Saturday, April 18, 2009

The Brochure - Still the Marketing Standard-Bearer

Author: Nick James

Brochure Design is surely the forgotten standard-bearer in the world of marketing and advertising.

In this day and age of worldwide webs and information superhighways, where websites, e-marketing, and TV are seen as the sure-fire methods of getting your message out there, it's easy to forget how effective the humble brochure can still be.

Once the lynchpin of a corporate marketing campaign, recent years have seen the brochure passed over in favour of internet marketing and websites.

But ask yourself this: Is a website really the path my company wants to go down?

If you're serious about having a website to promote your company then before you make any commitment you should be aware of the maintenance and upkeep that it will need, as well as the internet marketing required to promote it. It's never a case of simply publishing a website and expecting the traffic to find you. Add to this the fact that a decent website with a good design and sleek programming won't come cheap, and you've really got to be serious about ongoing promotion if you want a reasonable ROI.

Brochures, however, are relatively cheaper to get designed, printed, and distributed, offering a far greater cost-efficiency.

It can be said that they offer the purest form of advertising away from the billboard, as they are generally succinct in their use of words, yet always eye-catching in the brochure design. This draws a potential customer or client directly to the message you're looking to convey without diluting it or allowing them to become lost amongst the assorted pages of a similarly targeted website.

The brochure is also far easier to market than a website, at a fraction of the cost. They can be handed out, left with clients, laid out for passing trade to pick up and browse, and there's no fear of the less than tech-savvy encountering problems.

Everybody knows how to operate a leaflet or brochure.

At the end of the day it is still true that the greater proportion of people out there like something they can get their hands on. Something they can leaf through at their leisure whilst waiting for a bus, sitting in a cafe, enjoying a well-deserved break, or at home lying in bed. The brochure offers the ultimate ease of accessibility and its success in connecting the right sort of customer (the one ready to spend money) with the products or services your company offers has been proven throughout the history of marketing.

Obviously the final call comes down to the individual needs and budget of a company. But in these modern times when everybody is looking to the internet for their marketing campaign, it always pays to consider the cheaper alternatives out there that still do the business. It is these often dismissed standard-bearers, such as the brochure, that have the track record ready to back-up the results.

About the Author:

Nick James writes for Essence Design, a UK web and graphic design agency that specialises in brochure design, web design and web development.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - The Brochure - Still the Marketing Standard-Bearer

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