Brochures can be an effective way to communicate the benefits of your business. By bringing together the right combination of words, pictures and design, they can tell a story about your company’s unique capabilities. We Axtec is following these steps in the creation of your brochures.
Before beginning to design the brochure, determine how you intend to use it. You need to address the following key questions:
Why are you making the brochure?
How will it be used?
What size do you want to make the brochure?
The manufacturer must determine if the brochure is to be primarily used as a response to a potential customer inquiry, a trade show hand out, a piece to be left behind after a direct selling call, a piece to be used as the outline for a direct selling call, trade show follow up mailing, or whatever.
The manufacturer must also consider size. You might be considering a tri-fold so it fits in a #10 envelope. You might want a 4-page, 8.5" x 11" or 9" x 12" piece so it fits in a 10" x 13" envelope. Or, it may be a piece that can be metered directly.
To design a proper brochure, the manufacturer needs to identify the intended target audience for the piece. If the audience is very general, the messages may be tailored to be generic. If the segment is very specific, it is much easier to craft very targeted messages that meet the unique needs of those specific market segment members. Answer these fundamental questions:
Who will be getting this brochure?
Why?
This is a very critical element. What messages do you want to communicate to the target audience? Make certain the focus of the brochure is not on your company. Yes, you have to talk about your organization to develop credibility, but the key consideration should be how you can benefit potential customers.
Another key item to consider is the difference between features and benefits. If your product is highly engineered, the end-user may require a certain amount of technical information. However, if your goal is to entice the company to contact you as a potential customer, communicate to them the reasons that it makes sense for them to do business with you!
Sell them on the benefits of doing business with you. Put yourself in their shoes and determine what you offer that is important to them.
What do your target audience members want to hear about your products?
What do you want your target audience to hear about your products?
What end-user benefits can you describe?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
How are your products or services unique?
What is your position?
Can you promise tangible results and value?
Do some niches in your market have specialized needs to address?
Do all messages apply to all market niches or are any specialized?
Will one piece work for all markets?
Do you have, or can you obtain and use, testimonials?
Did you motivate the reader to action?
Every brochure should motivate the reader to some action. Optimally, it should make them initiate contact so you can discuss business, determine their needs, make the necessary sales calls, and generate sales.
Your brochure should tell your prospective customers that you understand their needs and that you can meet or exceed them. Make sure your content focuses on your prospective customers — not your business. Make sure your brochure says what you can do for them!
What, if any, has been earmarked for conceptual development, text generation and editing, graphic layout and design, artwork, production costs, and marketing the brochure?
Determine how much can afford to spend on the brochure, including the production costs. Be realistic. Once you have a set budget, you can determine if you can afford a 4-page or 6-page brochure, the number and types of photos or graphic elements, and other expense items.
Do you need to hasten the brochure development process or do you have time to make it a "back burner" project? Part of the answer to his question will be determined by the intended brochure use. If you will be participating in a trade show, get the brochure completed. If you have a new line of products or services, the sooner the brochure is completed, the faster new sales will be generated.
Match the brochure development timing to your business needs. Even a simple brochure can take 3 to 6 weeks from concept to production.
Ask yourself these key questions:
Are you working under any constraints? If so, what?
Can your graphic designers and printers meet deadlines you have set without problems?
It is important to locate and interview the company who will design your brochure and handle the print production. There are literally thousands of quality graphic design/development companies and most can produce a high quality piece that you would be proud to call yours.
Remember, manufacturers selling to other manufacturers need a brochure with certain industrial tones. Ensure that the vendor you select to design and print your brochure has a history of producing quality brochures for manufacturers.
The brochure development needs of a service provider or retailer are not the same as yours. Many companies producing high quality consumer or retail brochures do not understand the unique needs of the industrial brochure. Choose carefully!
It is always interesting to receive and examine the brochures and other promotional literature that your competitors distribute. Sometimes, you may find out they are not truly a competitor after evaluating their literature. Get them to mail them to you or some non-identifiable location or pick them up at a trade show. You'll find both good ideas and bad ideas.
You'll see nice well-crafted brochures and items you would never consider using to represent your organization. There is always something to be learned from the competition's literature.
