Some Simple Yet Effective Brochure Design Tips

Have you ever considered that a brochure can be one of the most all-powerful of all your marketing materials?

It is a simple piece of paper but the original impact that your booklet creates is profound. If it’s shabby and unpresentable your prospect is left with the same feeling. This will slow your business growth.

Having a brochure professionally designed and printed is a key to success in a crowded market. Taking the time to make sure that your brochure presents all the key data in a way that is easily understood is something that only a professional can do.

If you are just getting started in business you may be tempted to do your brochure yourself. When I first started in business I did everything myself – not a smart choice. That is why it took me 12 years before I was even comparatively successful. Heed my warning – go professional from day one on your marketing materials. They are an investment and not an expense. Professionally designed materials will deliver you customers and the cash flow to follow – the reason why you are in business.

A pamphlet has to use eye-catching design. It has to be succinct in terms of the content and last but not the least, it must be successful in tempting people to make that call of action.

Here are three key design rules to follow when producing a pamphlet. Use them and you will see your results flow.

1. The cover:

The cover is your sales rep. Leaflets are quite inactive creatures and you are not often able to ‘walk’ people through your booklet. So you need to arouse people to read further. The cover is the starting point so must be tantalising and sharing the KEY values of WHY someone should read further. It should answer the WIFM question – What’s in it for me.

A good design company will show you at least three to four cover designs for your pamphlet. Analyze these designs to examine which stimulates you the most. Ask your friends their impression. Does the cover answer the question WIFM? If it doesn’t energise and answer the WIFM question, then skip to another design that works or get it redesigned. Taking the time here to get it right will pay bounties later.

2. The Content:

Once they are past the front over then the message has to become the sales rep. So once again, the pressure is on to be great. Do not opt for cheap ineffective content writers or ask the designer to write the content or worst still do it yourself. Instead make sure that a professional copywriter is doing the work. If your design company does not have a copywriter then employ one yourself.

Ensure that all the key questions that a future customer will have about your product are answered in a way that gets them to call you for more information. Do not go into ‘overkill mode’ and swamp them with too much data at this point in time. Remember the brochure’s job is to stimulate and get people to call you.

3. The call for action:

If your future customer has read the leaflet then you have done a great job. All you need to do now is give them a compelling reason to contact you NOW.

Having things like a free call 0800 or’00 number clearly shown (in big letters) can make a important difference. Having an email address is a clear bonus. Make sure these two are clearly placed in large clear type.

Even give your customers a special voucher on the leaflet or reference code can help. But above all, ensure that you add a clear call to action. One way to do this is to readdress the KEY value of your service to your prospect in a way that will get them to take action. Remember value is everything. People only purchase something that is of value to THEM.

4. The piece that got missed:

I did this on purpose and only said there were three points. Well the final point is the one that can get overlooked. It is the ‘dummy’ one. Have you checked that you have these on your booklet:

Phone number | Fax number | Email address | Web address | Country of operation | City / area of operation | Company name | And have you proof read for typo and grammar errors?