Only when your advertising brochure is convincing and appealing enough do customers start to consider making a purchase. Brochures are a powerful and effective marketing tool that has helped many businesses reach their targets and increase conversions. But like most advertisements in print marketing, the key to a successful brochure campaign lies in your ability to engage and educate readers with the right design.
An advertising brochure is a print publication used to introduce a company’s products or services for promotional purposes. It aims to inform customers or members of the public of the benefits of these offers and why they should choose you over leading competitors. This is done to extend a reader’s knowledge about a particular topic in which the brochure tackles. Brochures are also one of the few marketing tools that are versatile enough to serve any purpose, whether it’s to sell an item, raise awareness, or champion a cause.
“Over 55% of all consumers trust print marketing more than any other advertising method.” (Source: Medium)
“7 out of 10 Americans report that they find direct mail advertising more personal than online ads.” (Source: All Business)
“Hospitality industry professionals believe that 88% of guests refer to brochures provided by hotels.” (Source: Bentley University)
We all know that marketers use brochures to talk about a product, service, or company to a wide audience. They showcase lengthy pieces of information along with charts and images to emphasize a message and leave a lasting impression. But as previously mentioned, brochures are an extremely versatile medium that may be used for numerous purposes. In addition to advertising, a brochure can be designed for something much more functional through the following brochure ideas.
1. As Restaurant Menus
Menus that follow a brochure format are often used for both dine-in and take-out materials. The space available in a bifold and trifold brochure is large enough to list food and beverage items in an organized manner for easy viewing. The brochure’s layout also makes it easy for customers to view and compare selections without having to skim through multiple pages of the menu. This is great for fast-food establishments and drive-thru restaurants that want to offer an accommodating experience for customers.
2. As Party Invitations
Brochures used as invitations are pretty popular these days, especially for large events such as weddings, movie premieres, product launches, and store openings. Following a two-panel or three-panel folding style allows you to put more information into the material, while still having enough space for images and graphics. Some companies even use these brochure invitations to briefly introduce their brand to readers. It’s a great way to advertise your business and encourage people to come to your event.
3. As a Resume for Work
Swimming through piles of resumes every day is not an easy job. The chances your resume gets noticed among that of a dozen other applicants can be relatively slim, so you might as well take matters into your own hands to catch one’s attention. Using a brochure to present your personal information and skills set is one way to make a person look twice and consider. Although it does require some extra effort to create, resumes designed in the form of brochures enable you to advertise yourself in a way that recruiters will remember.
4. As Maps
The truth is, brochures are the only print materials that are large enough to capture the locations and details of a map. They also come in a size that is convenient enough to fold and carry around anywhere. Travel agencies and amusement parks often use these brochures to make sure that visitors make the most out of their stay. You can even use the brochure as a map to your store locations as a way of driving foot traffic.
Advertising through various digital marketing mediums can be too expensive for startups and small businesses. Those who can’t afford to make these marketing investments usually turn to flyers, postcards, brochures, and other physical adverts to make a statement. Brochures can be one of the best options for advertising because it contains visual and informational elements that consumers can read and recognize. Since there are many ways to market your brand through brochures, they come in different types to meet specific requirements.
A highly effective advertising brochure distinctly captures your business and its offers to boost market awareness. Designing the brochure can be a rewarding experience, but it can also be intimidating for those who don’t know where to start. Knowing how to make a brochure requires an endless process of learning about what’s in and what’s not. There are many graphic design considerations to be mindful of to make sure your brochure hits all the right targets.
1. Grab the attention of your audience.
Your brochure design might cause someone to stop, but a compelling headline is what leads people to pick up the brochure and read it. A company logo and tagline may work with a business card, but it doesn’t exactly possess the same power with a brochure. Instead, it’s best to use a headline that targets a specific problem that customers might have. The most effective headlines usually come in short phrases that are printed in larger fonts to catch the eye of a reader from afar.
Must-Haves: Attention-Grabbing Headlines
2. Express your points of differences.
While there may be a dozen other companies that offer the same goods and services as you, every business has a unique selling proposition that sets itself apart from competitors. Think of it as a branding statement that customers will recognize you for. It should be as snappy and distinctive as possible to present your business in the right light.
Must-Haves: Unique Selling Proposition
3. Support your claims with hard evidence.
Customer feedback can be valuable to companies that want to weigh down the strengths and weaknesses of their strategies. Referral marketing has always played a significant role in one’s efforts to stay relevant in the industry. Thus, using quotes and testimonials from satisfied customers, celebrity endorsers, and public figures is a great way to build credibility. This will help prove that your business is capable of achieving positive results just as it claims to do.
Must-Haves: Customer Remarks and Testimonials
4. Prompt readers to take action.
An advertising brochure, like any other offline or online marketing medium, aims to move prospects to the next level of the sales cycle. Whether it’s to pick up the phone, visit a website, or run to the store, an effective call-to-action can encourage a customer to act in favor of the advertiser’s objectives. You can even add limited-time offers or special incentives, such as money-back guarantees or free trial periods, to generate more leads.
Must-Haves: Calls-to-Action
An advertising brochure is a promotional instrument that can be folded into two or more sections to showcase a product, service, or company to an audience in complete detail. While business flyers are also designed to highlight information, the content of a flyer is rather kept brief and straightforward to maximize space. The panels of a brochure are also printed in a durable material with a heavier paperweight to maintain its quality for consumers to keep around and refer to. Although they are not distributed as freely as flyers, marketing brochures are perfect for continuous interaction.
Advertising Brochure
Advertising Flyer
An ineffective advertising brochure can be a waste of time and resources. Not only can it put a dent in your budget, but it can also hurt your credibility as a business. Taking the time to understand what to do and what not to do when making a brochure is sure to help you lead prospects through the sales pipeline a lot quicker.
1. Do know your brand identity.
Do you know who you are? What makes you different? Your brand identity is how consumers perceive you based on the image you try to portray. Shaping your business to fit a particular identity is often achieved through proper branding. While you can’t force people to look at you a certain way, you can work to cultivate this image by incorporating these elements to your advertising materials. Applying this knowledge to your brochure will forge your connection with customers and make you instantly recognizable.
2. Do consider your audience.
Before you begin designing a brochure, it’s important to think about your customers. The last thing you want to do is to run the risk of making a brochure that may not meet the interests of your audience. This pertains to both the design and distribution of your advertising brochure. If you’re handing out the brochure at a public venue, consider choosing a pocket-size brochure that people can fold and carry around. The type of audience you are targeting can also make a difference, as thicker brochures with multiple panels are more appropriate for stakeholders and key partners compared to the small, two- or three-panel brochures that suit the average consumer.
3. Do use simple statements.
It’s a brochure, not a book. The best brochures are always made simple to make sure customers remain engaged. It isn’t necessary to list down all your company offers and achievements in a single brochure but instead, focus on what is being advertised and how it would best resonate with readers. Avoid long, ambiguous sentences as well as complex wording that might be difficult for readers to understand. There’s no point in trying to impress consumers with fuzzy words if it only makes it harder for you to convey a clear message.
4. Do keep it clean and targeted.
As tempting as it sounds, adding too many stylistic elements is a recipe for disaster. Overcrowding your layout with texts, graphics, and other design elements will only overwhelm viewers and compete for their attention. What you need is a brochure layout that speaks volumes about your product, service, or company in the simplest manner. Proper placement of elements is also a great way to establish a logical flow of information that is clean and easy to digest. That way, you can hold a reader’s attention until they can fully grasp your point and take action.
1. Don’t use too many fonts.
It’s easy to go overboard with the use of fonts, especially when designing a project that requires you to be as creative as possible. But for the most part, experts suggest using not more than three fonts for your advertising brochure: one for the heading, subheading, and body copy. It’s a good idea to use your company’s signature font if you have one, then add one or two more to spice things up.
2. Don’t forget the pictures.
A brochure without pictures is like a page from an old novel. It can be exceptionally boring for most people, let alone customers who don’t have the luxury of time to skim through the entire thing. Many advertisers incorporate infographics to their brochures as a more creative approach to marketing. Images that depict the usage or benefits of your products or services also help build a connection with consumers. Another good idea is to use your company photos whenever possible, or you can opt for stock images that aren’t too common.
3. Don’t make it a tell-all.
While advertising brochures allow you to provide more information than most print ads, this isn’t an excuse to write heavy chunks of text. Apart from the time it takes to read the whole brochure, saying too much can often hurt your message. Make it easy to read by composing a brief and coherent copy. It should be enticing enough to make your offers sound desirable to clients, prompting follow-up inquiries that you can use as an opportunity to further your marketing efforts.
4. Don’t sacrifice quality.
There’s no harm in using a brochure template to kickstart the design process. However, failure to put any effort into its customization is bound to render poor results. Investing your resources on professional printing services will be useless if you don’t put any effort into the early stages of production. It’s important to use images, graphics, and paper stock that are of excellent quality. Proofreading your copy is also an essential step to prevent costly mistakes that come with grammar errors and misspelled words.
Now that we know how advertising brochures are crafted, it’s time to put your knowledge to the test. Feel free to use the advertising brochure templates available as your guide. Editable and printable templates like these will solidify the foundation of your marketing campaign to help generate better results for the brochures you distribute. That way, you can convince customers to keep your brochures rather than throwing them away!
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