Brochures that Generate Sales Leads (and How to Write Them)

One rule in direct mail is that your letter sells your offer and your brochure sells what you're selling. For example, let's say you mail a classic direct mail package to generate sales leads for your enterprise software product. Your classic package will consist of a #10 mailing envelope, a sales letter, a brochure (perhaps an 8 1/2×11 sheet folded twice), a reply device and a #9 return envelope.

In this package, your letter sells your offer (which might be anything from a white paper to a complimentary audit to a discount) and your brochure sells your product (describing in detail the tech features that are too cumbersome to include in a letter). Here's how to organize and write that brochure.

1. Create a compelling and memorable theme
Don't just name your product on the front cover, or simply feature a photo of your manufacturing plant taken from the air. Instead, craft a theme that captures your prospects attention and stimulates interest. Turn this theme into a headline for your front cover. Include a customer benefit, clearly stated or implied, whenever possible. Here are some examples:

(a) Committed to Memory (manufacturer of computer RAM)
(b) Now you're Talking (Voice Over IP service)
(c) We go the Distance (distance learning software)
(d) Get Online Without a Line (wireless email service)

2. Carry your cover theme throughout the brochure
Use images, subheads, captions and body copy that continue your front cover theme throughout the brochure. If your cover theme is "Now you're Talking," for example, a subhead inside the brochure might be, "Talk about a great deal." Your call to action might be, "We need to talk."

3. Start your selling message with your prospect
Inside the brochure, the first image and headline that your prospects see should speak directly to them and the problem they face. Don't start with you or your product. Start with the prospect.

4. Grab attention immediately
Arrest your prospect's attention and show that you understand their problem (the one that your product or service solves). For example, a software vendor sells an application that manages enterprise storage from a single management console. Here is how they grab their prospect's attention:

[Cover theme]
Get more storage without buying more storage.

[Inside headline]
Adding storage solves your storage problems. True or false?

[First line of copy]
Is your distributed storage ballooning by 75% a year? If all you do is add more storage, all you do is compound your problems.

5. Describe your top benefits first
List the top five features of your product or service, and the benefits that customers get from these features. Remember that a feature is something that your product does, while a benefit is what that feature does for your prospect.

Now rank these top five features and benefits in order of their importance to your prospect. Then write your copy so that you mention the top benefit first, the second-most-important benefit second, and so on.

In the above example, for instance (point 4), you would list the following benefits, in this order, and flesh out each one with persuasive copy:

(a) reclaim up to 30% of your storage space enterprise-wide
(b) prevent premature and costly storage purchases by predicting when your servers will run out of space
(c) reduce data access problems and storage-related failures before they threaten your mission-critical data

6. Present proof
Back every claim you make with the kind of proof that resonates with your prospective buyer. In business-to-business mailings, some of the most compelling proofs are testimonials, comparisons with competing products, test results, case histories, industry awards, and names of well-known companies who are your clients.

7. Ask for the order
Treat your brochure as a salesperson who has to give your entire sales pitch. That way, if your brochure gets separated from your sales letter in the prospect's office, the brochure stands alone as a sales tool that can generate a sales enquiry. So ask for the order, usually at the end of the brochure. Tell the prospect exactly what to do take things to the next level (call your 1-800 number, call you, return the reply card, visit your website, download a demo, and so on).

Alan is a business-to-business direct mail copywriter and lead generation consultant. As President of Sharpe Copy Inc. (http://www.sharpecopy.com), Alan specializes in helping businesses generate leads, close sales and retain customers, using cost-effective, compelling direct mail and email marketing. Alan also uses his direct mail advertising services to help charities raise funds and raise awareness of their causes, using fundraising letters.

---

Have You Captured Me Today?

There are many Web sites I visit every day and... Read More

The Marshall Plan -- Or, Customer Aftercare: How To Spend Less & Sell More

My wife likes to shop at the local Safeway. Is... Read More

Let Your Survey Write Your Business Plan

Most entrepreneurs first write their business plan and then develop... Read More

Unleash the Power of Post Cards

Direct mail marketing is essential for a business to survive.Choosing... Read More

Make Out Marketing

What is the single biggest fear of teenagers, business owners... Read More

Knowing When To Charge More and To Charge Less

More And MoreIt was notable that when I started my... Read More

Promotional Pen - A Pen by any other Name?

Have you ever been among a group of people exchanging... Read More

Loan Officer Marketing ? How to Target the Right Agents

Once there was a loan officer, who marketed his services... Read More

Resistances To Marketing a Practice-Part 1

If you are a therapist, counselor, or an alternative or... Read More

6 MUST Have Strategies To Make Big Bucks with Big Ticket Items

Strategy #1: Change Your Mindset That's right, change your mindset!... Read More

Marketing Strategy 101: 10 Marketing Strategies I Learnt From My Oral Surgeon

This is how the conversation went on my follow-up visit... Read More

Develop Your Curiosity And Increase Profits

If anyone was to ask me what my greatest strength... Read More

Create Your Own Rumors

A consultant new in the city asked me how I... Read More

Are Keywords Destroying the Flow of Your SEO Copy?

With all the shuffling that's been seen in the search... Read More

The Greatest Business Tips are FREE

The best way for someone to hang on to a... Read More

Raise Your Income!

How often do you sit around and wonder how to... Read More

Shine a Spotlight on Your Professional Service Firm

As a life-long dancer, I know a bit about the... Read More

How To Achieve Success With Your Own Money Making Newsletter

Writing and publishing a successful newsletter is perhaps the most... Read More

Marketing Gurus : Do You Need One?

Its become fashionable to bash marketing "gurus" nowadays.There are some... Read More

Discover the Winning Marketing Strategy Secrets of Donald Trump Apprentice Wanna-bes

The highly entertaining Donald Trump's search for an apprentice turned... Read More

Principles of Marketing 101

Marketing results should be measured in only one way ?... Read More

Avoid the Duds: 10 Strategies for Selecting The Perfect Speaker

Today, more than ever, the success of meetings relies heavily... Read More

Nurture Sales Leads with Direct Mail Marketing

Direct mail is a cost-effective way to make sales and... Read More

Lack Of Business Isnt Always The Problem

When you're just starting out in business, it's a safe... Read More

Becoming The Obvious Choice In A Sea Of Competition

Differentiation, niche marketing, and positioning. These and other related business... Read More

Maximize Your Lead Generation Efforts by Recycling Your Leads

The basic lead generation process is pretty much the same... Read More

Small Business Pricing: Setting A Price For Your Product / Service

The importance of pricing can not be underestimated as incorrect... Read More

10 Ways to Get Your Flyers Noticed

An inexpensive way to promote your services is to createvarious... Read More

Why Great Companies Survey: Martian Logic!

If an alien civilization from Mars was planning a friendly... Read More

A Complaint? It?s a Compliment! - 7 Tips for Dealing with Complaints at Trade Shows

A Complaint? It's a Compliment!What made you mad last week?In... Read More

Is It Time To Revisit Your Marketing Strategy?

Small & Mid Sized Business owners, have you revisited your... Read More

The M-Word (Marketing) Phase 2

Last month we looked at what you need to do... Read More

Design Does Matter

The idea that good design can improve how people perceive... Read More