What to Tell a Brochure Writer to Ensure You Get the Best Copy

The company president says, “We need a marketing brochure to promote our new product, something our sales people can leave behind with customers and some literature we can give out at trade shows.  Just do it!”

Now you face the formidable task of getting the brochure produced. What’s next?  Should you hire an ad agency?  Should you call a brochure writer or perhaps a graphic designer?

Hold up.  Don’t do any those things, at least not yet.  You’ve skipped a few steps.  Eventually, you’ll want to get some marketing professionals like a copywriter and graphic designer to help you on the project.  But first, you need to do some thinking on your own so you can give those folks good direction.

First, Determine Your Strategy

Start by developing answers to these seven questions about your marketing brochure:

1. Who is your target audience?  Spell out their demographics: gender, age, education level, etc.
2. How will the brochure be distributed?  Will it be direct mailed, handed out at trade shows, or emailed to qualified prospects?
3. What’s the main goal of the brochure?  Is the objective to close sales, to open the door for a salesperson, or to drive people to the website?
4. Is the brochure a general marketing piece or is it a niche piece?  If your brochure is an overview of your product(s), then it will have broad appeal.  But consider whether a niche piece that perhaps promotes a specific application of your product or targets a specific type of user could be more effective.  If the latter is the case, you may need to create multiple brochures, each one focused on a different target market.
5. What is your product’s unique selling proposition? Describe what qualities make it special and superior to competing products.
6. What is your competition using in their promotions? See what points they’re making and decide whether to confront them head on or take a different approach.
7. What is your marketing budget? Will the brochure be your only marketing piece or will it be used in conjunction with a website, ads, press releases, direct mail or something else?

Once you have the answers to those questions, you can move onto step 2.

Second, Write an Outline

While it’s tempting to begin putting pen to paper, develop an outline for your marketing brochure.  Your outline will serve as your plan going forward.  Determine what information and pictures should be included in the brochure and how they should be organized.

As an example, you might decide to do a four-page marketing brochure with the pages laid out as follows:

Now that you’ve organized the information and come up with a general outline, you’ll need to gather all the actual data to give to your marketing copywriter and graphic designer.  Remember, they only know as much as you tell them.  They’re not mind-readers, and only you can explain to them why your product is special and how your customers will benefit from their purchase.

Third, Focus on Facts

Today’s consumer doesn’t want to read fluff.  Facts, features and benefits are what sell, so that’s the ammunition you need to give your brochure writer.

Once you have all the relevant information in hand, you’ve completed your homework and can feel comfortable touch-passing the project to your marketing copywriter/brochure writer and graphic designer.  It’s finally time to let them work their magic.

You can read more about how to write a brochure here or learn more about my brochure copywriting services here.

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