How to Create a Powerful Brochure For Your Business

Your marketing literature is the foundation on which your business is built. There's nothing like being able to give a tangible item to a prospective customer or client that keeps your brand in front of them. But so many brochures are poorly-written, or so full of information that the prospect has no idea what to do with it. The following are some general rules to follow to make sure that your brochure helps you close the sale.

• Put your best benefit on the front panel.

Most of the time, someone picks up a brochure because of what is on the cover. You need to convince them right away that your brochure is worth reading. Create some value. Write a striking headline that your prospect won't be able to pass up. Too many businesses put boring headlines that nobody cares about on the front panel of their brochures. Look at the following two headlines:

"ABC Photography - Serving Cleveland Since 1492"
"ABC Photography - Custom Photo Shoots for Your Guaranteed Satisfaction!"

Every piece of your brochure needs to be about the customer, not about you. The first headline is all about ABC Photography. But people want to know why they should go there and what they can get out of it. The second headline tells them that immediately. That's a brochure that will get picked up and opened.

• Go easy on the words.

It is important to make sure you have enough information in the brochure to convince the customer to buy, but it just needs to be that: enough. People need something that their eyes can follow. You need to lead them. Break up the text, put a few relevant pictures or graphics in, and guide the reader through the brochure. Giant blocks of text might get skimmed, but you have to assume that nobody has the time or the desire to sit and read a brochure that has nothing but words.

• Tell them what to do next. State the obvious if you have to.

This is where even a great brochure can fall short. Way too many businesses simply present the information and put their phone number at the bottom. Then they wonder why nobody is calling.

You need a strong call to action in every brochure. That's the point where you tell the reader exactly what you want them to do next. Do you want them to go to your online store and start shopping? Then make sure your brochure says, "Go to http://www.youronlinestorename.com and start shopping!" Is the next step a phone call? Then you need to include, "Call 1-800-555-1234 for more information about how we can help you!"

Your call to action needs to be strong and clear. Assume nothing about your reader. This is how you can push your reader to take that next step, and put you closer to a sale.

• Make it easy to contact you.

Include every piece of contact information you can. Put your company name, logo, contact name (if there is one), website address, email address, phone number, fax number, street address, and even driving directions if you want to. Eliminate any barriers between that prospect and you. Make the entire process as easy as possible, and you vastly increase the chances of converting that prospect into a buyer.