6 Tips on Producing Brochures and Product Catalogs That Sell

1. Understand how the literature fits into the sales process.
2. Give your prospect a reason to open it.
3. Organize the brochure in a logical manner.
4. Provide useful information to make the brochure worth keeping.
5. Keep the design as simple as possible.
6. Make it clear what you are expecting.

Most brochures and other sales literature look pretty much the same because they are created more for artistic rather than sales purposes. They are usually designed to be as attractive or distinctive as possible, but often end up having a limited impact on the sales cycle itself. To break that cycle, you need to thoroughly consider these questions: What is the purpose of this literature? How can I make it relevant to my prospect? What action do I want the prospect to take? This article presents a method for addressing these issues that can help you to produce sales literature that produces a substantial and measurable impact on your sales revenues.

1. Understand How the Literature Fits Into The Sales Process

Keep in mind the fact that the main purpose of a brochure is not to provide artistic satisfaction but rather to inspire action. In most cases, the goal is to move the prospect towards a buying decision. Even if you produce the best-written, most attractive brochure in your industry, it won't be a success unless it moves a considerable number of your prospects further along in the sales cycle. That's why it is so important to define in the beginning, long before you begin writing or laying out the pages, exactly how this literature fits into the sales process. For example, the brochure might be delivered to prospects who are already strongly considering your product with the intention of easing possible doubts in their mind. In that case, the emphasis should probably be on customer success stories, particularly those in similar situations and similar industries as your prospect. On the other hand, the brochure might be intended for prospects making their initial inquiry to determine whether your product might make sense for their application. In this scenario, the focus should clearly be on explaining the concept and advantages of the product in simple terms and providing the prospect with an easy method of requesting more information or a personal sales call.

2. Give Your Prospect A Reason To Open It

You can't tell a package by the wrapper, yet the fact remains that most people who are in a responsible position with the authority to make buying decisions are so busy that they are continually forced to make snap judgements on where to spend their time. For this reason, the cover is by far the most important part of your sales literature. It usually determines the amount of time that the prospect will spend with your material. To make an analogy with personal selling, the cover is what you use to request an appointment with the prospect. The importance of the cover has led some marketers to lead with a splashy attention-getter without a lot of connection to their main subject matter. But relevant research, particularly studies of trade journal ads that are designed for a similar purpose, shows that this method is not effective. While the dramatic illustration or headline will get attention, readers are able to quickly determine whether the subject matter is relevant to their needs and will quickly discard anything that tries to trick them into paying attention. A better approach is to identify something that applies directly to your product or how it is used that provides a dramatic advantage to your prospect. Encapsulate that advantage in an attractive illustration and a headline that promises a specific benefit and you have a sure winner.

3. Organize The Brochure In A Logical Manner

One of the most difficult and most important aspects of brochure design is providing a logical method of organizing your material. Frequently, if they are attracted by the cover, prospects will leaf through your literature to determine what they will obtain in return for the time spent with it. That's why it's so important to develop a structure for your material that communicates at a glance the story that you are telling. Ideally, this structure should be based on the prospects' experience rather than that of the company producing the literature. For example, each two-page spread of the brochure might talk about your product's impact on the different stages of the prospect's manufacturing operation. Or, each page might talk about the ability of the product to solve a different problem that is common in the prospect's industry. The flow of the literature should be evident through the use of one major headline and illustration in each section that clearly identifies its subject matter. It's also important that the structure of the literature serve to support in the basic concept and benefit that were identified on the cover. In this matter, the prospect for your product will be inevitably drawn into the subject matter based upon the benefits that they are expecting to receive.

4. Provide Useful Information To Make The Brochure Worth Keeping

While the primary motivation for reading and acting on your literature is a perceived benefit, obtaining useful information is normally a close second. That's why it makes sense whenever possible to provide information that is perceived to be useful by the recipient of the literature. For example, you might include detailed application guidelines for a particular product in a brochure design to promote such a product. While this information will not help directly sell your product, it may help convince the prospect that the brochure is worth reviewing and keeping. In some cases, the entire focus of the brochure is built around the purpose of providing relevant information. This type of brochure might be titled: "10 Ways to Improve Your Boiler Operations," "How To Select and Apply Precision Motion Devices," etc. The sales pitch is only subtly worked into the material, ideally by presenting the product as the solution to one or more of the problems that are highlighted. This approach has a tremendous advantage of typically gaining almost immediate attention from anyone interested in the subject matter. It also has the advantage that prospects will probably seek out the literature, rather than having to convince them to take it. Of course, this approach makes it necessary to down play the sales message somewhat compared to other alternatives.

5. Keep The Design As Simple As Possible

One common mistake in producing sales literature is to overload the piece with fancy fonts and clipart in the mistaken belief that it adds interest. The fact is, the prospect's interest in the material will be derived from the subject matter rather than the layout. Add excitement to the brochure by precisely defining the prospect's need and demonstrating that your product can deliver it. Use the layout only for the purpose of leading the reader through your piece. Here are several rules that help simplify the design and avoid distracting the reader from your message. Keep illustrations and graphic accents to a minimum, ideally one or two per page. Illustrations should be used to help communicate your sales message or useful technical information, not to provide decoration. Use no more than three typefaces in your piece. A good typeface calls attention to the message instead to itself. Generally, serif styles are more readable because we are used to seeing them in newspapers, books and magazines. Use contrast to direct the readers attention to key points. Contrast can be added in the design by changing the sizes, shapes, position, weights and colors of design elements. A dominant element on each page, such as a large headline or photograph, adds drama and helps the focus on your message.

6. Make It Clear What You Are Expecting

The most critical impact of every piece of sales literature is not how much your prospect likes it but rather what action your prospect takes. There's no advantage in designing a beautiful brochure unless the beauty rubs off onto the product. If you aren't clear yourself what action you want the reader to take, there's very little chance that he or she will think of it themselves. If the brochure is designed to explain your concept in order to qualify the prospect, then make it easy for the prospect to take the next step. For example, you could include a postage paid tear off coupon that your prospect can use to request more detailed information or to set up a meeting with a sales representative. Or you could create a special form on your web site that the prospect can access to explain their application and get a detailed quotation. If your objective is to reduce the prospect's level of apprehension late in the buying cycle, along with case histories you might provide the opportunity to obtain names and contact information for reference customers. When you think about it, nearly every piece of literature has either an implicit or explicit objective of eliciting action on the part of the reader. Explaining to the reader exactly what action you are requesting and making it easy to comply is critical to success.