5 Top Tips when planning the printing of brochures

The key to a successful brochure is providing the right information for the best possible price.  

 What is a brochure?

Brochures are probably best described as filling the gap between sending a leaflet and sending a salesman.

They can be expensive – but at the same time if they can make your sales process more cost-effective they can be exceptional value for money.

And, as any good salesman will tell you it is important to ask pertinent questions whilst gradually building up to make a sale.  If you try to close a sale too early you are likely to face rejection.

It is important to appeal to both the emotional and rational factors in the decision-making process.  The rational side of the brain looks at the logical quantitative arguments and the emotional side of the brain makes a more qualitative assessment.

First impressions are particularly important to appeal to the emotional factors and a well-structured presentation of the key points tends to appeal more to the rational emotions.

1.       SET YOUR GOALS AND MEET YOUR OBJECTIVES

 

Decide what the purpose of the brochure is to be and then set an objective.  For example, if it is to be used at an exhibition, calculate how many quotations are made from recipients within a certain timescale.  

Then calculate how many of these quotations were converted into a sale.

For some clients there is a very thin line between a brochure and a proposal.  The proposal is tailored to one particular potential customer, although certain elements of the proposal are common to all potential clients.  A “pick and mix” system can be highly cost-effective.

Other companies target particular market sectors – so the terminology, case studies and testimonials all have a degree of relevance to a particularly attractive target market.

Some are just general and are used to reflect the image of the business.  These would be more difficult to evaluate but are sometimes used to just send a message of size, competence and capability to a potential client.

2.       FOLLOW THE AIDA PRINCIPLE – Attention, Interest, Desire & Action

When creating a brochure try to stick to the most important information and key benefits only – and don’t just have pictures of your premises or equipment.  

Create a list of features – convert them into a benefit and finally they need to be converted into a “which means that” statement.  Your target market is only interested in what your product or service means to them.

·         Grab Attention

The headline and the imagery are vital to grab the reader’s attention.  With brochures this should be with high quality images and attention-grabbing headlines and sub-headings.  

Make sure your customers know about your business, where you are located, what types of service you do and do not provide and all of your key benefits.  

·         Arouse Interest

Expand each benefit and support with any form of visual reinforcement.  Brochures give more space than leaflets so you can add more content in the form of information, case studies and testimonials.  

Continue to use the power words and phrases that grab the attention of clients – guarantee, results, discover, amazing, and proven are all good words to use in printed brochures. 

Everything should be written directly to appeal to your prospective customer.  

Always write directly using the terms “you” or “your” not terms that are more about yourself such as “we” and “our”.

·         Create Desire

Pose questions, make strong statements or provide as many positive reasons or extra incentives to move the sale along step by step.  

If you can add a financial value to any of the benefits so much the better.  Finance is perhaps the main motivator for most buying decisions.

·         Take Action. 

Clearly tell the reader where to buy or access further information.  Guide them to your website, provide contact details to place an order or prompt them to take the next step needed to complete the transaction.  Try and give them a reason to act soon.

3.        CREATE A LOGICAL FLOW

A brochure should follow a logical flow outlining all the reasons why you should consider placing an order or taking the next step towards making a purchase.

If you have 5 seconds to create a good impression with a leaflet, a brochure would probably give you 10 seconds at most.

Unlike a leaflet it becomes more like a presentation.  

Always have a powerful introduction and end.  And as any book publisher will tell you, the cover is of particular importance.

Because there is more copy than within a leaflet or a flyer it should be well-planned and designed.  

The more informed the customer the more likely they will place an order with you.

4.       FOLLOW BASIC DESIGN PRINCIPLES FOR MAXIMUM VISUAL IMPACT

Try and keep the sentences short – so the maximum number of words in the sentence should be an average of about eight when planning brochure printing.  

Remember a good image can be “worth a thousand words” – so it is important to add other visual effects wherever possible.  

Charts, histograms and graphs are great ways to communicate figures or complicated products and services.

• Use high resolution photographs
• Plan the layout using boxes, bullet points, borders and highlights but allow plenty of white space.
• Keep text away from the “quiet area” around the edges of the page or any text boxes you may create. 
• Only use one or two fonts and never go below a point size of 10 – so it is legible. Use bold, italic or different versions of the same font if necessary.
• Use contrasting colours that work well with the business branding.
• Double- check and proof read everything – especially contact information like telephone numbers.
• Include all forms of contact information – mobile, landlines, email, website, social media pages.
• Use nothing that could “date” the brochure – even be cautious about addresses or telephone numbers in the event of a potential move.

5.        INVEST IN QUALITY PRINTING

If you want to be seen as the best, you have to stand out from the rest.  On the other hand, if you are a charity it is not advisable to appear extravagant.

Printing is no longer cheap but can be highly cost-effective if you use an online printing service.   

It is important that the brochure reflects your company image – so if you sell quality this must be reflected in the feel, design and print quality.  A matt or gloss laminated cover can add to the quality.

If you plan to mail them out – consider the cost of postage and the envelopes.  If you are looking for a square 210mm x 210mm size the print costs may be higher as well as the higher envelope and postage costs.

A5 brochures are currently out-selling A4 brochures 2 to 1 largely because of these lower ancillary costs.

Our own brochure printing services are designed to help our clients achieve a good return on their investment, by offering a fixed £40 low cost design offer with the savings associated with using a good online printing service.  

We can help in a number of ways – with either the design or the printing.

And with digital printing there is less wastage without sacrificing quality.

For more information, please visit our site.