By Paul Furiga
It happened again yesterday. Yet another client asked the question that I hate, the same one that is the headline for this post. This gives me the opportunity to resurrect what I wrote on this topic a few years ago. They say no good deed goes unpunished; on the Internet, no previously published thinking goes to waste — if you are diligent about it. So let me share my thinking here on our blog, in an easy-to-find location. And for future reference. As in, the next time I am asked this question, I can say, “read my blog post on this topic.”
There’s a common joke in marketing agencies, which — if you are a client of agencies — you have probably not heard:
Far too many client-agency conversations begin with the client saying: “We need a brochure.” The joke (or rather, the painful punch line) is that few clients who ask for a brochure actually need one. Of course, far too many agencies know this, but are only too happy to charge the client for a brochure that’s unneeded.
So how can you tell if your business really does “need a brochure?” Here are five guidelines we use with our clients:
1. I know my audience, and how they make decisions. This is the fundamental question in marketing. If the goal is to empower clients (and prospects) to select your product or service, do you know what they need to say “yes” to you? Too often, clients assume they need a brochure because their competitors have one, or because that’s what they think every business should have. Not necessarily.
2. My audience is large enough to justify the mass production of documents. Just because “everyone else” seems to have a brochure doesn’t mean one is right for your business. Not long ago, a wealthy investor hired us to evaluate the marketing of a subsidiary as he decided whether to dump it. The gentleman running this highly technical business needed four to five $10,000 to $50,000 clients to make his year. We reviewed his marketing options. He chose a brochure. Unfortunately for him, 2,000 copies of a brochure is not an effective investment to find four or five five-figure clients. However, he did have a neighbor in the next office suite who “did brochures” and “everybody has a brochure,” right? No, not really. But if you do have a large audience to reach and you have effectively answered question #1 by determining that brochures are essential tools in your prospect’s decision making, then the design and printing costs typically involved in mass producing brochures are probably a worthwhile investment. But there are other questions to answer before you say, “I need a brochure.”
3. What we do is best explained with pictures. For many companies, there’s nothing like a picture of what they do to properly explain their product or service. In these cases, a brochure may be the most essential tool. On the other hand, if there is little remarkable about your business that cries for pictures or graphics, it may be unwise to spend considerable sums on large quantities of a brochure. Consider alternatives, including customized printing of word processing documents, or PDF versions of documents, as you need them. High-quality office printers can do amazing things if you know how to use them.
4. Our clients expect a certain quality of presentation before they’ll buy. In our experience, the clients of professional services firms, especially in law or accounting, often demand a “look and feel” that quietly conveys attributes such as experience, achievement or stability. In these situations, a tasteful, full-color brochure, produced on quality paper stock, may be a necessity. But even this demand is less and less prevalent in the electronic age — PDF versions of documents, Word documents on your corporate web site, and other electronic distribution tools can frequently replace the brochure.
5. Our business and our products change infrequently. The same electronic age that makes it easy to deliver printed information electronically has also changed the speed at which clients and prospects demand current information. In most businesses, it’s no longer acceptable to say, “This brochure is outdated, but we won’t be printing a new one until next year.” This used to be an acceptable statement, perhaps in the 1970s, when “everybody” knew how much it cost to produce brochures and the hassle it often required mechanically. Few businesses today can afford to yoke themselves to a “once a year” printing of materials to justify printing and design costs, yet too many still do. I know — in the fall and winter, when I visit companies, I am often offered a closet to hang up my coat. These are not just closets — they are burial grounds for the thousands of unused brochures that no one can bear to throw away because of how much it cost to produce them, even though they are outdated or otherwise flawed.
Do you really “need a brochure?” Only you can answer that question. But if your prospects don’t read them, you can’t afford to mass produce them, you have other means to distribute printed information and your business changes frequently, the answer is most decidedly: No. And that’s no joke.
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Paul Furiga is president and CEO of WordWrite Communications.
