How can I create a sales brochure and strengthen my brand image?
Sales brochures are an essential communication tool for successful sales prospecting, especially in the B2B sector. It enables you to highlight your strengths and develop your reputation.
Whether in paper or digital format, creating a sales brochure is essential to effectively canvassing your prospects and acquiring new customers. But for a sales brochure to be truly effective, it needs to be created according to the rules of the art.
Format, style, content, structure, visuals... We take you through 6 key steps to create the ideal sales brochure, tailored to your customers' needs.
Sales brochure: definition
The sales brochure is a communication and sales medium with many uses:
- to present the company in a concise way ;
- promote a product or service offering, and its competitive advantages;
- convey a brand image and marketing message;
- guide the sales force's discourse and encourage sales, thanks to the summary of key arguments on which they can draw;
- stay in the minds of prospects, who can keep it and refer to it later;
- develop the company's reputation, by being shared from hand to hand, or from mailbox to mailbox.
This document is a classic in prospecting, but also in inbound marketing, using quality content (hello content marketing) for commercial purposes, particularly for purchases that require a little thought or a new product range.
It's an excellent way to demonstrate your professionalism and stand out from the crowd, and provides ample space to develop your key selling points.
How to create a sales brochure in 6 steps?
1 - Define your objectives
The first thing to do is to define your objectives. Whether they're commercial, marketing or financial, defining them is essential if you want to create a sales brochure that's appropriate and, above all, effective.
🎯 So define your objectives and targets, but also your budget.
Ask yourself the right questions:
- Do you want to present a particular product range?
- Or more generally, do you want to develop your brand image?
- With what type of customer (the famous marketing persona)?
You can use the SMART method to define your objectives. In this way, you'll begin to consider the format and quality of the brochure, and therefore the budget to devote to it.
2 - Drawing up the brief
💡 Producing a sales brochure also involves creating an editorial and creative brief, possibly your specifications.
Start by taking stock of the situation, diagnosing your business: what elements should be highlighted, and what tone and style should be used in relation to your target audience? The key is to focus on the essentials, so that your message is concise yet powerful.
If you want to convey modern values, it's best to go for an innovative sales brochure, for example in 3D format. For a younger target, an online, interactive sales brochure is the way to go.
3 - Choose your medium and format
✅ Choose the medium and format : depending on the previous answers, opt for :
- a leaflet with flaps,
- one-page recto or recto verso,
- a brochure,
- a pocket with flaps,
- thicker or thinner weights,
- portrait or landscape format,
- 100% digital brochure.
It all depends on the brochure's target audience, how it's to be distributed, the quantity to be printed and, of course, the budget.
☝️ While the traditional presentation brochure is often in A4 format, for example an A3 folded in 2 for a 4-page brochure, the PDF format allows greater freedom.
4 - Writing the content
🖌 A few tips:
- Start by listing all the essential information to be included on your brochure and prioritize them in order of importance. That's where you should start.
- Also organize your data by reading level (boxes, text in blocks, columns, etc.) to make it dynamic and so that key information can be found at a glance.
- Depending on the format you've chosen, you'll have a rough idea of how much space you'll need.
- Make a first mock-up to see if you need to synthesize more, delete some of the text or revise the format.
Your sentences should be concise and clear, and your spelling impeccable.
Step 5: Select visuals
🌠 Choose the visuals: whether infographics, illustrations or photos, they must be of good quality.
They'll have the merit of airing out the brochure and making it more attractive.
They also need to harmonize with the colors of your graphic charter, and with each other.
Step 6: Creating the brochure
🚀 Start creating! There are several types of software available to you:
- Graphic design software such as InDesign, or go through an agency, and ask the person in charge of creating your sales brochure for several versions before validating it and moving on to its distribution or printing, before which you'll ask for a BAT (bon à tirer), by the way.
- Sales offer management software that allows you, among other things, to create customized sales pitches and sales proposal documents.
- There are also other sales support tools to help you considerably increase your conversion rate and therefore your sales.
💡 Looking for the best tool for your needs? Perhaps it's in our comparison of software for creating sales brochures!
Bonus tips for creating an attractive sales brochure
Adopt the AIDA method
Often mentioned, here are the fundamentals of the AIDA advertising method:
- attract attention: make an impact so that the reader wants to skim the document. To do this, start by talking about your target and its issues, then talk about yourself;
- arouse interest: so that the reader scans the brochure with his or her eyes, using headings, sub-headings and catchphrases;
- provoke Desire: with quality content and visuals, the prospect will want to go on to further reading;
- Encourage Action: provide essential information in a visible way, encouraging your future customer to visit your site or give you a call.
Entrust the creation to a competent person
Your sales brochure is a reflection of your company. If it's mediocre, you'll be penalized more than anything else.
Depending on your budget and in-house skills, you may need to outsource the design to a communications agency or freelancer, for advertising or graphic elements.
Entrusting the promotion of your sales brochure to a professional can also be beneficial. Various online communication channels are available:
- social networks (Linkedin),
- website,
- specialized articles, etc.
Be concrete
The point is not to sell dreams, but to reassure.
Don't hesitate to include success stories, testimonials from satisfied customers, concrete examples of your work, awards, labels, certifications, partners, and so on.
Avoid information that becomes obsolete quickly, especially if you print your brochure. Otherwise, you'll have to update it regularly, and that will become costly.
Apply the basics of design
Here are a few:
- Fonts must be legible, and you should use 2 or even 3 maximum (one for titles, one for text, for example).
- Text and layout should be airy: you can't say everything - your brochure is a medium that should make people want to know more. If it's too compact, it simply won't be read.
- The most important points stand out with larger words, in bold or in color.
- There should be a balance between text and images, on the order of two-thirds/one-third.
- The dominant colors of your brochure are those of your corporate identity. As for fonts, choose a maximum of 3 to avoid cacophony.
- The resolution of the brochure should be of good quality, but remember to save it for the web if you're distributing it by e-mail, otherwise it will be too heavy. On your site, it will also take too long to load. Think UX (user experience)!
Don't forget the imperative notices for your sector
Tax terms, reminders of the law, respect for the environment - find out what information is required on your sales brochure.
If you're in any doubt, you can take your cue from the competition, or ask your agency or printer for advice.
Examples of PDF sales brochures
You can create a free sales brochure online, for example on Freepik in EPS or PSD (Photoshop) format. You can use it as a basis, provided you give credit to the author and master the graphic tools, of course.
Sales brochure template
Innovative sales brochure
Luxury sales brochure
☝️ Whatever the type of sales brochure, it must present at least:
- your visual identity: your name, your logo, your colors, to be distinctive,
- your contact details: telephone, email, website, so that you can be contacted,
- your added value: your products and services, and their benefits.
Now it's up to you to create the sales brochure that suits you!
Article translated from French