let’s discuss the elements of the perfect folded marketing brochure, and how to make it work for your business.
Creating a Marketing Brochure? Be Sure You Know Your Audience
Some brochures try to present a business as being all things to all people, but that strategy tends to fall flat. Instead of trying to create the sort of broad, generic, mass appeal that big corporations strive for, it’s best to hone in on your target market. Who are your potential customers? Where do they spend their free time? What visual esthetics and media outlets do they find most appealing or credible? What motivates them? What problems do they have, and how can your business help to solve them?
If you make the effort to fine-tune your marketing brochure so it hits all the sweet spots for your target market, you’ll find it to be much more effective.
Getting Your Folded Brochure to Have the “It Factor”
Your folded marketing brochure will have, at most, just a few quick seconds to impress. Make sure it gets the message across in an eye-catching and dynamic way. A well-designed brochure cover should be visually arresting, and should communicate the benefits and features of your business’s offerings clearly, quickly, and succinctly.
Test your brochure design by creating a mock-up and placing it among all the other brochures at a local resort or restaurant. Does it stand out in an appealing way? Does it get the point across immediately? If so, give yourself a pat on the back. If not, head back to the drawing board and make sure your marketing brochure stands out from the pack.
Launching the Brochure: Lights, Camera, Action!
Remember, the goal of your marketing brochure is to inspire action on the part of your potential customers.
Start by communicating directly with the customer. Remember: you’re not talking to everyone; you’re talking specifically to them. Pretend you’re having a one-on-one dialog with a new client, and use that thought process to craft your brochure’s language.
And, like every salesperson in training, you need to learn to actually ask for the sale – don’t beat around the bush. The people looking over your marketing brochures know you’re trying to sell something, and they want to be convinced that they should buy it. That’s why they picked up the brochure in the first place.
Also, don’t expect potential clients to spend much time figuring out what you want them to do. Your brochure should have a clear call to action that leaves no doubt about what the next action item on your eager prospect’s to-do list should be.
Tips for the Design Process of a Folded Marketing Brochure
If you’re new to designing folded marketing brochures, the process can seem a bit complex, at least at first.
In order to get the best end result, make sure you set your margins correctly. If you’re not sure how to do that, ask your friendly, neighborhood print shop for a template that can help. Most will be happy to provide one, as it makes their jobs easier and provides for a better final product that’s easier for them to work with when it comes time for printing.
If you’re not confident in your design skills, you may want to consider enlisting the services of an experienced designer. Again, many print shops have designers on staff, and taking advantage of their expertise might cost a bit more, but is generally worth it in the long run.
Getting Your Folded Marketing Brochures Printed and Designed at East Side Printing Co.
As you might have guessed, we are a full service print and design shop, and though we are located in Portland, Oregon, we can serve your business anywhere in the country. Just send us your ideas or a rough mockup of your marketing brochure, and we can take over from there. Using our in-house professional designers, we’ll see your idea through the development stage, and get you back exactly what you were looking for: a well designed, clean, professional looking marketing brochure that will get you the results your business is looking for.
Take a second to fill out the contact form located here, and tell us a little bit about your project. We’ll look forward to helping you create the ideal folded marketing brochure – and we’ll even ship the final printed product right to your doorstep.
[Photo Via: Thietke Catalog]