Business brochures can be a valuable marketing asset when you launch a new business, introduce a new product or service, or decide to propel your business to a new level. The right brochure can provide a profitable payoff for business owners as well as professionals such as financial advisors, attorneys, and consultants.
Unfortunately, though, most brochures don't work. They end up on the shelf trapping dust, and you become another "Brochure Victim."
The solution to unlocking big results from your brochure...even on a modest budget...is to recognize these 5 common brochure myths. Then, you are ready to sidestep the traps that can ambush your results.
Brochure Myth #1 - My Graphic Designer or Printer
Can Provide All I Need To Make My Brochure Pay Off
Your graphic designer and printer are good at what they do. Their expertise, though, is not in the marketing that can spark a profitable campaign.
All too often marketing savvy is absent from a brochure. If marketing is an afterthought, then you've lost the chance to gain a big payoff from your brochure.
Brochure Myth #2 - Design Is The Starting Point
And Everything Else Follows
The secret is that graphics, layout, and design are NOT the prime ingredients in your brochure. Simply, they are the means to the end. Consider this: Design alone cannot rocket your brochure forward to your desired outcome. If you ignore, underestimate, or overlook the other elements vital for success, your brochure will let you down.
There is an exception: When you are selling a service that depends heavily on design, you want to give it prominence. Even then, it is vital to call on marketing basics to get results.
Brochure Myth #3 - My Logo And Company Name
Should Be The First Things People See
What should catch your reader's eye first? The answer is whatever surprises, disturbs, or astonishes your readers into paying attention to your brochure. That becomes your headline.
No, the name of your company, your logo, or empty phrases such as "From Concept To Reality" or "Integrity, Quality, And Service" don't count as headlines.
One idea for a high-energy headline is a benefit that speaks to your prospects' deep-rooted fears or intense desires. It's not unusual for copywriters to coin dozens (even hundreds) of ideas before they discover the right one.
A smart headline can contribute as much as 90 percent to the power of an ad, article, or sales letter. Your brochure is no exception.
Brochure Myth #4 - The Next Step Can Be
Left To My Reader's Imagination
When you rely on your reader's resourcefulness about what to do next, you've overlooked one of the most critical elements of your brochure. And that is your offer.
What do you want them to do next? Visit your business? Contact you for a complimentary consultation? Ask for a checklist or white paper? Put all the ingenuity, innovation, and insight you can muster into a riveting offer. That's how you will entice your readers to take that next step.
Brochure Myth #5 - I'll Find Multiple Uses
For A Generic Brochure
There's much more to a brochure than the satisfaction of simply having one...or the fun of showing off a glitzy work of art to your family and friends.
No one deliberately sets out to sabotage their brochure's success. You are, though, undermining its outcome if you don't make three essential decisions first. And those required decisions are:
- Exactly who am I speaking to?
- What do I want them to do?
- How can I persuade them to do it?
Your brochure can serve you well when everything dovetails to convey a strong message to your selected audience. That's a far cry from a one-size-tries-to-please-all brochure!
It Comes Down To This
Creating a brochure that really works draws on:
1) how much on target you are with your marketing strategy and.
2) how smart you are about putting all the right stuff into your brochure.
Simply, you can have an out-of-the-ordinary brochure by not being taken in by myths and illusions.
"Now YOU Can Create Professional 3D Animations, Games And Graphic Models Like Pixar and Dreamworks In 2 Hours or Less..."
