Copywriting & Marketing

How to Create a Professional Brochure Design

Brochure design is just as great as the copy you put into it. As we like to say at Winters Productions, it’s a marriage of both copy and design. They must work together equally if any promotion is to be prosperous. So how do you create the impeccable brochure design? Here are some tips to get started:

1. Collect, read and study the brochure designs of other companies. It doesn’t matter whether they are connected to your business or not. A great design is a great design, regardless of the industry.

2. Think about your audience and how you want to speak to them. Incorporate into your brochure design the style that will best convey that voice. For example, a D.J.s brochure wouldn’t present people at a boardroom meeting. An accounting firm wouldn’t want pictures of a dance floor. Know your audience first.

3. Keep the components of your brochure design to the minimum amount possible. What that means is don’t try to clog it with too much info. A brochure is fashioned to be a tease - a stepping-stone used in order to introduce your business with a client. It’s not meant to tell them every single facet of your company.

4. Exercise what’s called Negative Space or White Space. Consider about what is there, but also what is not there. Negative space can be just as effectual as the bars, boxes and text in your brochure design. Much like our last point above, you don’t want to jam so much inside your brochure design that the reader feels overwhelmed. White space can be your friend.

5. When creating your brochure design, pick out the most important items. You can spotlight these by making them bolder and brighter so they stand out from the rest of the content. Much like when reading a web page, the viewer will scan the brochure first before sitting down to read it in its entireness.

6. Mind your exercise of color. One of the grandest elements you need to consider for your brochure design is what colors to use. There’s something know as the color wheel that points what colors compliment and contrast each other. Remember too that color includes the text and pictures, but also the paper color too. All of these should come together to produce a harmonious brochure design.

7. Look for ways to save money. For example, printing four colors in a brochure is costlier than printing three. If you plan on having an ivory background on your brochure you can have that brochure printed on ivory paper instead. You’ve avoided one extra design step AND you’ve just managed to save money at the same time.

7. Last but not least, EDIT IT! After you’ve completed your brochure design and everything seems to be the way you want, stop! Don’t send it to the printer. Find someone, or numerous ’someones’, to look over your final brochure design. You could literally lose thousands on printing costs if there is just one thing erroneous with your brochure design.

Your business depends on respectable writing and that’s particularly accurate with your brochure copy. If you’re spending a lot of money on design, printing and postage, keep in mind that words sell you too. It’s always for the best to hire a professional copywriter for brochure copy, but if you do make the decision to compose your own brochure copy, there are a few matters you should decide think about.

The Cover Is The First Point Of Impact

The first thing your customers see when they read your brochure is the cover. Many brochure copy writers most times feature the company’s name or product name here rather of the concept that differentiates your company or product from your competition. This is the perfect place to let your client know what he stands to gain by reading the great brochure copy inside while also  drawing him in with your originality.

It’s always best to use short, noticeable words here too instead of publishing a paragraph. Think of a novel with a fascinating cover. You discover a few words and an alluring photo; not a whole synopsis of the book. Brochure copy should be set this way also.

Headlines Punch Up Brochure Copy

When you’re publishing brochure copy, remember that your headlines are just as important as the rest. People are in such a rush these days that they might not take the time to read the rest. They may, nonetheless, look over the headlines instead as they wait just for their points of interest. So ensure headlines really leap out while being descriptive.

Features Without Benefits Is Pointless

Weakly written brochure copy concentrates on features. Yes, people want to know what something does or how something works. But at least they make their purchasing determination based on, “What’s it for me?”

For example, let’s suppose you sell tires. Knowing the tires are steel belted (feature) is important to inform. Nevertheless, what will make people buy these tires is the sensation of security (benefit) and knowing that they are protecting themselves and/or their loved ones. Your brochure copy should focus on the benefits to your client precisely as much, if not more than, the features. So trade the features for the benefits; not the opposite way.

Be an Expert – Establish Credibility

When your client sees one of your brochures, the first thing they should notice is a professional design. Once they’re hooked in and set out to read the brochure copy, it should communicate exactly why they should trust you. Your brochure should establish your credibility through testimonials, case studies or independent test results just to name a few examples. Admit these in your brochure copy and you’ll be a hit. In fact, numerous marketing experts and analysts have said that customers are 80% more likely to consider a company when they have great testimonials over any other type of brochure copy.

So remember, brochure copy calls for you to charm the reader and move them to action. If you wish to make sure your brochure copy achieve this it needs to provide useful information, a call to the reader’s emotions and be something beyond elaborate advertising hoopla.

When it’s time to consider to furthering your business, searching for the best copywriter you can find is an important task. Special copy can make or break your marketing crusade. Finding the best copywriter though can be arduous. After all, how do you judge? Here are a few effortless tips to make receiving the best copywriter simpler.

Ask Away

When searching for a writer, look at their samples. Better yet; look for samples that appear online, either at their site or others. Are they substantially written? Easy to understand? How successful are they in pulling a reaction from readers? Are they effective in using SEO techniques? When seeking the best copywriter, keep these questions in mind.

What’s Their Research IQ?

When seeking the best copywriter, ask how effective they are with research, again especially online. These days, knowing information isn’t as important as being able to find what you need to know. The best copywriter doesn’t have to be a practiced in what you need written, but they do need to know where to obtain that information. Be sure they have the research tools they need to give what you need. Since you’re the professional in the field, it’s also more helpful to let your writer find out about places you trust for information once you’ve assigned them the occupation.

Listen Closely

When talking with someone to find out if they’re the best copywriter for you, listen to what they have to say.

·        Do they ask appropriate questions?

·        Do they seem to understand what you need?

·        How well do they treat you as a customer?

·        Do they provide a timely response?

The last is especially important when finding the best copywriter because if takes a long time for their reply, think of how long it will take to get your copy. Remember too that ‘timely’ doesn’t mean they answer within minutes – if someone is sitting around and waiting for work, that’s not a good sign either – there needs to be a balance.

Take Your Time

Don’t rush into a decision. If you spent weeks or even months looking for a web designer or graphic designer, don’t short change copywriting. They really work hand-in-hand with each other. You’re making one of the most important decisions for your business. So just take your time, talk, question and listen. Then you’ll find the best copywriter for you.

Here are three concepts you can use when it comes to doing your own marketing copywriting.

Establish Your Brand

Each business needs a brand to distinguish itself from every other business in the world and your marketing copywriting can use that as its key concept. Think about some of the brands of large corporations, from the stylized icon of the Roman centurion of American Express or the simple color “brown” of UPS. Those companies have spent millions establishing their brand and your marketing copywriting is the first step for you in establishing yours.

Know Your Audience

One of the most important concepts you should establish prior to doing any marketing copywriting is uncovering who is your audience. Who are the people that buy your products? What can your business give them that will improve their lives? Find the answers to these questions so your marketing copywriting can be more effective in communicating with your customers.

Get a Second Opinion

When you are crafting your marketing copywriting, make sure you have someone else look it over before you release it into the world – either online or to the printer. No matter how good a writer you are, you must always have a proofreader go over your marketing copywriting. Even if you have to pay someone to do it for you, it’s safer in the end.

Doing your own marketing copywriting is not the easiest thing to do, but if you keep these few things in mind then you’ll be sure to have a measure of success.

A few months ago a newly graduated marketing writer approached me looking for additional freelance work. I went to his site and noticed many ‘no-no’s as I call them and when I wrote back with my reject I took a few moments to explain why. He was very grateful that someone had taken the time to treat him with respect and offer some suggestions.

So I thought why not do an article on being a marketing writer for other people who might want to apply here at Winters Productions? So with that all said, let me begin by saying when you’re starting out, it seems an impossible task. But if you’re serious about becoming a marketing writer, then you want to keep these few suggestions in mind.

Write and Write Some More

A marketing writer writes…always. Just like athletes practice every day, then you too should make sure you write every day, even if you do not have a deadline for that day. If you’re looking for a topic, surf around the internet for a bit until something catches your eye. If it’s related to marketing, then it’s even better. And if you’re really serious about being a marketing writer, then why not look into starting your own marketing blog? It’s a great way to get your words – and your name – out there.

Read and Read Some More

Find articles by other marketing writers and read them, but also while you’re reading them take note of their technique and style. See how they handled a particular topic and think about how you might have handled it differently. Also, know your market and keep up with new trends in the industry. All of these things will make you a better marketing writer.

Revise and Revise Some More

Pull out an article you might have written a few days or even weeks ago and go over it with your red pen – ruthlessly. A good marketing writer is his own toughest critic. Don’t let your self-pride keep you from crafting the finest article you can. Your livelihood as a marketing writer depends on you being a good editor as well. It’s been my experience that the truly best writers don’t feel like their the best because they’re always looking for ways to improve their craft (or even every sentence they write).

There are many more things you need to know in order to become a good writer, but if you start out with these few tips then that’s half the battle to being a great marketing writer.

Simple put…a marketing copywriter writes better than you. Yes, you know your business and, yes, you know your customers. Too often though even the best businesses fall into the ‘we, we, we’ trap. What that means is they talk about how great they are and they totally forget about the person that really matters – their customer. This is where a marketing copywriter knows how to communicate with buyers much more effectively.

A Marketing Copywriter Brings it Home

Admittedly, a marketing copywriter is an investment, but when it comes to your advertising budget, it’s a necessary cost that ends up earning you much more. Advertising itself is costly, but in order for you to maximize your return on investment, your marketing copy must be a work of art, just the same as any graphics you use in your marketing materials.

You need to hire a marketing copywriter to effectively hit your target markets. Only then will you hear your phone ringing, see your web-store getting orders and watch your profits soar. That is what a marketing copywriter does for you.

Don’t Waste Your Advertising Dollars

It’s been said over and over again, but with today’s uncertain economy, it has never been truer: don’t waste your marketing money without a marketing copywriter. It’s also true that during the last big recession in the 1980’s, the companies who survived where ones that DIDN’T STOP advertising. So if you’ve been spooked and you’re thinking that advertising today is a waste, think again.

With that said, believe it or not with a professional marketing copywriter you will actually save money. How is this possible? The short answer is you’ll have a promotion that works. It is better for you to spend a few extra dollars in hiring a good marketing copywriter than to pour money into a great looking site or brochure with bad copy.

Too often I’ve seen businesses spend thousands on web design or a brochure design, but then do the copy themselves. They figure they’ll ’save a few bucks’. Then when the phone doesn’t ring, they can’t figure out why. The reason is really elementary – copy matters.

Neglecting your business by foregoing a marketing copywriter is a bit like running a marathon and stopping 100 yards from the finish. How many endorsements would that stopped runner earn if he said he’s ‘close enough’ and doesn’t need to go the extra few steps? When you handle your promotional copy the same way your results will be the same – you won’t won. It’s that simple.

So instead of stopping short of ‘breaking the tape’ make sure you’re hitting your target market and watch your revenues skyrocket by hiring an experienced marketing copywriter.

In these tough economic times businesses often wonder if there’s anything they can do to survive. Little do they know there are actually six ways that include:

• Diversify
• Offer Outstanding Customer Service
• Intensify Marketing
• Adopt Cutting Edge Technologies
• Stay Focused
• Seek New Ways to Improve

What does all this mean though? An article by Collin Almeida at http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol69/recession.htm offers some fantastic points on how to make that happen.