Three Things You Should Know About Brochure Design

Have you ever considered that a leaflet can be one of the most influential of all your selling materials?

It is a simple piece of paper but the initial impact that your pamphlet produces is important. If it’s shabby and subfusc your prospect is left with the same opinion. This will slow down your business growth.

Having a pamphlet professionally designed and printed is a key to success in a packed market. Taking the time to make sure that your leaflet delivers all the key data in a way that is easily figured is something that only a professional can do.

If you are just getting started in business you may be tempted to do your leaflet 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 brief in terms of the content and last but not the least, it must be successful in enticing people to make that call of action.

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

1. The cover:

The cover is your salesperson. Brochures are quite passive tools and you are not often able to ‘walk’ individuals through your booklet. So you need to energise people to read further. The cover is the beginning point so must be inviting 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 brochure. Take Apart these designs to see which excites you the most. Ask your friends their impression. Does the cover answer the question WIFM? If it doesn’t arouse 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 content has to become the salesperson. So once again, the pressure is on to be good. Do not opt for cheap incompetent 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 engage one yourself.

Check Out that all the fundamental questions that a likely client 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 flood them with too much data at this point in time. Remember the brochure’s job is to energize and get people to call you.

3. The call for action:

If your potential customer has read the booklet 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 presented (in big letters) can make a huge 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 bit that got missed:

I did this on purpose and only said there were 3 points. Well the last point is the one that can get omitted. It is the ‘dummy’ one. Have you checked that you have these on your brochure:

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?

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