Writing a Brochure

As you may know, brochures are very useful sales tools for many businesses. But, since a hard-to-read brochure can turn potential customers off, you need to make it as appealing as possible to your customers. To this end, the following guidelines will help you get the best out of your brochures.

A good brochure is not full of so much text. In order to convey a strong message without being wordy, choose some effective pictures to be included. A picture delivers an instant message to your readers because it takes less time to process than reading. The best brochures will have some self explanatory pictures coupled with a few lines of text.

Call-outs are phrases in a slightly larger font that are embedded in a body of words, similar to a picture. For sections of your brochure that simply must have a fair amount of text, try using a call-out to steer your readers' eyes to something that will really grab their attention. Choose something particularly interesting. For example, imagine a paragraph in a technical brochure that contains a lot of data about hardware specifications. These details are important to your brochure, but are nevertheless fairly mundane to read. A well-placed call-out can highlight an interesting bit of information that will help hold your audience longer.

A brochure offers a limited amount of communication space, so use bulleted lists to get people's attention efficiently. Readers will gravitate toward anything that stands out, which is why lists are a perfect way to convey important information.

As mentioned also before, do not put too much text into your brochure, because too much text overwhelms your audience. It's better to have some empty space to make your brochure easier on the eyes and give your readers some room to digest what your business has to offer. In terms of font styles, be careful about how creative you get. In a brochure it can be interesting to have a couple of unique-looking fonts, but too many will take away from the overall effect. Try using a very simple font for your body text and a slightly more interesting font for your headlines.

Similarly, use caution with colors. It's great to have a nice background color to accent your pictures and text, but one that's too loud will distract readers from your brochure's message. Before sending your brochure to the printers, experiment with color combinations and get the opinions of someone you trust.

Finally, consult your printers before choosing a paper type. The quality and finish of the paper will affect the readability of your brochure. Ask for advice about which finishes will look best with your brochure's colors, pictures, and text.