Brochures

Are You Ready To Effectively Reach Customers And Increase Response Rates?

Ten Easy Steps For Full Colour Brochure Printing

Brochures are great advertising tools.  They can showcase your products, detail your services, promote upcoming events, and help build an image for your company.  The most effective brochures are printed in full colour and are either gloss or matte coated for vibrant colour and crisp text.  Whether single or double sided, a full colour brochure makes a powerful first impression on the reader; when the reader feels that your brochure has been professionally and expensively made, the reader’s estimation of your company goes up.  If the reader thinks well of your company, you can expect to see response rates go up.

You have several popular “standard” options for brochure size.

• A3 (297 by 420mm)
• A4 (210 by 297mm)
• A5 (148.5 by 210mm)

The size you choose depends on how you want your brochure to look. Your design concept should begin with the amount of information you need to include, so your full colour brochure won’t be too small and cluttered.  An A3 size sheet can be folded in half to make a four page catalogue.  An unfolded A4 is often used as a product sheet.  A tri-folded A4 creates a six panel brochure.  An A5 size sheet can be folded in half to make an economical mini catalogue… there are many possibilities available in the three standard sizes.

Once you’ve chosen your brochure size, your work has just begun.  Keep these ten steps in mind when you are planning your full colour brochure printing and you’ll end up with a well made piece that will effectively promote your business.

1. Do your research.  Know your product and your market!
2. Define your ideal customer.  Every product has a perfect customer -- who is yours?
3. Decide on the purpose of your brochure.  Are you introducing your company to new prospects and target groups?  Are you communicating with people who are already familiar with your business and products?  Is your information time sensitive, or can it be used again?
4. Make your message loud and clear.  If the market is crowded with competitors, your message is going to have to shout above the rest of the noise.  Point out the unique advantage your business has over all the rest.
5. Create a powerful headline.  The headline accounts for up to 80% of the success of any marketing message.  If you can’t attract a prospect’s attention with the headline, you’ve probably lost them.
6. Don’t hold back the facts.  Tell your prospects everything they need to know to decide that you’re the right company for them.  Don’t be afraid of long copy.
7. Use white space.  White space gives the reader the ability to move quickly and easily through the message, to more easily comprehend what they are reading.  If your paper size is too small, your brochure can look cluttered.
8. The right picture is worth a thousand words.  All photos and graphics should contribute to your marketing message -- don’t put in graphics just for the sake of graphics.  Select pictures that can describe your business better than words.  Always caption photographs; captions are one of the most-read parts of any publication.
9. Make an offer your customers can’t refuse.  If you want to increase your customer response rate, here are some strategies you can try.  Guarantee customer satisfaction and eliminate all customer risk.  Make it very easy for your customers to contact you, by offering phone numbers, fax numbers, email, and web addresses.  Offer incentives that are irresistible.  But be sure to give specific instructions on what action you want the reader to take.
10. Trust a professional.  Brochure design takes skill, creativity, and experience; a good printing company will be able to offer you design assistance.  A knowledgeable commercial printer can also give you optimum printing quality, fast project turnaround, and competitive prices.

Your full colour brochure doesn’t have to be just a brochure, either.  Planning to advertise in the newspaper?  The artwork and text can be used in your advertisement.  Want to decorate your office or store?  Matching posters can help reinforce your message.