Are Brochures Dead Or Alive?

With the upcoming tradeshow season slowly approaching, many companies are already organizing themselves in early preparation. One of the most common handouts for a tradeshow besides the business card and voucher is the brochure. But with all the advancements in online content is printing a copy of a brochure still an effective marketing tool in order for your company to reach new clients?

The answer is YES.

Brochures are still a very effective marketing tool for businesses in order to attract new clients. For small companies it can be very cost effective over mainstream media such as t.v. and radio advertisements. An effectively designed brochure can be a self contained marketing campaign which further saves money.

The brochure offers customers more information than a business card can provide, explaining what your business does and offers its clients in detail. It can also be used to drive customers to your website and social media outlets further helping increase your brand awareness.

One of the greatest benefits a brochure has is that it is tangible, something that someone can take with them and physically hold. This allows for a brochure to have a longer lasting impression over a television or radio advertisement which only lasts a few moments and is gone.

Designing a brochure properly and professionally can help increase your company’s image and brand awareness. It is still a relevant tool of a marketing mix, and will continue to be until a better solution is found.

Here is a list of the top do’s and don’ts when designing a brochure:

Don’ts

• Avoid grammatical errors
  • Shows your company’s professionalism and attention to detail.
• Ambiguity
  • Keep in mind a brochure is a marketing tool. The brochure must display what your company is about while trying to answer its customer’s questions.
• Avoid listing prices
  • Prices tend to change; if your brochure is outdated the prices will more than likely be outdated too.
• Overdue text
  • Try to find a balance between the number of images in your brochure and the amount of text. The ratio should be about 60/40 (Photos/Text).

Do’s

• Create an attractive front page
  • People pick up a brochure because they find it attractive and attention grabbing. Use vibrant colors that correspond with your company image.
• Have a call to action to keep readers involved
  • Get a potential customer to go beyond reading and have them start talking to your sales representatives.
• Clearly Display your company logo
  • It is the clearest representation of your company, keep it clean and crisp making it stand out in the brochure.
• Have a simple design
  • Keep your design easy to follow. This allows readers to be able to easily read over your brochure not struggling to follow content.
• Use high resolution images
  • This keeps the reader’s attention to the brochure offering breaks from the text.

A brochure is still an effective marketing tool that if designed properly can be used to attract new clients. The trick is to make sure it not only represents your company properly but appeals to your target market as well.