In these digital times, you might wonder whether there is any point in having printed product or corporate brochures. Isn’t it easier, cheaper and just as effective to put all your marketing material on the Internet?
Well, it might be easier, and it may be a little cheaper but there’s no conclusive proof as to whether digital is more effective than paper. Here are a few good reasons why I think it’s still well worth producing a printed brochure:
* First and foremost a brochure is a tangible thing.
There’s so much more you can do with it than a website. You can send it out in the post (yes, the post can still be an effective marketing channel), you can take it to meetings or give it away at events.
*A brochure has value.
If it’s a really good one you can give it away for free and your recipients will feel you’ve given them something worth having.
Let’s be honest, when was the last time you were pleased that someone gave you a PDF?
* Brochures tend to be kept.
A brochure can generate you sales enquiries weeks or even months after it has first been received. And, those who respond weeks or months later tend to be better customers who’ve done their deliberating and now made the decision to buy.
In most cases even if recipients save emails or PDF brochures (and let’s be frank many people don’t) chances are they won’t be able to find where they put them a few weeks down the road. Often, a brochure sits on a desk or shelf until some action is taken.
* It’s easier to get your message across in a brochure.
With a brochure you can tell your story in the order you want to tell it, and gradually unfold it page by page. So your reader gets exactly the message you want them to have in the order you want them to have it.
That’s difficult if not impossible to do with a website, where people tend to jump around from page to page at random.
* A brochure makes your business stand out.
It’s one way of distinguishing your business from those businesses who don’t bother with paper sales literature. It helps your business look more real, and more professional.
In addition to which, not everybody has or even wants to use the Internet to find the information they want. If that means, say, adding another 10-20% to your sales enquiries just from people who prefer paper isn’t it worth doing for that reason alone?
Going ‘green’, often put forward as a reason for not having a paper brochure, can actually cost you a lot of money.
How to add power to your brochure:
If you’re going to go to the effort of preparing a brochure it’s worth doing well. Make it more than just a description of your business/product. Add some genuinely useful and interesting information. Make it read almost like a book.
Better still, turn it into a free guide/handbook/manual/report or similar. Something that people really will value, keep and remember. And in the process value, keep and remember your company and your sales message.
If you need any tips, ideas or copywriting content for your next brochure feel free to get in touch with me at mark @ markhempshell.com
Mark Hempshell is a copywriter and content marketer. You can find more useful articles on copywriting and content marketing, or contacts for hiring Mark, here: www.markhempshell.com
