Learn to Write Marketing Brochure Copy

Brochures are extremely valuable because they hold the same benefits as several areas of marketing, making them one powerful tool to accomplish several purposes. They have a collectible quality similar to business cards. They hold vital information you would include in a sales letter. And they showcase the best of your business like a poster. Follow these simple steps and you will have a brochure worthy of its potential. 

Brochures can be exciting
When you print brochures, you have the ability to sell your company with exciting photographs and bold graphics. Use this benefit with confidence. Graphics on the cover should be much more than a company name or logo. Use your imagination and grab the attention of potential clients.
 
But don’t forget to organize
You have a great opportunity to fill your brochure with all of the best aspects of your business. Put the very best information in the headings and in bold fonts. Your reader will look at the graphics first, the headings and captions next, and the content will be saved for last. For this reason, make sure that you have enough substance in your graphics and headings when you print brochures to make the customer want to read the content.
 
And make the content personal
Your reader will enjoy reading your brochure much more from their own perspective than from yours. Think about what the customer wants to know. Answer any questions that you have been asked by customers. Tell them how this product will improve their life. Try not to focus on all the details of your product. These may be very interesting to you but perhaps not so to the customer. When you print brochures, think about them from the customer’s perspective.
 
Never forget to include substance
Do not get carried away with technical terms. However, make sure that the meat of your company is in your brochure. Talk about what makes you better then your competitor. Point out all the wonderful aspects of your product and explain why it is great. When you go to print brochures, check all of your contact information to be sure it is correct. You may even want to place your phone and fax numbers along with your physical and web address on every page of your brochure.
 
Finally, sell your product
After you draw in your customers and inform them about your product, encourage them to take action. Give them a reason to order. Take advantage of print brochures by making a perforated order form or coupon. Give the customer a special deal or secret information in your brochure. And finally, make the ordering process effortless by clearly laying out the steps that the customer needs to take.

If done right, your brochure will prove an invaluable asset to your company and complete several marketing jobs at once. 

 

4 Tips for a Successful Sales Letter

The task of preparing and sending a profitable sales letter may seem daunting and unattainable. This does not have to be the case for those who take advantage of the tools available to them: write to the right set of people, use custom envelopes, and include order forms. With these few proven tips, you can create a sales letter that does the job.
 
#1 Keep your key audience in mind 
Write to the people who will need and want your product. For example, pet owners need pet medicine and parents look for children’s clothing. Once you have a letter fitted to your customer base, send it out only to those who fit that group. If you get a good response with this group, resend another letter at a later date. You should get another good response.
 
#2 Spend time on your custom envelopes
Studies show that custom envelopes can increase the chances of the letter being opened. Printing addresses directly on the envelope is proven to make the letter more interesting while handwritten addresses are opened the most often. Keep in mind the character of your business as these options may not be appropriate for all businesses. Do not use a sales pitch or fancy graphics on your custom envelopes. This sends the message that you are all about advertising, and the letter will get pitched before it is even opened.
 
#3 Make it easy for the customer to follow through
Give your customers options for ordering. A paper order form with a self-addressed envelope will create an effortless option for ordering. Also, make it clear that phone and online ordering are available for those customers who prefer it, and place your web address and phone number in clear sight. The goal of your letter is to sell your product to them. Don’t lose a customer because the process of ordering was confusing or cumbersome.
 
#4 Use the resources available to you
You can find programs to aid you in your efforts for a great sales letter. Using a template or pre-written letter will free you up to spend time on personalizing your letter, and will insure a professional outcome. Your consumers will trust you more if your letter and custom envelope are professional in appearance and wording, and trust results in a purchase.

 

Which Type of Promotional Calendar is Right for Your Customers?

A promotional print calendar is a great way to keep your business name in front of your current and potential customers twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred sixty-five days a year. Print calendars are versatile in format and extremely cost-effective, making them an ideal marketing giveaway. But which type of promotional calendar is right for your customers? Knowing what’s available will help you to better choose a format that meets your clients’ needs.

A promotional print calendar can be customized to virtually any print format you can come up with including: 
 

Some Little Known Facts about Memorable Business Cards

The goal of any business card is to be handily available when someone needs what you are selling. In order for a current or potential customer to find your card when they are ready to make an order, they first have to remember it and have kept it. So how can you make your business card memorable enough that people want to keep it around? Here are some little known facts about memorable business card printing pieces that will help guide you to design one of your own!

Print Beautiful Catalogs Using These Color Tips

Color catalogs look far more attractive than black and white ones, and so are more effective marketing tools. Just adding color will increase the appeal of your print catalog, but if you want to take your catalog to the next level, there are a few color guidelines that will help.

Be Consistent With All Publications
To reinforce product branding when printing catalogs, use the same color scheme in every publication and on all your signage and marketing materials. This is not to say all your photos in the catalog should have the same colors in them, but your cover page, logo, and order form pages should have the same color scheme.

Use Color for Impact
On each page of your print catalog, there should be one product that stands out. You can do this by having a monochromatic background that contrasts with the product you want to emphasize. For instance, you can emphasize a bright red coat by using a picture of a model wearing it on a gray city street. Using only a few colors per page also makes the spread look more attractive. If you were to use lots of colors inconsistently on the page, it would just look busy, and nothing would really stand out.

Use Colored Text Sparingly
Black text on a white background is the easiest to read. In your efforts to be creative, you must keep in mind whether or not your words are readable, because if people have to struggle to read your catalog, they are less likely to order from it. On the other hand, if you want to emphasize only a few words, this is one instance in which colored text is acceptable. For instance, you could put the word “sale” in red. If only a few words are in color, then they stand out much more than if the entire page is full of colored words.

Use Background Bleeds
Using background bleeds in your print catalog makes it look more attractive and professional. When bleeds are used in printing, the background color extends a little beyond the edge of the page. That way, the color extends all the way across the page and there are no white edges showing in the final printed product. Just remember that when you use this technique you need to keep your text and important images within your printer’s safety guidelines so they don’t accidentally get cut off during the trimming process.

Advertising 101

There are a lot of words thrown around that have similar meanings to advertising, so you might be wondering what advertising really is and if a specific definition really matters. Advertising is basically anything a business does to try to get consumers to have a positive view of their company or to get consumers to purchase their goods or services. There are four basic purposes for advertising.

Creating Demand
The objective for advertising is sometimes to create a demand for product or service. There are two types of demand: primary and selective. 

• Primary demand is the demand for a type of product. The Got Milk? ad campaign is an example of this type. The advertisers are merely promoting the consumption of milk in general, not a specific brand of milk. Unlike the milk example, primary advertising is usually done to promote a new product; in this case the marketer tries to create a demand for something the public doesn’t currently use.
• Selective demand is the demand for a specific brand of the product. Selective demand advertising kicks in once the new product has competition.

Promoting a Brand or Company
Another purpose for advertising is to shape the public impression of a brand or company. An advertisement might try to make a company seem reliable, cutting edge, or customer-oriented. The hope is that if people think the company is a good one, they will be more likely to use it rather than the competition. For instance, a printing company might have a commercial showing the bands it has helped make famous by completing quality poster printing projects.

Causing Action by Consumers
The desired action by consumers might be direct or indirect.

• Direct action advertisements call for consumers to buy this product or service soon. The ads do this by having limited time offers of special prices or packages. For example, a print company might offer poster printing at a reduced rate until a specific date.
• Indirect action advertisement is a lot like promoting a company. The purpose is to get consumers to have a positive view of the brand or the product a company makes. This type of advertising is aimed at building a customer base over the long run. 
   

Benefiting the Public
The purpose of some advertising campaigns is to promote public safety or well being. Campaigns that encourage people to wear seat belts are an example of this.  Another example is when regional forest reserves do a poster printing campaign to promote fire safety.

Now that you have a basic knowledge of advertising, you can better know where you should start with your advertising campaign. Your next step is to research specific advertising campaigns and hire professionals so that your advertisements can be as effective as possible.

Common Booklet Printing Mistakes

Booklet printing is a great marketing resource when you need more space to properly showcase your product than a brochure allows. There are a few design notes you should keep in mind when planning a booklet. Here is a list of some of the most common booklet printing mistakes to avoid.
 
#1 Too Much Text

All of that extra room can make your copywriters go a little crazy! You will need to watch for too much text added to use up all of the extra space. If you find this to be the case, edit the text and then, if there is too much white space, try enlarging the headlines and subheadings. Limit your text to what is needed.
 
#2 Page Malfunction

Missing pages or pages that are out of order are another unfortunate mistake of booklet printing. Be sure that you have a copy of the finished product to scrutinize specifically for consecutive page order.

Improving the Content and Images of Your Brochures

Improving a brochure is a great way to increase revenue and retain existing clients, and images and content are one of the most important aspects when improving the memory retention of your brochures. So if your brochure printing pieces need an overhaul, try the following suggestions to turn your design into an easy sales tool.

Images    
Paint the perfect picture with images. Here’s how:

1. Images are a great enhancement to any brochure. They are often used to suggestively sell the product or service in the brochure. So, how does a suggestive sell create desire for a product? 
2. Show the value of the product with images. Inform the consumer of the utility that will be gained. A pain relieving patch will often show an individual before and after the use of the pain reliever.
3. But show more than proof of the product working. Show a dancer performing in a dance after using the pain relieving patch or grandpa playing catch with the grand kids. The utility gained here is much more than just pain relief. 

How to Design Product and Packaging Labels

When trying to create product/packaging labels for your business, the process can become quite complicated and frustrating. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be such a hassle to get your labels designed and printed. Here are a few steps to simplify the process and give you label printing designs that will reinforce your company image. 

First, list the required information and choose a paper. The paper used for label printing depends upon the product, company, and type of distribution. The packaging label for a piece of furniture is often cheaper and less essential than the label on a box of toothpaste. The same goes for the required information on a label — it depends upon the product. There are legal requirements for food and other products. There are also courtesy requirements due to industry standards. Just try to find a bar of soap without the amount in ounces on the label. Even the handmade craft or specialty soaps include the ounces on the labels.       

Branding Tips for the Small Business Owner

Deciding on a brand can be an enjoyable and creative task for a small business owner, but with understanding of the comparable market standards and research it will also be rewarding. Develop a branding strategy that is both all-encompassing and interesting to help grow your business and make your company more easily recognized by consumers.
Have a Branding Strategy

There are contractors who will only buy a red Ford pick-up because the image that Ford has developed matches the job. Don’t stop with a message such as this, though. Once you’ve decided on your image, use a logo and tagline on everything. Your logo needs to be distinctive, and the tagline should be a condensed mission statement that is used on letterhead and business cards. Use websites, online social marketing, and thank you letters to develop the brand name. No business is too small to be branded, so establish a brand with a strategy and customers will take notice.       
Know the Market Standard for Branding and Promotions

Several years ago, Sonic had as many total units in the United States as McDonalds opened every year across the world. Sonic started to advertise at college sports in order to keep up with McDonalds’ advertising at professional sport events. In the same way, identify your competitors’ branding strategy and use their hard work and research to know who, what, and where to promote your branding.

 
Be Interesting when Branding

Why does Sonic use the two guys in the drive through or the guy and his wife in the drive through? These ideas make for interesting branding. If someone made a spoof of these commercials, you would identify them with the Sonic commercials. Be clever and interesting, and maintain this image on business cards, letterheads, and websites. 

 

Do Your Own Research

This will help you fully understand your target market. Using your competitors’ research is not enough. You may be successful if this is all you do, but to guarantee that your company’s branding is appealing to your target market, you must do some of your own research. Your target market is likely to be different from your competitors’, so use surveys to better define it. Once you have completed surveys and gathered demographic information, develop your branding specific to that market. Even the fonts when printing business cards and other printed material should be tailored to that market.