This is a question that my clients have asked me several times. It is a very difficult question to answer because completing a brochure depends on several factors. Some of the factors are under the control of the ad agency, while others are under the control of the client. For example, how quickly the ad agency prepares the copy and layout will depend on its current workload. On the other hand, advertising agencies depend on clients in terms of how quickly they can get approvals at various stages of the brochure development process to enable them to take the next step. We have taken weeks and months to develop a brochure. We have also done it in a couple of days. Sometimes we have even developed the brochure in 4-5 hours. There are too many variables involved in brochure development for anyone to predict the time required to design and print a brochure. I think you should allow at least 4-5 weeks to develop a brochure. However, in this book I have tried to suggest a procedure for the different steps involved in developing advertising and promotional material, which if adopted, will reduce the time involved in developing advertising and promotional material including brochures. For example, in the chapter entitled “Body Copy”, I have suggested how to develop and approve the copy in the shortest possible time.
Some tips 1. Don’t wait for the moon: Have you ever heard the expression “Don’t send a boy to do a man’s work”? Well, don’t expect your brochure to just make the sale for you. The purpose of a brochure is to educate the customer about your company and your products. Your goal is also to encourage the customer to contact you if they are interested in doing business with you. There are some small ticket items that can be sold with a direct mail brochure. However, do not try to achieve everything with the brochure.
2. Keep it simple and direct: I have mentioned several times in this book that maintaining communication with your target audience in a simple and direct way is essential since time is short. If the brochure is too long or unclear, the potential customer will avoid reading it.
3. Use positive words: Always assume that the customer will eventually buy the product or service. Do not use the words “if” and “maybe”, which invites the possibility of a negative response from the customer.
4. Use “you” frequently: use the word “you” instead of “our customers.” You must assume that your prospect is reading the brochure. It is better to address him personally.
5. Don’t ask open-ended questions – Never ask open-ended questions in a brochure. Be sure to ask all questions in such a way that the answer can only be “YES”.
6. Use a friendly tone – You want your brochure to sound and look professional. You can accomplish this without using “stiff phrases” or a formal tone. As you develop your brochure, imagine that you are talking to your customer as if they were your friend. Your brochure copy should represent a dialogue between friends. Your brochure should not be read like a textbook.
7. Keep Paragraphs Short – The rule of thumb if you are writing an essay or book is that the height of the paragraph should not be greater than the width of the paragraph. However, in a brochure the paragraphs should be as short as possible.
8. Do not indent paragraphs that have a space between them: you only need a layout indicator to indicate the beginning of a new paragraph.
9. Don’t start sentences with numbers: “20% of all policemen are from North India” is not the correct way. The correct way to say the same would be: “Twenty percent of all policemen are from North India.”
10. Underline / Capitalization: Do not use underline or capital letters as a way to emphasize a point. Instead, use bold or italics.
11. Standalone Document – Always prepare your brochures so that they contain enough information to function as a standalone document. Even if you periodically send out your brochures with a cover letter, chances are they will part ways with the company. Therefore, do not rely on the details in the letter to cover the details that you left out in your brochure.
12. Contact details: Always, always repeat, include your organization’s name, telephone numbers, postal and email addresses prominently in your brochures so that people interested in your products and services can easily contact you.
13. A basic design rule is repetition: repeating elements throughout a brochure gives it strength and style. A quick way to use repetition is to reduce the number of fonts to one or two or use the same column size throughout the document. Also, format all titles and subtitles in the same way.
14. Heading space: Add a little extra space before each heading and close the space between the heading and the next paragraph. This establishes a visual connection between the heading and the paragraph it refers to.
15. Make sure it flows smoothly: In general, people read from left to right and top to bottom. So make sure the information in your brochure follows this flow. In a typical two-fold brochure, the reader expects to see first the cover and then the three inside panels. Finally, they will turn the brochure over and read the fifth and sixth panels. Include the basic information you want to convey to your reader in the first three panels within the cover. Relegate contact information and other information to the two back panels.
16. Date: If you include time-sensitive data (prices, for example), be sure to inform the reader of the applicable date (s).
17. Visuals: Visuals work wonderfully in brochures. The images must be related to the information contained and / or to your concept or idea. Make sure your images are clear and really convey the meaning you are trying to convey. The type of visuals you use will depend on how the brochure will be laid out. The images should be bold and eye-catching to attract the reader’s attention if the brochure is to be placed on a display shelf such as a point-of-sale brochure. On the other hand, a Leave Behind brochure can use subtle visuals.
18. Logo: Your company logo should appear on the brochure in the appropriate places. Aside from the last page where the company name and address appear, most brochures also have the company logo on the cover.
19. Proofing: Check, double-check and triple-check your brochure for errors, be it fonts, grammar, or punctuation, before submitting it to print.
20. Bullets: Use bullets to convey the most important information. Long, wordy descriptions bore people and they will stop reading your brochure.
21. Content: Include only relevant information.
22. Special Offers: It is best to assign the task of making the actual offer to the “salesperson” or the cover letter. Otherwise, if the offer changes, you will need to make changes to the brochure, resulting in unnecessary additional costs.
23. Speed reading: the brochure should be easy to read. This can be accomplished by keeping written material to a minimum to convey your story effectively. Include only absolutely essential technical information.
24. Captions – Always use captions below photos in your brochure. Research has shown that after the headlines, readers like to read the captions before reading or scanning the rest of the brochure.