A brochure can be an extremely effective marketing tool. It just needs to be designed, printed and used correctly. Here are a few tips that you can use to design your next brochure or perhaps redesign your current one.

The Front Cover
A brochure is usually presented to prospective clients in a closed and folded format. It is important that the image on the front is eye catching and enticing. Your company logo is a good start on the front cover as this reinforces your brand, you can also use a photo of your best selling product presented in an attractive and eye catching manner.

Headings
It can be tempting to fill the inside of the brochure with a lot of information. This is not the best idea as people have become lazy and prefer to be able to get an idea of what is being offered with a cursory glance. Use headings to break up the text. The headings should draw attention to important selling points and have short explanations or sales pitches below them.

Other Text
Make your point as succinctly as you can. Use bullet points and info graphics to bring your point across as much as possible. It is also better to stress the benefits of your product or service rather than filling your brochure with the features of your products. Demonstrate how your product or service is different from everyone else.

The use of the first person can also help to make the product more personal. Rather than using the line “This product can help a great deal with weight loss” use something that is more personal, “Our product can help you to lose that extra weight”. Try to avoid using too much industry related jargon. This can alienate your prospective client as they may not understand all the terminology.

Integrate with other marketing materials
Make sure your logo, color and the design used in any other marketing materials are used in your brochure. All your materials should convey a similar design and feeling, so that your organization becomes more easily identifiable.

Images
Images are also a good tool for breaking up text sections and making the brochure generally more attractive. Where possible, demonstrate your product benefits with graphics and images rather than text. “A picture says a thousands words”.

Call to Action
Your brochure is a sales and marketing tool. Include some kind of call to action in your brochure. Instructions on how to contact the company which are easy to follow work best. A quick sms or phone call is the fastest method of making contact.

Design and layout
This is an area where professional design advice is very important. Give your design advisor credit. There is so much good information you wish to share, that often we are tempted to cram too much information into too small a space. A professional eye will help enormously! This is where DesignPartner can come in handy…

Summary:

• Be concise and write short, clear sentences
• Avoid jargon
• Consider a question-and-answer format
• Use a clear font that is large enough for older eyes to read
• Use headlines to break up blocks of print
• Leave lots of white space
• Use boxes for quotes or graphs
• Write captions for any photos
• Use your logo and slogan
• Be sure to include contact and website information
• Consider using a QR Code and link to your website for more details