interface media group inc - brochures, vancouver, graphic, design, printing

Brochures

So you’re considering printing a brochure, good for you! Brochures or pamphlets can be an valuable addition to your printed marketing materials.

You want to get the call when someone has a need for your product and leaving a customer with a brochure after a meeting or sales call keeps your message close at hand.  Why do you think your mailbox is so often stuffed with take-out and delivery brochures?  Because Pizza and Chinese food stores know they need to be there when their customer is hungry.  A brochure will help your company be there when your customer gets hungry.

So why opt for a brochure?  With more space than a flyer or handcard they offer an opportunity to not only to supply your business name and contact information, and to reinforce your brand; but also to illustrate and describe what products and services you offer, and sometimes provide an order or registration form. Best of all even though they’re quite affordable a concise professional brochure looks expensive and gives a better impression than a flyer or handcard with the same information.

Have a look at some of our favourite brochure designs

As with any other marketing materials you must start by understanding your audience to create an effectively targeted sales pitch. Consider where you plan to distribute your brochure; are the people there likely to have a need for your product or service?  Are these people past or potential customers, are they familiar with your business?  Most small businesses will only want to make one brochure so knowing the answer to these simple questions will help you make the type of brochure most likely to improve your sales.

Types of Printed Brochures

Point of Sale Brochure

These brochures are typically located at or near a cash register, and beside areas where customers typically line-up. Think about your bank, after getting in line you’re likely to see a wall of brochures outlining each of their credit cards, mortgages, and a variety of accounts they offer.  Since you’re just waiting in line you scan the headlines and see a couple you might be interested in, which you pick up to scan now while you’re killing time and reference later.

Point of sale brochures should be specific, introduce something new to the customer, provide clarification, or reinforce an existing message.  They need to have simple headlines, limited graphics and focus on a particular product or product line.

Follow-up Brochure

This type of brochure is sent to a customer who has already inquired about your product or service. If you ask about a product at a trade show they’re likely to get your name and email or address to send you some follow-up information about that product.  They do this because a customer who asks questions or otherwise shows interest is more likely to make a purchase, which makes them a qualified lead.

Follow-up brochures need to focus on the purchase step of the sales process and should illustrate how your product meets their every need.

Leave Behind Brochure

Leave behind brochures are exactly what they sound like – after a sales meeting they’re left behind to reinforce sales points. When did you last have a Jehovah’s Witness at your door? I bet they left you a pamphlet that detailed the points they had just briefly discussed with you.

They’re designed to trigger memories of your meeting so the copy should summarize the sales pitch to echo how the product will be sold in the meeting.  It should also completely outline your product and the benefits to your potential customer.

Direct Mail

Direct mail brochures in Canada are generally sent through Canada Post to partial or entire postal codes as unaddressed admail.  Think about your mailbox again, you’re likely to find several brochures a week some sent on their own and some may arrive in an envelope along with a sales letter.  Wether sent alone or as part of a direct mailing package, direct mail brochures should strike a balance between a sales letter and a flyer or handcard.  They should outline a specific offer and provide specific directions to the action a customer should take to redeem the offer.

Layouts of Printed Brochures

So you know you want to have a brochure made to advertise your business, and you’ve decided what type of brochure you’re going to need; now what information will you include?  Knowing the amount of information you’re going to want to convey, how well it will break down into the different number of panels, and your budget for the project, will help to determine the size you’ll need.

Common paper sizes for brochures include 8.5″ x 11″ letter sized paper, 8.5″ x 14″ legal sized paper, and 11″ x 17″ tabloid size paper, some of which work better with a particular fold style.  The following matrix will help you choose the fold style for the size of your brochure.

Printing: Prices and Quantities

Print prices are volume based – the more units you have printed at one time the less you’ll pay per unit. It doesn’t happen too often but there are occasions when a particular paper is discontinued and discounted and we work hard to keep our clients informed of these special opportunities.

We work with a group of trusted printing partners whom we recommend to all our clients as they offer quick turnaround times, and consistently deliver superior quality printed products at competitive prices. We’ve worked together for years on countless projects and we recommend these particular printers because they’ve earned our complete trust.

To find print pricing we first recommend a paper type, then determine the quantity or range of quantities required, and contact our printers for current quotes for the job which include prices and turnaround times.  All printing quotes are valid for 60 days.

For clients using our printers we manage the entire process, delivering the artwork to the printer, proofing the file setup for print, and when the job is complete we offer complimentary delivery of your marketing materials to your business or billing address.

If you choose to work with your own printer you will be managing the printing process directly with your printer. Prior to starting work on a design for print you’ll need to supply us with their complete printing specifications including their preferred file formats, bleed sizes, and minimum resolutions. Once the artwork is complete we’ll prepare the file for print to the specifications supplied and deliver it to you electronically.

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We’re happy to answer any questions you may have, our vancouver graphic design company is open weekdays from 10am-6pm.  Give us a call at 604.415.0494 or email info@interfacemedia.ca.