**Just a Quick Note** Welcome to Part IV of the Marketing Expertise six part small business marketing series…

Back From the Dead: 5 Print Media Marketing Vehicles Guaranteed to Make Your Small Biz’nass POP!!!

 
And now… Part IV: The Brochure: Small Business Marketing’s Print Media Friend
When it comes to print media, brochures clock in a close second behind business cards in terms of importance and enduring influence in the marketing game. These stalwarts of print media have been fighting the good fight on the front lines of marketing and communication – serving both promotional and information (and sometimes both) purposes – ever since Guttenberg inventing the fixed type printing press.
(Hell, Martin Luther splintered the Catholic Church and gave birth to the Protestantism with his three “treatises” tacked up on a Wittenberg in church in 1517. And those treaties were yer basic leaflets, albeit packing some pretty powerful content.)
Brochures, however, come in every shape and size imaginable, making this a pretty wide open field of study. For ease of use, I’m going to restrict our discussion to the good ole tri-fold brochure.
Tri-fold brochures are…

• Easy to display
• Easy to handle
• Easy to create and print
• Adaptable – fold it up, scribble an address, slap on a stamp and viola: It’s a mailer!

The Impact of a Well-Executed Brochure

Amidst the “Print is Dead” rallying cries, brochures were one of those media items primed for the chopping block. Yet, businesses with well-executed brochures (or any brochures at all) really stand out.
Just as with direct mail postcards (covered at length in Part III of this series), brochures hold the magnetic pull of tactile touch and physical engagement. You can hold a brochure in your hands and feel the texture, turn the pages, turn it upside down, scrutinize it closely and set it aside for future reference.
Plus, the fact that a tri-fold brochure can also double as a mailer gives you all the benefit of a direct mail piece, too.
All of these elements give physical brochures a serious leg up on email and their other digital counter parts. Plus, since no one does print anymore, if you’ve got something even half way decent, you can’t help but stand out from the crowd.

What Makes a Great Tri-Fold Brochure?

As with all the print media marketing vehicles we’ve reviewed thus far, less is most definitely more.
Of course you need to include the core elements…

• Contact information (a given)
• Your offer (or whatever information you’re attempting to communicate)
• A call to action

And of course, design-wise you want to incorporate your branding elements – color palette and design format, logo, tagline and USP.
But the real key to crafting a brochure that hits the mark and motivates action is maintaining a narrow focus.
If you’re making half a dozen different offers and issue half a dozen different calls to action, potential customers are left reeling: “what do these guys really want me to do? (because I can’t do everything listed in this brochure)”
To make this happen, you must…
Start With a Specific Goal
Define the goal you hope to achieve before you even get started:

• Introduce your company
• Introduce or sell a specific product or service
• Etc…

Just remember to keep the focus narrow.
Craft an Engaging Title
Just like as you would if you were writing an ad, your brochure should begin with an attention grabbing title that pulls the reader (your potential customer) in and convinces them to read the More (your introduction).
Craft an Interesting Lead
Once your engaging title has reeled in a potential customer, you need to hit them with an interesting pitch, appeal or problem (that your product or service can solve) that maintains their attention.
The Offer
Assuming your prospective customers attention is firmly in your grasp, now you offer your discount, special deal or simply present whatever you’re selling.
Call to Action
Don’t sleep on the Call to Action.
Obviously you’ve put this brochure together and distributed it to potential customers because you want a reaction. So don’t sit around on your thumbs – ask for it!

• Visit us online
• Sign up for your free report
• Like us of Facebook
• Follow us on Twitter
• Call Now
• Don’t Wait, Order TODAY!

I’ve said it before, but it’s definitely worth repeating: as cheesy as these CTA might sound, they work. Research demonstrates, time and again, including a simple CTA results in higher response rates.

And on the Design Front

Just as with biz cards and direct mail postcards, clean, clear, uncluttered layouts – remember: less is more – are you best bet.
White space is your friend. Resist the temptation to pack every open nook and cranny with an image or more text or more info or whatever… Keep your focus narrow and give your brochure room to breathe.
Definitely incorporate you branding – color palette, design format, logo, etc…
Don’t use more than two fonts.
A good rule of thumb:
San Serif (as in sans the curly cue extenders) fonts are best for your title, headlines and subheads,
 
 
and serif (with the curly cue extenders) fonts work for body copy (longer blocks of text).

What About You?

Have brochures helped your business? If you happen to be one of those who has abandoned the trusty ole brochure, how has the change effected your business?
Talkback: tell us all about the role brochures have played in your small business marketing efforts.
Next up in part V of the Back From the Dead: 5 Print Media Marketing Vehicles Guaranteed to Make Your Small Biz’nass POP!!! Series: Sales Letters
p.s. If you need help creating a High Impact High Converting brochure, reach out to Marketing Expertise. I’ll put together a brochure that will make your business shine, and potential customers just won’t be able ignore!
Ryan Anys: 310.466.7898 | ryananys@designexpertise.net