Brochures/Flyers Technical Writing
Brochures/Flyers Technical Writing Brochure A brochure or pamphlet is a leaflet advertisement. Brochures may advertise locations, events, hotels, products, services, etc. Distribution Direct mail and trade shows are common ways to distribute brochures to introduce a product or service. In hotels and other places that tourists frequently visit, brochure racks or stands may suggest visits to amusement parks and other points of interest. 5 types of brochures 1) Leave-Behinds: This type of brochure is named for the brochures you leave behind after meeting a potential customer. Write this type of brochure with a complete description of your product and its benefits. Summarize your sales pitch to echo the one you just gave. Keep your words forever in their brain - or at least long enough to get them to buy your product 5 types of brochures 2) Point-of-Sale These are best described as the type you might encounter while standing in line at the bank. You notice a rack of brochures and it just so happens they're conveniently located right there for you to enjoy. You didn't know you could get free checking if you bought a Certificate of Deposit. You take a brochure. You'll read about it later. Point-of-Sale. Write a catchy headline and make sure you have a nice visual to work with the headline. Your goal is to get potential customers to see your brochure, be curious enough to pick it up and, even more important, keep it. 5 types of brochures 3) Respond to Inquiries When people ask about your product, they're obviously interested. Sending this type of brochure is for a qualified buyer. They're qualified because they're much more likely to buy than someone who hasn't contacted you. Since they've already expressed interest, write this brochure to take your prospect to the next step: the buying process. Hammer home all of your sales points and pack your brochure with facts to convince them they can't live without your product. 5 types of brochures 4) Direct Mail This is the type of brochure you include with your direct mail package. You know the sales letter sells but a brochure used with direct mail contains photos, your product's sales points and even technical features. 5 types of brochures 5) Sales Support Tool Sales support is very similar to leave-behinds. The difference is, this type of brochure can be used as a selling aid. Your salesperson uses them to guide them through their sales pitch. They have larger pages, larger photos and larger headlines. Panels in brochures The most common types of single-sheet brochures are the bi-fold (a single sheet printed on both sides and folded into halves) and the tri-fold (the same, but folded into thirds). A bi-fold brochure results in four panels (two panels on each side), while a tri-fold results in six panels (three panels on each side). Folding Z-fold (Concertina fold) C-fold (Letter fold) Others Z -fold A concertina fold is a continuous parallel folding of brochures and similar printed material in an accordionlike fashion, that is with folds alternatively made to the front and back in zig zag folds. Because they do not nest (as in Letter Folds) panels can be the same size. Seen from above, concertina folds resemble a Z or M or series of zigs and zags. Also known as a Zig Zag Fold, Accordion Fold or z-Fold. Z -fold C-fold Folds are parallel and in the same direction, so that a kind of spiral is produced. The letter fold is a parallel fold. Two or more panels of the same width of the folded signature are folded around one panel. When the signature is folded twice, there are three panels on each side (six pages); with a tri-fold, the result is four panels on each side (eight pages) To allow proper nesting of panels that fold in, inside panels are usually 1/32" to 1/8" smaller than outer panels with the inside end panel being the smallest. Also known as a Spiral Fold, Tri Fold, Brochure Fold, Business Letter, C Fold, Roll Fold and Barrel Fold C-Fold Other folds French fold: Takes a concertina fold, folded in half down the middle to create 8 individual sections. Double Parallel fold: In double parallel folds the paper is folded in half and then folded in half again with a fold parallel to the first fold. To allow for proper nesting the two inside folded panels are 1/32" to 1/8" smaller than the two outer panels. Flyer vs Brochure 5 tips concerning printing http://homebusiness.about.com/od/marketingadvertising/a/brochure_tips.htm 5 tips concerning printing Brochure Tip 1: Know Your Print Size A print layout has to be returned to the customer because it wasn't setup for the proper output size. Don't use an 8.5 x 11 layout and submit it for printing on 8x10 paper. MacKinnon points out that when a print service has to stretch or shrink a brochure layout to fit the paper, the quality of the print resolution may be compromised. 5 tips concerning printing Brochure Tip 2: Allow for Bleed What is print bleed? Think of it as an insurance policy to make your final printed brochure look its best. Brochures are printed together in sheets, and then sliced into single units. The blade that cuts out each brochure is precise, but when cutting thousands of pieces, it can fluctuate slightly over the course of the order. Designing your brochure with an extra 1/8th inch of coverage beyond each edge is recommended. 5 tips concerning printing Brochure Tip 3: Resolution is Key Using high-resolution images in your layout is a critical step toward creating a professional looking final brochure. If you submit something for print that isn’t the proper resolution, your images will come out ‘soft’, blurry, or even pixilated. The images you see on your computer monitor are only 72 dpi (dots-per-inch), which is fine for viewing on a monitor, but very inadequate for a professional-looking printed brochure. Your images should be at least 300 dpi to print clearly with full sharpness 5 tips concerning printing Brochure Tip 4: Select the Correct Paper Most print shops that print brochures offer either an 80lb or 100lb stock paper, with a variety of gloss / matte finishes. It’s really your choice in the end, but a 100lb stock is surprisingly more substantial than 80lb stock paper without a huge cost difference. Using a heavier paper may convince a potential customer that you are more professional than your competitors. Adding varnish will add an appealing gloss to your brochure, but if you have a lot of ink coverage your brochure will appear glossy anyway. However, if you use too many dark colors in your brochure design, using a varnish will prevent fingerprint smudges on your brochure. 5 tips concerning printing Brochure Tip 5: Be Original and be Creative What information are you trying to convey? The fronts of your brochures are all people will see when scanning display racks, so make sure the front of your brochure is appealing and makes prospective customers want to pick it up Interesting fonts you can use to make your brochure stand out from the crowd and look very professional at the same time. 12 tips for effective brochure marketing 12 tips for effective brochure marketing 1) Know What Your Reader Wants You must write your brochure or leaflet from the reader's point of view. That means the information must unfold in the right order. Begin by analyzing what your reader wants to know. An easy way to do this is by assessing the order in which your reader's questions will flow. Your brochure should answer their questions in a logical sequence following the reader’s train of thought. A good way to organize your points is to write down the questions you think a potential customer might have, and the answers your brochure might supply. 12 tips for effective brochure marketing 2) Motivate your reader to look inside The first page your reader will see is the front cover. Get it wrong and you've as good as lost the sale. Don’t make the common mistake of couching your services in technical jargon. Think benefits or thought-provoking statements that motivate the reader to pick up the brochure and open it. Add a flash that tells the reader there's something inside that will interest them – an exclusive invitation, a free report, special discount or advance notice of sales. Don't be tempted to put only your company logo or product name on the front. It won't work. 12 tips for effective brochure marketing 3) Contents Page – What’s in it In brochures of eight pages or more, a list of contents is useful. Make your list in bold and separate it from the rest of your text. Use the contents to sell the brochure. Don't use mind-numbing words like "Introduction" or "Model No A848DHGT". Pick out your most important sales point and use that in your heading. 12 tips for effective brochure marketing 4) Describe Your Product To help you describe your product draw up a list of product features (facts about your product) and add the words "which means that..." after each point. For example, "The cake is made from an original recipe, which means that...it tastes better." Or, "The car has a 300 horse-power engine, which means that...it goes faster." Remember that the purchaser of your product is not always the user so there may be more than one benefit for each feature. 12 tips for effective brochure marketing 5) Make it a Keeper Putting helpful information in your brochure will encourage the reader to keep it, refer to it often or pass it on to other people. If you're selling paint you can provide hints on color schemes, painting how-to information, tips from the pros etc. If you're selling skin care products you can give your readers tips on how to combat pimples, dry skin, fine lines and wrinkles. 12 tips for effective brochure marketing 6) Alter the Shape Who says a brochure has to be A4? Selling sandwiches? You can design a brochure in the shape of a sandwich. Season tickets to soccer matches? Design it in the shape of a soccer ball. Using your imagination when designing your brochure can produce better than average results. The only limitation is your imagination, and, of course, your budget. 12 tips for effective brochure marketing 7) Make it Personal An experienced speaker talking to a large audience will pick out a face in the crowd, and talk to that face. This connection with one person allows the speaker to make his talk more personal than if he were merely addressing a mass of faces. In a similar fashion, the words in your brochure should use this technique and zero in on one imaginary single person. Why? Because writing in a direct “I’m-talking-only-to-you” style will increase response. 12 tips for effective brochure marketing 8) Add Atmosphere Don't let your brochure sound aloof. Let your reader share your feelings. There's no reason why a brochure about a wood burning stove has to go into the ins and outs of how the stove works. Tell your reader about rain swept winter evenings and snow-bound afternoons. Let your words show them how warm and snug and they'll be when they purchase one of your stoves. 12 tips for effective brochure marketing 9) Get Selling...Fast Remember, not everyone wants to be educated on every aspect of your product or service. Nor does everyone want to know the manufacturing details of your widget. Don't waste their time telling them about things that don't convey a benefit. 12 tips for effective brochure marketing 10) Talk about your reader's needs Talk about your reader, not yourself. Here are the first words in a brochure from a company selling insurance: “Insurance is a complicated business. Our company was formed in 1975 to help our clients deal with the process of finding the right insurance to suit their needs. In the last 20 years we have been selling insurance to a wide range of customers from many different walks of life. Our company's reputation is unsurpassed in the industry...” Yawn...This is the bar room bore in print. Instead of telling you how the company can help solve your problems, it's more interested in telling you about itself. 12 tips for effective brochure marketing 11) Give Directions Every brochure should be organized so the reader can flip through the pages and easily find what they want. Provide clear signposts or headlines throughout the brochure and make sure each one says: “Hey, pay attention to me!” 12 tips for effective brochure marketing 12) Ask for Action Regardless of how you organize your brochure, there's only one way to end it. Ask for action. If you want your reader to respond include an 800 number, reply card, or some form of response mechanism. In fact, to increase your brochure’s selling power you should include your offer and a response mechanism on every page. Formatting tips Colors: Use colors that will appeal to your target audience. For instance, neons may be attractive to teens and tweens, but are probably not as effective for 50 to 60-year-old accountants (there are always exceptions) Bullets: too much "gray" space should be avoided. Use bullets, use headers, and use white space to effectively showcase your text. “Left aligned” format is easier to read than "justified" which both lines end up evenly. Why? Flyers Flyer A flyer or called a handbill or leaflet is a single page leaflet advertising an event, service, or other activity. Flyers are typically used by individuals or businesses to promote their products or services. They are a form of mass marketing or small scale, community communication. http://advertising.about.com Distribution Flyers are handed out on the street (known as 'flyering'), posted on bulletin boards, or given away at events. Bulletin boards are found on college campuses, in cafes, community meeting houses, laundromats, and small markets. Free marketing Flyers, along with postcards, pamphlets and small posters, are vital and free forms of communication for people who want to engage the public but do not have the money or desire to advertise over the internet, in telephone directories, or classified or display advertising in newspapers or other periodicals. Formats A4 (roughly letterhead size) A5 (roughly half letterhead size) DL (compslip size) A6 (postcard size) CC (credit card size) Basic steps for flyer Choose the color of paper you want to use. White, blue, bright pink - it's up to you. Just keep in mind how many flyers you want to print and make sure your budget allows for 5,000 canary yellow printed sheets. 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 necessary. Or you can simply keep the printing costs down and strictly use text. Copy should be straight to the point. You don't have a lot of space to waste here on rambling words. Give readers enough information to get them in the door. Offering a discount? Let people know. Create a coupon on your flyer encouraging them to come in. Head to the printer. You're done. Tips The body of your flyer doesn't have to be filled with text. White space (the area of your flyer that doesn't have any graphics or text) invites your readers to see what you're selling without long, boring blocks of copy. Check to make sure there are no city ordinances against posting your flyer in certain areas or passing them out on the street. Print in color only if you're sending your flyer to a targeted group. Otherwise, it's a waste of money when you could be printing more black and white flyers. Sample Flyers Logos A logo’s design is for immediate recognition, inspiring trust, admiration, loyalty and an implied superiority. The logo is one aspect of a company’s commercial brand, or economic entity, and its shapes, colours, fonts, and images usually are different from others in a similar market. Logos are also used to identify organizations and other non-commercial entities. References Material has been taken from various websites
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