A brochure is promotional material that gives potential customers something tangible in an increasingly digital world. A four-color glossy brochure, with beautiful photos and catchy phrases, can be what you need to get your products on sale. You can use this communication medium for many different purposes: to introduce your company to potential customers, to describe your products in detail, to offer a taste of what your company has to offer, to attract buyers … brochures with concise and engaging content, from text to images, you can increase sales and attract new customers.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Center the Topic
Step 1. Be specific
A brochure is valuable and tangible promotional material used to increase sales. Unlike a website, the space available to disclose information is limited. When writing a brochure, explain in detail what you sell.
- Don't try to cover too many topics with one brochure. You can use this format to make the public aware of your company's overall offering, but it's often best to create multiple different brochures for each product or service.
- For example, if your company produces custom furniture for your clients' homes, such as kitchens, bathrooms, or living rooms, your brochures will be more effective if they focus on just one room.
- Instead of offering a lot of vague information, your brochure should focus on just one topic, kitchens in the example above. If the text is specific to one room, you can explain every detail of your product, from the type of tiles to the colors of the cabinet handles.
Step 2. Put yourself in the shoes of the reader
Imagine reading the brochure for the first time. When looking at the cover, ask yourself what information you would like to find inside. Write down any questions that come to your mind and find the answers. Use these observations to improve your brochures.
- Determine what your audience is. Think about where your brochures will be distributed. Which people will collect them? Are you targeting a single customer who needs a product or service? Or are you writing a text for a team of investors or board members?
- The tone, style and even the information to be entered will have to be different, depending on who will read the brochure.
- If you want to explain to a prospect all the possible ways to personalize a kitchen, the tone can be light and the brochure can include suggestions on the best ways to use the cooking space. Add information about the different types of kitchens and the materials available. Focus on the sensations your products can make the customer feel. Create content that illustrates the benefits your services provide.
- If you write for professionals, emphasize facts and numbers. Focus on information that demonstrates the positive economic impact of your products to investors and other companies in your sector.
Step 3. Highlight the benefits your product offers
Instead of providing an overview of its general characteristics, focus on a specific topic that allows you to go into detail. Don't just describe the qualities of a product or service, but explain how they can help the reader.
- Consider including a section of the most frequently asked questions you've been asked about your product, complete with answers.
- Your brochure is a product that the reader will take away with them. Consequently, it must contain a sufficient amount of relevant information in a small space. He will act as a kind of salesman.
Step 4. Exclude any information that is not relevant
You can't put everything you want to say in one brochure. Since your space is limited, remember that not all information is equally important. Remove any that do not directly relate to the described product or service.
- Excluding information does not mean omitting vital promotional materials. You should still include your company logo or image, a company information paragraph, and a section with addresses where you can be contacted.
- For example, if you're writing a brochure on how to design custom kitchens, you don't need to enter information about other rooms. You could simply list the other services your company offers in the company information section. Don't waste space for details on other rooms in a kitchen brochure.
Part 2 of 3: Deciding on the Best Format
Step 1. Choose a format
Brochures can be made in many different styles and formats. The most common is the trifold one. Remember, however, that you are free to choose the format you prefer to better communicate the information you want to share.
- Now that you have precisely identified the topic to be exposed, you can start writing the text of the brochure. Pay attention to the number of sections you will need. Create a draft to understand how much space you will need.
- In a typical trifold brochure, an A4 sheet is divided into 6 sections. Sections 2, 3 and 4 are the internal ones, where the most valuable information is found. Section 2 is the inside of the cover and usually contains general information, with questions and answers. The latter lead the reader to believe that the product offered is the answer to his problem. In sections 3 and 4 the product features are detailed and the information is explained in detail, revealing to the reader that the solution to his problems is contained in the brochure.
- Section 1 is the front cover. This part must convince those who see the brochure to take it with them. It often contains an image that arouses positive feelings, because its purpose is to get the reader to open the brochure. You should also write a line or two of text, which promises a benefit to the customer.
- Section 5 is the back cover and usually contains good product reviews.
- Section 6 is the back of the central third and usually contains contact information for the company, such as a phone number, a website and a map to get there.
- The brochures are made in many different formats and are folded in various ways. Some look more like books or brochures, others contain inserts or cutouts. Don't think you have to respect the classic trifold format: the organization of information is almost always the same whatever the format. The front is used to portray a lifestyle that can be achieved through the product or service described in the brochure; the next page contains responses and offers. The last section, on the other hand, offers incentives to convince the reader to buy and information to contact the company.
Step 2. Make use of the available space
Whichever style or format you choose, you need to make the most of the physical page space. This means finding the right balance between words and images.
- While the text offers readers valuable information, you shouldn't fill sections or pages with long paragraphs of words. Nobody will read a brochure that is too rich in text. To avoid this problem, use images and graphics.
- Do not reduce the size of the text to write more words. If what you want to say does not fit within the space limits of a page or section, you are writing too much.
- Pictures and graphics are a great visual aid for providing valuable information. You can also include short captions explaining the content of the images.
Step 3. Use the front cover to attract readers
The first page of the brochure is the one that prompts people to take it. An eye-catching photograph or drawing is much more effective for this purpose than a paragraph of text.
- Use a photograph that showcases the products or service you are promoting.
- Depict people enjoying your products or services. Accompany the photo with text that speaks directly to the reader. Ask a question and explain what benefits those who read your brochure will gain.
- A slogan and a line or two of text on the cover is enough information to get a reader to pick up a brochure. Also, by leaving some mystery, you can lead readers to turn the page to satisfy their curiosity.
Step 4. Break the information into different sections
On inside pages, use titles and headings to break up long paragraphs of text. Brochures offer little space, and you shouldn't waste it all with long blocks of words.
- A brochure with too rich text can scare the reader. Instead of writing long paragraphs or sections, be sure to present the information in a short and concise way.
- Numbered and bulleted lists are good ways to break up text and make information easier to understand. These elements also help to catch the eye of the reader.
- Use bold headings to separate sections of your brochure. In each of them, enter different types of content and information. If you describe appliances in a section that talks about custom kitchens, reserve the details on lighting and cabinets for another paragraph. By dividing the text into sections, the information is exposed more fluently and is better assimilated by the reader, because the content will be interesting, but not overloaded with details.
Part 3 of 3: Creating the Content
Step 1. Talk directly to your readers
Write "you" when communicating with the reader, to establish a relationship with him. Composing a personal text allows you to create a relationship between you and the customer.
- By speaking directly to the customer and acknowledging their intelligence, you will keep their interest.
- Your brochure should start and end with the customer. Before moving on to explaining everything your products can offer, you should attract the reader by answering questions and anticipating any objections.
- The content of the brochure should be focused on information that can highlight the benefits offered by the product. Cite real-world examples or case studies.
- Try to explain to the customer what benefits they can derive from your product or service.
Step 2. Make sure the brochure content is relevant
Your goal is to keep the reader's attention and concentration. Adapt the content to the type of customer you want to attract.
- If you're writing a brochure to generate interest, include information about your company that potential customers don't know about. Include a short paragraph about the company's history and explain how it differs from the competition.
- Conversely, if your brochure is just to sell a product, the customers who read it already know your company's history. Don't bore them with information that might prompt them to stop reading.
- Include only content relevant to its purpose in your brochure. Remember to be brief though, so as not to lose the reader's interest.
- The content of a brochure should highlight the benefits offered by the products described, not just their characteristics. Instead of just providing text and images that showcase a product, create an atmosphere that illustrates a lifestyle. Demonstrate how your business can improve customer life. Going back to the previous example, you could insert images and text depicting people enjoying your cooking. Explain why your current customers are satisfied.
- Eliminate boring details. Those who read your brochure don't need to know all the details of the manufacturing process of your kitchens. Instead, it will be more interesting to discover how your experience in design and the excellent production methods adopted by your company are able to create reliable products and a welcoming atmosphere.
Step 3. Use testimonials from satisfied customers
Get quotes from happy buyers and include them in your brochure. Make sure you include the customer's full name and any other information that can help make the review more authentic.
Testimonials are a great way to give the customer a reason to keep reading. They also place more value on the solutions and lifestyle you promise in the brochure
Step 4. Conclude the brochure with a call to action
Invite the reader to take the next step.
- You can do this by asking them to visit your exhibition area or call your office to make an appointment.
- Try writing an emotionally charged call to action. Again, you can use words and pictures to elicit an emotion. People are more likely to act if they have empathy, so if your brochure sells custom kitchens, use the image of a happy family sharing a delicious meal in a beautiful kitchen. Then, in your call to action, invite readers to contact you, to purchase a kitchen that makes every evening as perfect as the one in the photo.
Advice
- Avoid technical jargon and trending words. These phrases give a sense of lack of authenticity to a brochure.
- Talk directly to the customer. Create a personal experience for him.
- Write short, concise texts.
- Use images to arouse positive feelings in the reader.
- Use a consistent tone and style and speak intelligently to the reader. Don't be too blunt or factual. A brochure is more like a story than a chronicle.
