Why a print brochure is still important

You have your website, full of all the information anyone could want to know about your company. You reach out to your customers through email, you advertise – why do you need a brochure?

Because it’s not enough to exist only online. We all still exist in the physical world, and there are several ways in which a print brochure will reach your customer that the online world won’t.

Just like feeling the fabric of a shirt or hearing the thud of a car door tells you about the quality of those products, your brochure is a physical representation of your product or service. There’s a tangible experience in holding something in your fingers – the feel of the paper, the richness of the images, and the design all convey a message about your product or service in a physical way a web page can’t.

People learn in different ways. Schools understand this, so teachers not only tell students about a subject, they also have them conduct experiments and visit locations to see something in person. Holding something and interacting with it engages the brain in a different way than passively viewing it. Someone who physically interacts with a piece of information is more likely to register it and remember it.

People aren’t always online. Even if your phone is in your pocket, it’s easier to pick up a piece of paper than to turn on a browser and navigate to a website. A customer is more likely to pick up and flip through a brochure at a counter or in a waiting room than to hunt down your website. And a printed brochure is easy to use – many people find type on paper easier on the eyes than the back-lit light of a screen. And you can highlight and circle information and make notes, which is impossible on a website.

A brochure is a physical connection with your customer or prospect. It can be used as a tool during a meeting, without needing to get the client’s wifi password, navigating to your site or wait while pages load. After your meeting, you want to be able to hand them something as a reminder of your meeting, and a brochure communicates so much more than a business card.

Print brochures will always be an important part of a company’s marketing mix. When your customers can hold something in their hands, it gives them a physical connection to you and your business, and communicates your message in a way a website can’t.