I doubt there’s a company in North America that doesn’t have a brochure. We’re so stuck on brochures that we have them for everything. When you go to a trade fair or conference, you leave the exhibition hall with bags of them. Most are soon deposited in the closest waste can to the exhibition hall exit. What really hurts is when you’re an exhibitor and find the cans full of your brochures.
It isn’t that most brochures are really badly done. There are simply too many of them out there. But we have to have them, so how can we make sure our company’s brochures don’t end up “canned” with the vast majority?
The sad truth is that most brochures are all about us…how great we are…how established we are…how competitive we are…how honest…how nice. They all say the same things. Obviously every company in the world that puts out a brochure is proud of themselves, their logos, and their sales slogans. Yawn…just another brochure.
To create a real “killer” of a brochure you first need to break down the functions and components of what it is and what it’s intended to do. Whether redoing an existing work, or starting a new one, this is the way to go about making a brochure that will actually do the job you want it to.
There are three areas we need to look at; visual design, content, and message.
There are many imaginative things we can do with the visual design of a brochure. The important thing to keep in mind is whether the visual design really fits with what you want the brochure to do and the image you wish to project. Those decisions will include the type of paper stock you choose, the size of the brochure, and whether to go black-and-white, two color, or full four-color.
Some designs are simply more appropriate for different types of firms. A service firm brochure will normally look different than an informational brochure describing a piece of equipment. Different types of businesses use different ways to talk to prospects, and their brochures reflect this. A wholesaler’s brochure will be a lot different than one from a retailer. Looking at brochures from your competitors can give you some ideas as to what might work best for your particular “genre” of business.
You also need to make the visual presentation fit the content. And content is where brochures either leave them yawning or get them calling. Content must be kept concise, how concise is dependent on the purpose of the brochure, and should be organized logically under headings and subheadings with enough white space to maintain a clean look.
Here’s the real secret to content in brochures that really grab attention: emphasize benefit, benefit, benefit, and benefit. Every firm and every product has “features.” But what good is a feature if it doesn’t benefit the buyer in some way. Don’t leave them to figure out what the benefit is…they don’t have the time or the patience. A great brochure tells them…then tells them again!
But there are a lot of firms and products out there with features. So why is yours any different? To make sure customers know, you also need to differentiate your firm or product from the competition…then tell them the benefit of that differentiation.
This may seem like a tall order, so let’s make it simple. Under your headings or subheadings you should have a statement that does the following; 1)labels a feature, 2)differentiates the feature, and 3)explains the benefit. Let’s say your service team is featured in the brochure:
“Our maintenance experts are factory certified, but not just by one factory. That might be good enough for our competitors, but each of our mechanics is certified by at least three factory-training programs. No matter what brand of equipment you choose from our selection, we will give you factory-level service with the shortest downtimes and the quickest turn-arounds ever. And that reduces your costs and puts money in your pocket.”
This statement has it all: feature followed by differentiation and a benefit of the differentiation. Notice that it also repeats the magical words “you” and “your” a few times. If every statement in your brochure follows this formula you will go a long way to making it a real sales tool.
Another example; you are describing a piece of capital equipment:
“Electronic Ignition: The model X-21’s state of the art electronic ignition system reduces wear and tear on starters, increases battery life, and keeps the X-21 on your warehouse floor where it belongs. That keeps your money in your pocket.”
The content drives home the benefit twice…just to make sure they’re listening. Now maybe the X-21 isn’t the only unit out there with electronic ignition, but you’ve pointed it out and turned it into a direct, cost saving, benefit. They’ll remember it for that reason when comparison-shopping. If you do the same with every feature of the X-21, the machine will stand out in their minds because it’s the best one at “putting money in my pocket.”
The message within the brochure is a little more difficult to define and to produce using a standard format. But it is the real heart of the communication. It has much to do with the image you want to project and, like content, it must be compatible with the visual design.
Remember that a brochure is a tactical tool, a communication meant to do one thing. If you try and make a brochure do two things it will do neither well. Stating two messages will dilute both and confuse the reader. Your overall strategic plan makes use of many communication tools, of which the brochure is only one. Don’t get trapped into thinking it has to do everything. Decide the objective of the brochure and then make sure the message, content, and visual design meets that objective and fits in with your other communications.
Most brochures are basically meant to open the door to an eventual sale. Make sure you have an idea how the brochure can accomplish that while keeping in mind how it will be disseminated. Will it be mailed? Passed out at a trade show? Used as a salesperson’s leave-behind? No matter how it’s used, it can’t introduce your firm, create conviction, call for action, then close the deal. It’s just a brochure!
So make the overall message an intriguing one…one which will appeal to the viewer’s curiosity…one which will make the viewer want to call or email for more information or with a question. That’s where the real art of the brochure lies. These are strong messages:
“We can save you money…would you like to know how?”
“Your warehouse crew can be 20% more efficient while reducing accident rates and your insurance costs. Don’t believe it…just look at how worried our competitors are!”
This is a mediocre message, but might suffice for some customers:
“Our firm has been in business for 21 years and we are big and dependable.”
And this is a really weak message:
“Our company is really honest, really we are, we can do everything, and we really like ourselves and our logo and hope you will like us too.”
The next time you’re at a trade show, take a look at the brochures and you will see that last message repeated over and over again. Now take a look at your own company brochures. This might be the painful part…but it might also be the trigger to tossing out a lot of poorly used paper and starting over from scratch.
Whether you do that, or simply take some time to tweak what you already have, make your brochure the “killer” sales tool that will knock the competition right out of the ring.
