The Definitive Guide to Creating a Marketing Brochure

You’d think that with internet marketing being the be-all and end-all of every marketing strategy, print advertising like brochures, flyers and leaflets are no longer in business.

Well, you couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Brochures are one of the oldest tricks of the book when it comes to business advertising and brand marketing. And while digital advertising has made a wave in the last few years, it is not to say that traditional brochures are going out of the game.

In fact, print advertising has only become more powerful than ever. Brochures are one of the most important marketing collateral you can use to introduce new products and features of your business. You can distribute them to important stakeholders at conferences and community events.

Print media like brochures and flyers are more memorable, more persuasive and sometimes even have better chances of driving results than their digital counterparts.

A great marketing strategy involves integrating offline and online media to leverage maximum benefits and drive the best results.

So how do you go about creating a brochure for your business? Designing a brochure can be tricky when you have no prior experience.

To help you get the hang of it, here is a step by step guide to designing and writing a business marketing brochure that will help you convert leads and grow your brand.

1. Know your audience

Like any other marketing material, your brochure should be targeted to a specific user set. It should be aimed at driving some specific action or metric.

Everything from the imagery, design and copy of your brochure should reflect your target segment. Which is to say, you cannot create a brochure selling loan options targeting a set of 20-year-old college students and expect it to also work for a set of 60-year-old retiring citizens.

So, Step 1 on your brochure creation process would be to clearly define your target audience, identify a measurable conversion metric for that segment and then research design and copy options that would resonate best with the segment.

2. Put down the copy

Now that you have a rough map ready for your brochure, it’s time to write the copy. One of the toughest tasks, in my opinion.

Because there is so much information you want to give out but there is limited space.

Knowing the structure of the brochure helps during this process. It will help you figure out what copy would go in the front of the brochure, in the middle and at the back, and write accordingly.

The most important point to take care of while copywriting for a brochure is to make your copy clear, concise and compact. Your messaging and call to action should be very clear and easy to understand. The front page of your marketing brochure should be able to grab the reader’s attention. The copy on the front page needs to be compelling enough for everyone to turn the page.

Use catchy headlines, short, crisp descriptions and a specific call to action. Don’t try to cram everything into the brochure. It makes your brochure look sloppy and distracts the reader. If your brochure is about a product, mention its benefits, not features. Show, don’t tell.

Keep product descriptions short and to-the-point. Mention the most relevant USPs of your business and how it will help the reader in question. Basically, allow yourself to tell a short story through your copy that will compel the reader to perform your desired action.

The last page of your brochure should include all the important contact information about your company. You can additionally, utilize the last page to mention pricing details, your company’s logo, and tagline.

3. Gather relevant, unique imagery

Once the copy is done with, it’s time to put together the visual elements in your brochure. A marketing brochure is all about piquing your target customer’s interest through creative design and images.

The thing to note while designing a brochure is that your copy and images should complement each other and together present a coherent story for your business. Use icons and illustrations to complement bullet points, high-quality product images with product descriptions and creative pictures for other sections.

Whatever be the type of imagery you choose, keep in mind that consistency is important across your communication. The images you choose should match the tone and fit the image of your brand. You should choose a single, consistent color scheme throughout your brochure.

4. The final design

Now that the copy and images are in place, we can go ahead and begin to give your brochure the final design.

You can choose to download brochure templates – there are tons of them on the internet. Or if you have an in house design and printing department, you can assign the task to them. The final design should be able to bring together all your copy, visuals and communication in a meaningful template. It is good to run your team through any references that you might have collected during your research.

You can create simple booklet themed brochures or play around your creativity by designing foldable brochures and cut-out brochures. It all depends on the image you want to build on your reader’s mind.

Conclusion

Creating a brochure, like any other creative process, can be a lengthy and tedious job. But knowing how to effectively write and design a brochure is an essential skill to have for any marketer. Following the above steps will help you organize your mind and hopefully ease out the process for both your copywriter and designer.

If you are a business in need of a marketing brochure, we are happy to help!

Contact us here.