$olutionsTM

for Personal & Professional Development

  

 

 

Advertising & Company Brochure

Introduction

There are many successful companies that do no advertising and have no company brochure.  They claim that if you do your job and develop a reputation, there’s no need for those things (and expenses).  Word of mouth does the trick.  On the other side, there are those who understand how often prospective customers are not sure where to go for a solution, and who look for some kind of information to help them make a decision.

General Advertising

Telephone directory advertising works really well for some businesses that are looked up in a hurry (eg, plumbing) and require large, visible, attention-getting ads to work.  On the other hand, most people would not usually choose a personal (really personal) doctor or a consultant from the telephone directory.  These businesses usually rely more on word-of-mouth or direct business-to-business contact.

     The relative newcomer in this arena is a company website.  Not many self-respecting companies today operate without one.  But here again, it’s critical that the message not be overrun by the medium (in this case, both the personal computer and the design).  There are some ads that are virtual works of art.  But it takes a long time for the message to come through, even on a not-too-slow personal computer.

     Following are some website rules of thumb you might want to look at:

  • Message—Make sure the information you want to convey to your potential customers is loud and clear.

  • Navigation—If your website has more than one page (and most do), make sure your customers can travel through it and find the information they’re looking for easily and quickly.

  • “Glitz”—Avoid lots of pizzazz unless you’re selling website development.

  • Investment—Avoid spending tons of money on your website.  Accomplishing the above points can be done with a modest amount of your company’s time and money.  And the more homework (eg, mockups) you do before you get started, the better the end result is likely to be.

  • Testing—Field-test your website on some customers whose judgment you value.  After you put a new website on line, get feedback as often as you can, from as many people as you can.

Company Brochure

By and large, people who ask for a brochure during an opening telephone conversation tend not to be serious prospects (there are obviously exceptions).  The goal of an opening telephone call ought to be the scheduling of a first meeting—if real relationship development is to happen.  It’s during this first meeting, or at the end of it, that it makes sense to share your company literature—as a leave-behind reminder of your company’s capabilities (which, hopefully, you covered during the meeting).

     On the other side of the argument, sending brochures from telephone requests, and distributing them at various gatherings, can spread the name (awareness) of your company.  One thing’s for sure, though, the usefulness of a brochure very much depends on your industry and what you want it to do for you.

Case in Point

A firm had just developed a mailable brochure to announce their latest-generation new product.  They were really proud of the piece.  It was printed on two sides, on fine-quality stock, on a multi-color press.  To make it look fancy, it had lots of artwork on it (from old masters to contemporary designs), and it was folded several times into a pocket size.

     There was one problem, though.  It was difficult to see what the actual message was.  The company sales people had to explain that its purpose was to announce their new product.  This was a case where the medium drowned out the message.

One of the better uses of a good piece of company collateral is called a capabilities brochure.  The value of this kind of brochure is to let current and potential customers know just what your company can do—as a solution provider—to meet their needs or wants.  If it doesn’t at least do this, its value is questionable.

     It’s not unusual for long-time customers to learn that a company can deliver products or services other than the ones they’ve been buying.  They often think that’s all you do—or can do.

Case in Point

A business owner of a print shop declared how “stupid” some of his customers were.  He was regularly doing one kind of job for them; then he found out that these customers were taking other kinds of jobs elsewhere.  When he asked them why, they said that they didn’t know he could do that kind of work.  That was the basis for his “stupid” label.  How sad.  All he needed was a general-purpose Capabilities Brochure (which his own shop could easily have printed) to share the broad range of products and services his business could provide.

Again, the real value here is not advertising per se.  It’s more to inform prospective customers of what they might be able to buy from your company.

In conclusion then, determine why and how you want to publicize your name and company message.  If you choose to develop a brochure, an ad or a website, you might decide to make it a do-it-yourself project or you might seek out a qualified designer to create a more effective design.

remember—In the balance of art and content, you need to address the needs and wants of your audience, and inform them how your products and/or services might meet those needs and wants.

 

MDAB—Rev 12/6/06

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