Brochures / Leaflets / Signage

In the modern world, the internet is changing the way businesses market themselves. However, you should remember that ‘old school’ marketing channels still work, are still often essential and should still be considered – depending on your type of business.

If your business needs brochures, leaflets or signage then you should always start by thinking about your customer. How will they come across your materials, what are they seeking, how can you present your products or services in a way that will draw them to you?

There is a simple rule to follow on all things physical … K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple, Stupid! Here at the Yorkshire Powerhouse, we’ve seen many examples of marketing materials where the business owner has ignored this rule and produced thousands of words describing their products and services when a couple of simple pictures would have done the job better!

Printed materials – brochures, leaflets and flyers

Please don’t ‘DIY’ your marketing materials – yes you’re ‘saving money’ but it’s rare to see a DIY leaflet that doesn’t look cheap and full of errors … and this then reflects badly on your business. Use a professional designer and printer and get it done right!

The right designer will think about your message and your customer. They should also be thinking technically about minor things like how the material is going to be distributed. For instance, if your leaflet is likely to be left on display then your designer should know to put the headline at the top of the design so that other leaflets place in front of it don’t obscure the main attention grabber!.

A professional designer / printer will always print colour to the edge of the material – this is something DIY’ers simply can’t do! They will ensure that all your images, logos and text will appear correctly and without pixilation or distortion. They’ll also make sure that you don’t have an inconsistent set of fonts (colours, font types, sizes, case, etc) – always a sign of DIY design!

Quality counts

Also, don’t scrimp on the quality of the paper / card you print on as this also reflects badly on your business. Here at the Yorkshire Powerhouse, we recommend that leaflets and flyers should always be on 170gsm paper as a minimum. Brochures and marketing materials printed on card should always be 350gsm or thicker. Don’t buy cheap business cards – they’re cheap and they will reflect on your business!

Another consideration to make … if you are creating a number of brochures / leaflets, make sure you keep a consistent approach to your layout and word count so that they looks like they belong to the same family of materials.

Don’t forget to include your contact details on all your materials – don’t assume the reader will know your contact details or anything about your business – KISS, as above.

Finally, remember that you need to present your information in a way that interests the reader. Don’t just list the features of your product or service, make sure you explain how these are benefits to your customers. Break up your text with headings and bullet points and remember to finish with a call to action – tell them what to do next!

Signage

As a rule, signage is not able (and should not try!) to get a lot of information across. KISS and make sure that your signs clearly state your business and contact details correctly.

Vehicle livery and ‘A board’ type signs can often contain more information but keep the KISS principles close to your thinking as you often see a vehicle with so much information that it’s gone before you’ve finished reading! Look at how powerful the Sky vans are with their amazing, full vehicle wraps of a stunning image and simply their logo – less is more.

In terms of graphic design, if you’re simply getting your logo, telephone and website address put on a sign, then you don’t need too much in the way of graphic design. If you’ve got a lot of space or are trying to catch the eye more, consider getting a designer involved first to help you get your message right.

Ask for help and don’t DIY your marketing materials – your customers expect you to be professional! Use professional designers, printers and sign makers to help you stand out from the crowd!

Blunt brochures advice from Yorkshire Powerhouse

Have you any questions?

Here at Yorkshire Powerhouse, we’re happy to help as much as possible – is there anything else we can do to help you, do you have any further questions or can we help introduce you to an expert – please let us know: