A brochure is a common marketing tool used to advertise a service or product offering. It takes the form of a pamphlet or flyer that is used to distribute information about something.
Brochures allow businesses to introduce new products and services to existing customers or increase their reach by advertising to new prospects. They can be handed out in person, mailed, or left at specific businesses that are willing to help you reach their customers.
How to Make a Brochure
SmartDraw is a powerful tool that helps you design a brochure even if you’re not a designer. It’ll save you time, so you can focus on other areas of your marketing efforts.
You’ll want to start with one of the many included brochure templates and add your own copy, logo, and more. Upload photos and arrange them on the page. SmartDraw also has some professionally-made graphics you drag and drop to your design.
What are the Purposes of Brochures?
The main purpose of a brochure is to extend the reader’s knowledge on one specific topic in which the brochure centers around.
- Catch the target audience’s eyes at first sight with its astonishingly beautiful visual design.
- Promote your products, agency, or service in an intuitive way.
- Build trust between you and your potential clients.
- Compared with advertising on TV or in newspapers, brochures seem to be more cost-effective.
- After people get used to splendid online advertisements, a tangible, tactile, and delicate brochure becomes more precious.
You may ask yourself, why choose to use brochures over other methods? The fact is brochure is one of the best forms of marketing that can easily provide quick results by boosting your business influence and conversion rates. The following are some of the reasons why use a brochure:
- It is a cost-effective method.
- Easily understandable by readers since it utilizes lucid language to create awareness about something
- In terms of reaching your target audience, it is impressive
- Most well-designed brochures take little time to captures the attention of potential clients
- Offer a consistent form of branding
- Offer solid future products and services references featured by a company.
Difference between Brochures, Pamphlets, Flyers, Magazines, and newsletters
1. Brochures vs pamphlets : Brochures and pamphlets bear similar designs, but their main difference lies in purpose. With a brochure, it is designed to sell products and services for a company, but pamphlets’ main purpose is to inform.
2. Brochures vs flyers : Brochures and flyers also feature similar creative designs, but the difference goes on the number folds. Flayers are unlike brochures since they only appear in a single unfolded sheet, while brochures feature several folding types.
3. Brochures and Newsletters : Like brochures, newsletters are also created to promote the company’s products, services, and businesses. They are also appealing and easy to read, which is also similar to brochures. Their main difference comes in their detailed purposes: the newsletter is about giving daily, monthly or yearly information and a company’s reports. Brochure, on the other hand, is about what an organization is and what it serves.
4. Brochures and Magazines (Booklets) : Compared to brochures, booklets are designed in a book-like design, meaning they are flat and not folded. Furthermore, what distinguishes it from the other documents is that they typically consist of multiple pages (Normally, between 8-73 pages).
Types of Brochure
A brochure has many different types, and each type has got a different role to play. It can be classified into the following five types according to its format and layout.
1. Gate Fold Brochure : This is a pretty uncommon brochure because of its expensive cost, which has a great influence when it is used appropriately. Its inward folding design makes it convenient to carry, and its paper quality is very high; thus, readers can keep it for a long time.
2. Bi-Fold Brochure : Bi-Fold Brochure is found among us every day. It is one of the most popular and widely used brochure types around, while it has a more formal layout than tri-fold brochures. It is mainly used for product catalogs and presentations, trade shows and corporate meetings, etc.
3. Tri-Fold Brochure : It is easy to know this is a three folds brochure according to its name. And this is a pretty common and brochure that we can see it everywhere. This brochure has enough space for designers to present information and design interesting, thus attract more attention to the reader.
4. Z-Fold Brochure : A Z-Fold brochure, basically an accordion fold, is a great brochure folding option because of the versatility it provides. Designers can separate each element by making each panel stand-alone, or design the brochure so that it opens out to a full spread with one large, dramatic photograph.
Evaluating and printing your brochure
Your brochure is designed and you’re almost ready to roll it out to the masses. But first, make sure it’s perfect.
1. Evaluate your design
Once your brochure is designed, take your time to evaluate the final product. Now is your last chance to make changes and get your design right.
Ask yourself:
- Does this design grab my attention?
- Is my messaging clear?
- Does this design point to my CTA?
- Is this brochure in line with my branding?
Ask other people those same questions to get an outside perspective. Show your design to your colleagues, customers, even friends to figure out if you’ve got a winner. Once – you’re happy, it’s time to get printing!
2. Choose your printer
Working with a top-notch printer can mean the difference between your brochure design coming to life exactly as you imagined it… Or turning out like some gnarly, bootleg version.
If you can, visit printers so you can see their work in person. Viewing samples IRL will always give you a better idea of what you can expect from your print job than looking at samples online.
When you’re researching printers, ask them questions to see if they’re going to be the best fit for your job. Here are a few examples:
- What are your ink options?
- What is your best printing option for time? For cost?
- Do you do color matching?
- Do you offer printed or digital proofs?
- What happens if I’m not satisfied with my print job?
- Do you have designers in-house?
- Do you have experience in brochure printing and design?
- Can you provide references for other brochure clients?
Ideally, find a printer who has experience in the brochure space, uses the latest print technology and has designers on staff who can help with any design issues so your print job comes out looking A+.
3. Choose your print materials
Work with your printer to select the best materials for your brochure. Here’s a little cheat sheet to help you on your way:
- Paper weight : Generally speaking, the higher the paper weight, the thicker the sheet. There are a few different ways to measure paper weight (like basis weight and mils), but the most common is metric weight, also known as GSM. The GSM is the weight of one sheet of paper cut into a 1×1 meter square.
Just as an FYI, most brochures fall somewhere between 170 and 300 GSM.
- Finish: Once you’ve chosen your paper, it’s time to choose your finish. There are a few different types of finishes to choose from:
- Matte: A completely flat finish without any shine
- Semi-Gloss: A somewhat shiny finish that falls between matte and glossy
- Glossy: A shiny, reflective finish
The finish you choose is all dependent on the look you’re going for. Talk to your printer about the different options you have within your budget and what print materials will be the best fit for your objectives.
Ink and speciality processes
Some printers also offer specialty inks that can enhance your brochure. Here are a few options you can inquire about:
- Foil: A shiny, metallic ink or stamp that reflects light
- Embossing: The process of pressing a shape or image into paper to create a raised effect
- UV spot: A shiny coating applied only to certain spots of paper (typically a logo, headline, or accents)
Check with your printer if these options (or others) are available and how they might change the cost and production time of your brochure.
