Brochures and Flyers

Brochures and Flyers Mini Lessons to Help You Succeed Brochures . . . Do’s  Put your selling message on the cover. This is the most important rule of all and, curiously, one that is little followed. The cover of a brochure works like a headline of a print ad. Four out of five people never get beyond it. If you depend on the inside pages to reach your audience, you are wasting 80% of your money/work.  Insist on a "family resemblance" with your advertising. Develop a theme for your marketing plan and carry it throughout your ad campaign (principle of Repetition).  Use a single illustration on the cover. Research suggests that one large illustration is more effective than several small ones. Illustrations with story appeal that involve the reader add impact.  Select pictures that tell a story. The right photographs can often express your positioning better than words. Brochures . . . Do’s  Always caption photographs. Next to the cover, captions are the most-read element of any brochure.  Don't be afraid of lots of written content. If people have bothered to write or express an interest in your brochure (or picked it up at all), they are prospects for the product or service you are selling or promoting. Tell them everything they need to know.  Spotlight the important facts. Remember that one of the most frequent criticisms of brochures in general is that they "do not give enough facts." Tell your audience what is included, what are the costs, what are the hours, etc. Graphic devices (tables, charts, photos, etc.) can help to spotlight important information.  Use photo's instead of drawings or clipart. Research says that photographs increase recall 26% over drawings or clipart. Photographs suggest reality in the readers mind. Brochures . . . Do’s  Make your brochure worth keeping. Give your piece longer life, and longer selling power, by encouraging the consumer to keep it handy (through the way it is designed).  Give your product a first-class ticket. In many cases, the brochure is your product—the "salesperson" who represents the company to the audience. Therefore, it needs to be a professional, well-written, and polished document.  Ask for the order, a call to action. What action do you want the reader to take? Write, call, return a card, give some money, donate some time? Every brochure must contain a clear call to action. Basic Brochure Design: Where to Start . . . Develop the copy (words) first.   You only have a certain amount of space to tell your story. You can always select graphics and pictures that will re-enforce your message later on. Write your copy from the customers point of view, not yours.  It's not what the business wants to say that should be the focus, it's what the customer wants to know. Mark Twain once said, "I'd have written you a shorter letter but I didn't have the time." Paint descriptive word pictures wherever possible. A picture is retained in the mind much longer than mere words. Once the copy is completed, make it shorter and more descriptive.    Brochures . . . Don’ts     Do not use more than nine or ten lines of type per paragraph. Do not average more than two or three sentences per paragraph. Do not indent paragraphs that have a space between them. Do not start sentences with numbers. Such as, "20% of all policemen prefer powdered donuts." Correct: Twenty percent of all policemen prefer powdered donuts."  Do not put two spaces after periods if using a computer. Do not use underline or all caps as a way to stress a point (these are from typewriters); use bold or italics instead. Never ask open-ended questions in a brochure. Make sure you phrase any questions in such a way that the answer can only be "YES".   Websites to check out . . . Click here for some directions on making brochures in Microsoft Word*. *Remember, if you choose to use Publisher and a template or Word, it is VERY important that it doesn’t look like a template. You chose to create a professional document for your clients; it should look as such. Good Brochure Examples . . . Good Brochure Examples . . . Good Brochure Examples . . . Good Brochure Examples . . . http://www.adventurecycling.org/undergroundrailroad/UGRR_brochure.pdf Good Brochure Examples . . . Flyer Recommendations . . .  Come up with a snappy headline. This is your first and only shot at capturing the reader's attention. Sum up your product in a few, but powerful, words.  Add graphics, if and when necessary. Essentially you need to think of the purpose of those graphics (see the section to follow).  Text should be straight and to the point. You don't have a lot of space to waste here on rambling. Give readers enough information to get them in the door.  Consider tear-off information sheets. Of you have additional information for people to access (phone numbers, websites, buildings to go to, etc.), put that information on a tab on the bottom of the flyer—if it doesn’t detract from its aesthetic. Flyer . . . Do’s  Use photographs to tell your story. Show the benefit or the result of using your product or service in a photograph. You can scan your own photographs, grab photos online, or buy stock photographs already in electronic form.  Use a delicate hand. People new to design tend to make text and graphics too big and/or too bold. Keep your layout simple. Limit yourself to two typefaces to minimize the visual confusion. Use illustrations that build on your message (as above).  Don’t make unrealistic claims. Nothing turns off prospects quicker. Be enthusiastic, tell your story in a positive light, but don’t expect people to believe statements you would not believe yourself.  Organize your page with boxes and borders. You can include several different levels of information on a single page by enclosing separate material in a box or border. Flyer . . . Do’s  Establish a center of attention. Decide which idea or image is most important and make it the single most dominant visual element by playing up its size, position, or density.  Illustration is more than ornamentation. At a minimum, a picture or graphic image should grab attention and draw your reader into the message. At its best, it will express something words can’t. The fact is, illustrations need to do something more than fill space!  Good design doesn’t have to be complicated. Many simple designs use only two typefaces and some simple images and color to tell the story—to get the message across. You don’t have to be a master or design genius to be successful.  The body of your flyer doesn't have to be filled with text. White space invites your readers to see what you're promoting without long, boring blocks of text (that probably will be ignored). Website to check out . . . Click here for some directions on making flyers in Microsoft Publishing*. *Remember, if you choose to use publisher and a template, it is VERY important that it doesn’t look like a template. You chose to create a professional document for your clients; it should look as such. General* Design Do’s . . .  Align text with photos, logos, graphics, etc. (Alignment) Adjust paragraph spacing (Proximity) Use symbols whenever possible (@, %, #) Be sure you really want to use justified alignment (think about what your choice may mean to your audience)! *These apply to brochures and flyers    Good Flyer Examples . . . Good Flyer Examples . . . Good Flyer Examples . . .