Burn Your Brochures: 8 Best Alternatives to Create Collaterals

If you work in marketing communications, you’ve probably seen this scenario a dozen times: A salesman in a hurry, his sleeves rolled up to the elbow, burst into your cubicle. “I got a sales call in Toledo in three weeks. I have to have a brochure to put down,” he says, pounding his fist into his open palm.

You sigh So begins, yet another brochure. And you know how it will end: thousands of dollars and several hours a night against deadlines later, he will have your brochure. But the company will not make the sale. And you’ll have a coat closet full of bulky boxes of forgotten warranties.

Is there a better way to support sales? Something that you can leave prospects a little more memorable and effective than the standard brochure with its forced march through company “visions,” product descriptions, and corporate bios? Yeah right. I offer eight suggestions, not as complete answers to every sales communication situation, but as inspiration and provocation to create material that is less likely to collect dust and more likely to bring your business closer to a sale.

1) Make it into a magazine. David Ogilvy once asked why print ads had to look like print ads, why not make them look like articles? I mean, why not go a step further and make your brochures look like magazines? Instead of the usual boring content, create articles that position your business, products, or services as ways to solve problems or achieve desired customer goals.

For about a decade, Baystate Health Systems in Massachusetts has published a beautiful glossy four-color magazine, AlphaSights, which are distributed to referring medical professionals in central Massachusetts. Distributed three times a year, AlphaSights is packed with articles on new procedures, protocols, and initiatives at its flagship hospital, Baystate Medical Center. It has been a phenomenal success: the first issue alone attracted an increase in referrals that more than offset the production costs for the entire year.

2) Make it useful. Here’s another lesson from healthcare. Every day, legions of pharmaceutical and medical device representatives drop off tons of samples, coffee mugs, and brochures in doctor’s offices across the country – mess, mess, and more mess. In a competitive field, how do you stand out?

A manufacturer of medical products got smart. They developed a block of forms, 8.5 “x 11”, with pre-assigned check boxes and quick and easy order fields that a physician can complete in seconds. All you have to do is fill in a few boxes, sign it, and run it through a fax machine to order the product. In a crowded field of competitors, this manufacturer received the most orders, not because they had the prettiest mug or the most beautiful brochure, but because they left something that made their product easier to come by.

3) Make it educational. Give your potential customers a taste of your experience. Professional services companies have been doing this for their years with the ubiquitous white paper, a kind of extended essay on a relevant topic of business interest.

Why not apply the “report” idea to consumer products and services as well? For years, the Wall Street Journal has been offering personal finance guides as underwriting lures. Anything complex could benefit from an educational report that simplifies: Imagine a countertop selection guide for a kitchen remodeling company or an explanation of home values ​​for real estate agencies. With a little research and imagination, these companies and others like them can distinguish themselves as authorities, not just other brokers in the group.

4) Make it by hand. Two of my current clients are getting great returns from packing tips – practical tips and / or insights that are long enough to be useful, but short enough to be easily digested. It is a format that people love; in fact, you’re reading a tip-based article right now!

The key is breaking your knowledge down into bite-sized bits that busy people can consume on the go. Of my two “tips” clients, one addresses the multi-billion dollar M&A market with a “top ten tips” guide; the other has a suggestion-based website on a variety of topics that interest consumers and attract eager backers who want to reach them. Tips, luxury or lower market, attract favorable attention either way.

5) Make it “curable”. As a kid, a mechanic’s garage just wasn’t real if it didn’t have at least one “female” calendar, sponsored by a “Joe’s Auto Parts” or “Cranwick’s Plumbing Supply” on its walls. Cheesy? Maybe. But you can be sure that the target audience saw the sponsor’s name and phone number every day, often long after the calendars expired!

In addition to calendars, consider attractive posters, playing cards, puzzles, and entertaining cubicle toys. Of course, you want to select options that are as closely associated with your business, proposition, or message as possible. I know of a company that creates custom letter decks for authors (especially consultants or motivational authors), and each letter serves as a summary of a chapter or topic. Decks are much more memorable than business cards or brochures, but they are less cumbersome and expensive than giving away free copies of books.

6) Do it from the customer’s point of view. If the family brochure format is still your best option, at least consider changing your perspective. Too many guarantees are narcissistic, full of empty chest blows that try to surprise the reader with the supposed greatness of the company.

Instead, write from the customer’s point of view. Skip the boring history of the company and the things won for the honor, and talk about the real problems or problems faced by your customers. Then tell them how you solve these problems with precise and specific evidence that makes their claims credible. By embracing this change in perspective, you demonstrate empathy with the customer, stand on their side, and display an understanding of real-world circumstances that prospects can recognize and respect.

7) Make it available. Or, if it is to be shared by hand, it is easy to ship or transport. In either case, consider how you are going to distribute your new warranty before you commit to creating it.

Years ago, I worked on a spiral bound brochure that I adored the customer. Unfortunately, the spiral binding stuck out inside his envelope and jammed the post office machines. Worse still, the book was an odd size, small enough to rattle in an ordinary cardboard “express” envelope. While the design was charming, the project was impractical and ultimately failed in its intended purpose. Don’t make the same mistake: If you’re distributing in bulk, make it easy to send by mail.

8) Make it work for you. One final thought: you are not in the business of publishing collateral yourself; You should always have a specific business or marketing goal in mind for each piece you create. Everything you do should play a dynamic role in your sales process, a goal that brings the potential customer one step closer to buying. What do you want the customer to do as a result of receiving or receiving your piece? Whatever it is, make it explicit.

If nothing else, at least end your collateral copy with a “call to action,” a directive to call, write, or respond in another way. If you can provide an incentive (a discount, a premium, a free analysis), so much the better. But at the very least, ASK for the answer and tell readers exactly how to reach you.