Make Better Brochures

Learning From The Big Boys
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The world is bombarded with information. Each of us receives more data than we are capable of processing. So, how do we deal with it? Simple! we filter. We discard any input that we recognise as not useful as soon as we recognise it as such. We know for example that all junk mail is junk. So we throw it away unread. Though some of us, some of the time, might just glance at the headline and perhaps a couple of bullets. Except in the unlikely event of us spotting something really exciting, after we've glanced at it, the 'junk' is dispatched post haste to the metal receptacle. There are of course exceptions. Not everyone throws junk mail away. Some people always read junk mail - they've nothing better to do. And some people will selectively read junk mail. For example, send a copy of your next brochure to your mum, and she'll probably read it. 

We all know that we don't read junk mail, so we conclude that other people don't either. When we get to work, we know that direct mail either doesn't work at all, or has an awful hit rate. 

The problem with this argument is that it flies in the face of logic.

If they are so bad why do so many big organisations spend so much time and money producing and sending them?

Have you ever worked out the cost to a company of designing, writing, packaging, printing, and posting a mail shot? Do it now. Have a guestimate of how much money is involved.

See? Scary isn't it?  Your bank, credit card company, or whatever, sends a single sheet flyer to, let's guess, 100,000 homes. So, what are we talking here? 19p per stamp? 5p per envelope? 20p per printed sheet? That's £44,000 - minimum!

So, why do they do it?

Easy! They do it because It makes money!

People do read Junk Mail. And people buy things as a result of reading it. Be in no doubt, Junk Mail is not Junk.

It works. And because it works, the big boys spend lots of money on it. Now, if the mechanical costs (paper, postage, printing, etc.) are so high, you can be sure that the big boys are not going to 'spoil the ship' by doing the creative stuff on the cheap. They know that to succeed, they have to produce effective content. And that means that they spent big money on the authoring. They use the best authors. They research which layouts and headlines get the best results. They test to see if their message has got across to their target market and they constantly refine their approach to make their brochures hit more and more readers with more and  more impact.

So what?

So, you should be reading it and emulating it. For your business. The big boys have spent millions developing loads of role model texts that are proven to work. You should be exploiting all of that investment.

The advice sounds stupid, but is really sensible. . .

READ YOUR JUNK MAIL

Here's the plan:

• Read your junk mail every day for a month and steal the common phrases. 

• Read your junk mail every day for a month and steal ideas for making your brochures have eye-appeal.

• Read your junk mail every day for a month and steal layout tips.

• Read your junk mail every day for a month and steal ideas for attention grabbers.

• Read your junk mail every day for a month and steal the common structure and/or purposes.

Read Your Junk Mail And Learn.

The alternative advice sounds sensible, but is really stupid  . . .

Pay an expensive, specialist consultant, like me, to do it for you!

A Call For Action To Get Results :
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One thing you will notice, if you do read your 'junk mail,' is that the writing always leads you towards doing something. This is exactly my experience as an author of books and articles too.  I'll explain . . .

Any truly effective piece of writing starts with the author "Knowing his/her outcome." In other words, s/he answers the question, what specifically do you want the reader to do/feel/etc as a result of reading the material? The reason writers use this discipline is because it helps them write better. Purposeful writing is almost invariably better structured, clearer, shorter and carries a dynamism of style that makes the reader feel that s/he is getting somewhere. So, what sort of outcomes are we talking about? For fictional material, the outcome objective is often a state of mind, but for non-fiction and especially marketing, the outcome should be an action.

Marketers who produce brochures start by asking themselves what action do they want the customer to take. And, in the vast majority of cases, at the end of the brochure they actually ask the reader to do it. (Ring this number, complete the pre-paid card, await my call, etc.) What's more, like good 'management-by-objectives' chaps, they almost always put a timescale on the action:

"Call me now on 01782-514867 for a free demonstration."

"Don't delay, ring me today."

"Tell your secretary to give me a call - Go on. Do it, give her this brochure. Right now"

OK, so only 1 in 10, (or even only 1 in a 10,000), will actually do the action you requested, but it's one more than you'd have got if your brochure didn't have a call to action at the end.

Can you afford to miss that call?

Make Your Brochure Customer Focused :
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Over the years, I have developed what I call the Five Key Questions of Marketing. These powerful questions focus your attention upon that which is truly important. What the customer thinks and what the customer wants to know. If you write a brochure that is customer focused, your customers might just be interested enough to read it. 

The questions are as follows. To use them, imagine that a potential client is the person asking them.

1. What do you offer?   (product definition)

2. Who wants it?   (to what market are you selling)

3. Why should I buy it?    (what's in it for me - the customer - benefits and personal win results)

4. Why should I buy it from you?    (differentiators - what makes yours better/different)

5. Why should I buy it now?    (vital question directing emotional commitment to action by client) 

Does your brochure answer these questions? if not, why  not?

To Conclude
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Many small, medium and even large businesses produce and distribute brochures. Many of these organisations enjoy no benefit from doing so, while others have built their entire business upon the effectiveness of their direct mail. The difference between the winners and the losers is that the winners have learned to focus on making a planned-for outcome happen, the losers don't learn, they write brochures that look as if they should work.

The winners have learned what it is they are selling, and how it is beats the competition. They know to whom they wish to sell it and why these customers need it - now. Their direct mail helps their customers to know it too.

The winners have learned that if they are to succeed, they need to define success. They make success observable and measurable. Their direct mail is measurable because they focus it towards measurable outcomes. They ask the reader to take an action and then have systems for processing the actions that the readers take.

The winners have learned that writing effective direct mail is a highly skilled job arising from truly vast amounts of market and consumer research. The winners know that the best way to achieve this is to learn from other experts. Winners read their junk mail.

Winners attract other winners, while losers attract other losers.