Copywriting: How Different Should Your Brochure Be from Your Website Content?

by Dina Giolitto

Many think of a website as an electronic brochure, and in many ways it is. A website, however, keeps going where a brochure leaves off. This response often leads to the question, "Well, how different should my brochure be from my website then?" There are ways that your brochure should be similar to your website, but there are many more ways that your website should be different from your brochure. It is also important to consider who will receive your brochure and who will be visiting your website. Find out what these differences and similarities are-keep reading.

A brochure is typically a lead-in

First, focus on the purpose of a brochure. A brochure is a brief overview of your company and what it offers--a brief overview that intrigues readers enough to act by picking up the phone, by going to your website, or by walking into your store location for more information or to buy what you are selling. You control the action you want them to take by stating it in the brochure-the call to action portion. Since most brochures are an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper folded two or three times, there is no way possible to fit everything your company has to offer in it. This is where your website comes in handy.

A website is more than a brochure

A website picks up where your brochure leaves off because a website provides you more room to connect with the reader and get them to buy. While a brochure explains certain aspects of your company and how what you are offering benefits the client, your website can expand on these details-providing even more information. A website can also be a form of purchase since it allows visitors to buy instantly from your online store.

Brochures should mimic your website and vice versa

That being said, your brochure and your website should mimic each other. The tone you use when writing your brochure should be the same as that represented on your website. The look and feel of the brochure should also be the look and feel readers experience when they visit your website. For example, if you use a friendly tone in your brochure, this same friendly tone should be felt when visiting your website. If your brochure is very formal and traditional, then the website also should have this same look.

Your brochure and website should complement each other.

When you are creating your brochure and website, the copy should not be exactly the same on both. While you may have a client that only sees one of your brochures or only sees your website, you may also have many clients that read both. While the tone, look, and feel of your brochure and website should be the same, the copy should not be a carbon copy. And the content of each may be altered by the order in which the piece is read.

It is also important to consider at what point in the transaction you give potential customers the brochure. For example, if you attend tradeshows and hand out your brochure to visitors to your table, then you are introducing the brochure at the beginning of a relationship. On the other hand, if you request that visitors to your website complete and submit a form to receive more information, and then mail your brochure to them, the brochure is really the second piece of exposure for clients. Which order the brochure takes may affect the way you word the brochure and the website.

In many ways your brochure and website content should be similar, but there ways that these pieces should differ from each other. How you word the brochure and the website also depends on which order the pieces are read. Keep these factors in mind when writing the copy for your brochure and your website.

 

Copyright 2008 Dina Giolitto, Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing. All rights reserved.

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