Brochures are a great cost-effective marketing tool for promoting your business, brand and products. However, a poorly designed brochure can hamper your marketing efforts and hinder your sales and marketing objectives. If your printed brochure is not delivering the desired results and is not appealing to your audience then there is a real chance are your prospective clients are spending with your competitors.
Dull design, ill-thought layout, tired copy and uninspiring print style can all add up to a brochure design which simply does not achieve its purpose.
By asking yourself the following questions you may determine why your printed brochure design may not be meeting expectations:
Target Audience:
Does your marketing strategy focus on the target audience? Whilst this may seem a strange question, sometimes it is easier to design your marketing material to suit you and not your audience! When designing your printed brochure, it is imperative that you think about their tastes and preferences, otherwise, quite simply, your brochure will not get a positive response from them. Research your target audience thoroughly and design it for them not for you!
Benefits:
Does your brochure highlight the key benefits of your products and services to your audience or is there a lot of ‘waffle’ about your company. Although the customer will want to know a little about your company’s background and history, ultimately you need to focus on how your products and services will help them and solve their problems! Just tell them why they cannot live without you!
Tone and Content:
Is your brochure simply too long for the target customers to read? How does it read – are you using an engaging, conversational tone? Is the wording easy to understand and relevant to the audience reading it? Ask a colleague to read it through or even ask somebody outside of your company who can sense check the copy.
Design:
Is the size and design of your printed brochure appealing? Does it stand out from competitor brochure design? Is it A4 sized like all the others – would a different sized printed brochure appeal and stand out more? What colours are you using? Do they represent your company’s branding? Can you add a print finish to differentiate it from your competitors?
Call to Action:
How prominent is your call to action? Is it easy for the customer to find within your printed brochure? Is it clear and concise? Don’t just have one call to action, include each and every way a client can reach you. It is also important to strategically think about where to place a call to action on your brochure. Don’t hide it away, and think about including it in several places throughout your brochure.
To summarise: identify and research the right target audience and design your printed brochure keeping this audience in mind. A short, engaging brochure with attractive, eye-catching headlines will be an instant hit with the audience, and remember, on average you have just 7 seconds to impress a prospective customer. So use your ingenuity and creativity to grab and retain attention!