Materials That Get Prospects to Take Immediate Action

5 Design Tactics.

Prospects don’t read them, so here’s where to focus…

When you first get a company’s brochure what do you do? Most people consider its heft. And if the company is lucky, you scan it – noticing the layout, glancing at the photos and perhaps passing over a few captions or customer quotes. But you don’t read it word for word, and neither does anyone else.

Go Ahead, Judge Us

Prospects use brochures and other collateral to quickly judge those sending them and whether they’re worth calling. That’s why it pays to:

• Overinvest in paper and design. It costs a bit more, but materials hold little value otherwise. The only brochures worth putting out are those that stand out from the competition. Companies can’t afford to have their collateral pale in comparison.
• Use half as much copy. Since prospects aren’t going to read it anyway, companies can save money by having less copy. Tip: Copy should be short and punchy – which means a lot of bullet points.
• Add testimonials. It’s hard to have too many good testimonials. Include photos of customers and short captions that highlight benefits they received from a product/service.
• Show, don’t tell. Saying “The X2000 is the fastest” means little. A company’s got to back it up with proof – stats, customer quotes, etc.
• Leave critical info out. Make prospects feel like they need to call. Leaving things out, like included extras or your prices, keep prospects from thinking: “I don’t need to call, I read the brochure.”