Brochures play an important role in business because they inform, persuade, and show your product, service, and company at its best.
Yet a brochure, like any other piece of writing, can be easily brought down by a number of fixable errors.
1. Inaccurate or incomplete information
The accuracy of your brochure establishes your company as a trustworthy source in the industry. Yet because brochures are short, the content must both be brief and complete. Don’t leave your reader asking questions about your product, service, or company.
2. Misunderstanding features versus benefits
Benefits focus on how you will benefit from a product or service. Benefits can include saving time, saving money, improving safety, increasing productivity, being the envy of your neighborhood, or something similar. You are the focus. (For example, you can have confidence in backing your new car out of a parking spot thanks to the rear-view camera.)
Features, meanwhile, focus on what makes a product or service unique. The product or service is the focus. (For example, the rear-view camera is strategically placed above the license plate.)
Focus on benefits before features. In this way your reader sees how he will benefit from learning from and working with you.
3. Misuse of graphics
The cliché that a picture is worth a thousand words is true. Trouble is, a poorly designed graphic communicates the wrong words, creates confusion, and ultimately frustration, causing the reader to put down your brochure.
Be sure that your graphics are easy to read, with callouts clearly marked and identified. These guidelines become more compelling when looking at documentation that is designed around graphics and have little to no text, such as aircraft safety brochures.
4. Poor layout/design
Content is king, and you need your brochure to be accurate and well-written. You want it to show how your product, service, or company is the best choice.
Yet in these times, presentation cannot be overlooked.
Does the best presentation mean you must use the most sophisticated graphics or the highest quality paper on which to print your information? No, it does not. But it does mean you should make your graphics (if you have them) are clear and easily discernible, and the paper won’t be a factor in diluting your message with smudge marks or other such problems.
