Unfortunately, nothing in life or business
is quite that easy. Many small businesses rely
on brochures as their first form of sales communication
but find them unsuccessful because they underestimate
the skills and resources necessary to publish
effective and attractive materials. The appearance
and content of brochures and other sales material
are so important because they represent your
company to customers, suppliers, investors and
employees. This is the first impression and,
basically, your sales materials are your company
in many people's minds.
For that reason, even small businesses benefit
from hiring qualified professionals to create
their communication or advertising materials.
However, for some businesses, the do-it-yourself
route is the only option early on. Ultimately,
whether you use professionals or rely on your
own desktop publishing expertise, the following
list of helpful hints can keep your brochure
moving in the right direction.
Talk to your reader. This gets back to the important
premise of 'know your customer'. First, who is
your audience? What is the best way to communicate
with them? For example, when you talk to engineers,
do they want to see photos of your company's
equipment or charts on your product's performance?
When you talk to the manager of a customer's
purchasing department is he or she most interested
in productivity, yield, costs, customer service
or invoicing systems? Do you know whether customers
want to see photos of your facility or your employees
or both? Bottom line, what will make potential
customers take the time to read your brochure?
Clearly define the purpose of your brochure.
Will it be your only sales piece? Will you hand
it out at a trade show with other materials or
mail it to potential customers with a cover letter?
Does it need to communicate only general information
about your company or actively help you make
a sale? The purpose determines its design and
content. Define and communicate this clearly
to the writer and designer of your brochure.
Get ideas about design and information. Check
out brochures and other sales material from your
competitors and others at the next trade show
you attend. Pick up samples that you find attractive
and informative to use as a basis for your own
project. Look up catalogues in the Thomas Register
and check out web pages on the Internet. Try
to understand how these companies convey their
message. Analyze the information, photos, writing
and designs in the materials and use them as
a reference when designing your own brochure.
One word of caution and advice, don't let those
expensive, glossy materials from the large companies
intimidate you; learn from them. Get ideas that
work from the expensive materials and adapt them
to fit your budget. Large companies put large
budgets of research and design into their materials,
by reviewing them, you, too, can understand what
works and use it too.
Tell the benefits of your product or service.
Remember that you are in business because you
solve a problem for your customers and thus,
give them a benefit. For example, your potential
customer really needs a contractor to build and
design parts for his airplane. If you are a parts
manufacturer and have aerospace engineers on
staff to design these parts, that is a benefit
to your customer – be sure they know! How
well you communicate your unique benefits to
your customers will determine whether or not
they will choose to do business with you.
Provide something memorable and valuable. Don't
bore your audience with sales clichés
or the same old industry charts that everyone
uses. Try to create the brochure that people
not only remember but also keep on file!
Incorporate a call to action. Say "call
now" or "visit our website" with
the con¬tact information immediately following.
Commit the necessary dollars. Although it is
tempting to cut corners, this is not the time
to give an out-of-work relative the chance to
earn a little extra income. Hire an experienced
professional to help you with the graphic art
and copywriting. It is ideal to hire a marketing
communications specialist to coordi¬nate
your communications and sales materials. Companies
with smaller budgets can find many skilled independent
graphic artists and writers rather than large
agencies.
When hiring graphic artists, copywriters or
printers, be sure to review samples of their
previous work and ask for written bids. You can
find these professionals through your network
of business associates or through reference materials.
Take your brochure seriously. If you are willing
to spend time and money on a brochure, make sure
the project is completed on time, on budget and
that the company actually uses it for the intended
purpose. Place it on your list of projects to
manage with very definite timelines. Don't assume
that someone else will take care of the details,
including proofreading. Remember, this represents
your company to the world - give it the time
it deserves.
Enjoy the project and the rewards. Remember
that a well-done communications project impacts
your company's profits as well as its image.
A good marketing piece also helps inform and
focus the sales staff and provide them tools
for the trade. Develop the message with your
sales force and they will utilize the brochure
in their customer calls.
Highland Team can assist you in understanding
your customers, finding new segments of customers,and
refining your sales, channels and go-to-market
strageties and programs. Contact us at inquiries@highlandteam.com
or 650-224-6295 and review our expertise at
http://www.highlandteam.com.
Deborah Henken served as VP of Marketing at
several Silicon Valley start-ups, quadrupling
revenues in 18 months, and in senior marketing
and channel positions at Hewlett Packard, Informix
and BEA Systems. As Founder of Highland Team,
she and her team brings strategic marketing thinking
and rapid implementation to assure increased
sales revenues and optimal ROI to both large
and small companies.She earned her MBA from the
Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern
University.
Susan Henken has directed marketing at consumer
and health care companies for more than 15 years.
She provided marketing consulting to manufacturing
companies at Minnesota Project Innovation through
a grant from the SBA and Department of Commerce
and ran her own consulting business. She is currently
Director of Marketing for Consumer Products at
Compex Technologies. She earned her MBA from
the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at
Northwestern University.
