Brochure Marketing Strategies

Brochures are one of the most widely distributed marketing materials on the planet, and for good reason. Few other mediums lend the space to present a powerful message in such a succinctly portable manner. Of course, brochure marketing isn't about what you want to say, is it? Rather, brochure marketing is about what you want your audience to do. The following tips and strategies will show you how to motivate response with brochure marketing:

Focus

Knowing who your target audience is and how to reach it isn't enough. You have to understand what motivates them. Identify a problem and focus on a specific desire or need your audience has, and position your brochure to solve that problem for your audience. Recognize that there are five types of brochures (leave behinds, point of sale, direct mail, response and sales support) and that each is primed to take advantage of certain marketing nuances. The most effective brochures focus exclusively on selling one product or service. If you have multiple products, create separate brochures for each or compile them in a catalog.

Motivate

How do you motivate your audience to take the next step in the purchasing process? First of all, you have to attract attention. One of the best ways to do this is to lead with your offer. Make your offer a great offer, something that your audience will relish. Don't offer a free consultation when you can offer a free guide, free analysis, a time-sensitive discount or special VIP pass. Remember that people buy on emotion and justify with logic, so your goal is to speak to your audience's desires through an assortment of desirable benefits. What do they want? Give it to them.

Give direction

OK, so you have an attention-getting lead with a great offer backed by plenty of supporting evidence (benefits). Now you need to seal the deal: What specific action should your audience take? Make sure you spell it out very clearly, and give your audience several ways to respond (such as a phone number, website, catalog order, etc.) if possible. Without a clear call to action, your brochure will fail and all of your other efforts will have been in vain. With a clear response directive, motivated prospects tend to take immediate action, especially when your offer is time sensitive.

Get a great list

The 40/40/20 rule of direct marketing dictates that success is the sum of 40 percent list quality, 40 percent offer quality and 20 percent everything else (design, copy, etc.). In short, if you can get the right offer in front of the right person, they'll buy. Your direct-mail brochure marketing strategy must incorporate a current mailing list comprised of likely customers for your products and services. Creating a great brochure that delivers a big return on investment is challenging but not impossible. After all, if brochures weren't as successful as they are they wouldn't be one of the most popular marketing materials in the world. Use these brochure marketing strategies to your advantage when planning your next brochure marketing campaign.