This is a question that my clients have asked me several times. It is a very difficult question to answer because the completion of a brochure depends on a number of factors. Some of the factors are under the control of the advertising agency, while others are under the control of the client. For example, how quickly the ad agency prepares copy and layout will depend on their workload at the time. On the other hand, ad agencies are dependent on clients in terms of how quickly they can get approvals at various stages of the brochure development process to allow them to take the next step. We have spent weeks and months developing 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 developing a brochure for anyone to predict the time required to design and print a brochure. I feel 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 of the text”, I suggested how to develop and approve the text 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 job”? Well, don’t expect your brochure alone to 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 reduced price 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’ve mentioned several times in this book that keeping communication with your target audience simple and direct is critical as time is at a premium. If the brochure is too long or unclear, the prospect will avoid reading it.
3. Use Positive Words: Always assume that the customer will eventually buy the product or service. Don’t use the words “if” and “maybe” that invite the possibility of a negative response from the customer.
4. Use “you” often: Use the word “you” instead of “our customers.” You have to assume that the 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 formulate 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 achieve this without using “stiff sentences” or a formal tone. As you develop your brochure, pretend that you are talking to your customer as if they were your friend. The copy in your brochure should represent a dialogue between friends. Your brochure should not read like a textbook.
7. Keep Paragraphs Short: The general rule of thumb if you’re writing an essay or book is that the paragraph height should be no more than the paragraph width. However, in a brochure the paragraphs should be as short as possible.
8. Don’t indent paragraphs that have a space between them: You only need a layout indicator to indicate the start of a new paragraph.
9. Don’t start sentences with numbers: “20% of all police officers are from North India” is not the correct form. The correct way to say the same thing would be: “Twenty percent of all police officers are from North India.”
10. Underline / Capital Letters: Do not use underline or capital letters as a way of emphasizing a point. Use bold or italics instead.
11. Standalone Document: Always prepare your brochures so that they contain enough information to function as a standalone document. Even if you normally send your brochures with a cover letter, chances are they’ll get separated. So don’t rely on the details in the letter to cover details you’ve omitted from your brochure.
12. Contact Information: Always, I repeat always, include your organization’s name, phone 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 each heading and subheading the same way.
14. Header Space – Add a little extra space before each header and close the space between the header and the next paragraph. This makes a visual connection between the title and the paragraph it refers to.
15. Ensure a smooth flow: In general, people read from left to right and from top to bottom. So make sure the information in your brochure follows this flow. In a typical two-page brochure, the reader expects to see the front cover first, and then the three interior panels. Finally, they will turn the booklet over and read the fifth and sixth panels. Include the basic information you want to convey to your reader in the first three panels inside the front page. 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. Images – Images work great in brochures. The images must be related to the information they contain and/or to your concept or idea. Make sure your images are clear and really convey the meaning you’re trying to convey. The type of visuals you use will be influenced by how the brochure will be laid out. The images should be bold and eye-catching to grab the reader’s attention if the brochure is to be placed on a display rack as a point-of-purchase brochure. On the other hand, a Leave Behind brochure can use subtle imagery.
18. Logo – Your company logo should appear on the brochure in the appropriate places. Apart from the last page where the company name and address appear, most brochures also have the company logo on the cover.
19. Proofing – Proof, double and triple check your brochure for errors, be it fonts, grammar or punctuation before sending it off for printing.
20. Bullet Points – Use bullet points 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’s best to assign the task of making the actual offer to the “salesperson” or cover letter. Otherwise, if the offer changes, you will need to make changes to the brochure, which will lead to unnecessary additional expense.
23. Quick read: The brochure should be easy to read. This can be accomplished by keeping written material to a minimum in order to effectively convey your story. Include only absolutely essential technical information.
24. Captions: Always use captions under photos in your brochure. Research has shown that after the headlines, readers like to read the subheadings first before reading or scanning the rest of the brochure.