Brochure copywriting: online versus print
Brochure copywriting Copywriting Writing Tips
Have you been asked to write copy for a brochure but don’t know where to start? Do you know how to move a
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“interested” prospect into a “ready-to-purchase” customer? What information should you put on your brochure and how long should it be? And should you even bother to produce one when you have a website?
Writing, designing and printing brochures is a costly exercise, particularly compared to publishing content online but they are an essential marketing tool for many businesses, particularly those that attend trade shows or conferences where visitors expect to have something to take away and browse at their leisure (mostly in exchange for a business card…)
So why should you bother producing a brochure when there’s oodles more space on the internet to get your message across compared to a double sided sheet of A4? And when publishing online is cheaper, there’s greater flexibility to display information and you can add lots of cool sexy stuff like product videos (did I mention that online content is great for SEO)?
Rather than the internet competing with or replacing a brochure, online content is complementing it. At trade shows, brochures are a necessity – a stand would look extremely bare and boring and the sales person would feel rather lost if there weren’t any glossy brochures to hand out. Brochures are the perfect conversation starter (or ender..) and a perfect tool for the recipient to check out more information on the company and its products and services, at their leisure.
Now that we’ve agreed brochures are great, and perfectly complement internet content where you go to find out more, what steps should you follow to ensure your brochure copywriting is top notch?
In the business-to-business marketing environment, most business products or services are not bought on impulse – they are carefully considered and evaluated before purchase. The buying cycle can have many steps and one goal of business-to-business marketing communication is to move the buyer from one step to the next, taking the prospect closer to being a paid customer.
The following is a list of suggested areas to consider in product brochure copywriting. It’s fairly comprehensive but just select those areas that apply to your business: you can always include links to web pages if you are tight on space or budget:-
- Include a killer headline to grab the reader’s attention and commit them to reading the rest of your copy. Click here to find out more about writing catchy headlines
- Write an introduction – a brief summary of the product and why the reader should buy it
- List the key features of the product – what is so unique about it? What does the product have that the competition doesn’t?
- List the product’s key benefits – why should the customer buy it? What will it do for them? Save time? Save money? Conserve energy? Increase productivity?
- What markets will benefit from the product? Are there any well-known organisations or people who have purchased and endorsed the product?
- How does the product work and what can it do?
- What are the various applications that the product can be used for?
- What products are available? Include information on colours, sizes, models, finishes, optional extras, etc.
- How much will it cost? Are there discounts available for bulk purchases? What’s the cost for shipping and handling?
- Provide a bit of background information of the history of the manufacturer – are they are solid and reputable organisation that’s in no danger of going bust?
- Provide information on product support – will assistance be given in installing, training, maintaining and servicing the product? Are there any guarantees?
- Finally, the last paragraph should be a call to action. What is the next step the reader needs to take to order the product, find out more information or request a quote or estimate?
If you need help putting together content for your next product brochure, contact us. We’d love to help.