We examine the marketing power of the humble booklet: a promotional tool that punches well above its weight
Image by QinPrinting
Do business booklets still work?
If you pause a moment to take stock and think back over the last few days or weeks, we can almost guarantee that you'll have encountered — at least seen, probably browsed, and possibly kept — a business booklet. You may wonder that these pocket-sized printed marketing materials are still in circulation in the digital age. But the truth is — and we know because we print a lot of booklets for repeat-buying business customers every day — these little paper packets of promotional goodness not only still work to market your business, but they pack a punch well above their weight.
What is a business booklet?
The answer to this question might seem obvious, but as the terms brochure and booklet are often used interchangeably, it's worth clearing up so we know we're on the same page. For our purposes, brochures are single sheets, usually tri-folded to create three ‘pages' with six printable sides. A booklet on the other hand — and the clue is in the name! — is a ‘little book' with a cover and binding. It can have as few as just a handful of pages bound with staples or be more substantial and saddle-stitched or perfect bound just like a full-size paperback.
For businesses, booklets are great little tools for marketing and promotion. They're fundamentally simple in design, relatively inexpensive to produce, but can communicate core messages and information, value propositions, and special offers or promotions, with style and impact.
Unlocking the promotional power of printed booklets
Before we dive into the specific uses of business booklets in marketing and promotion, let's just unpack some of the features and effects of booklets which make them so powerful and able to deliver fabulous returns on your investment.
Useful, practical tools
You'll be familiar with the obvious applications of booklets as communication channels for advertising or informing customers, clients, and colleagues. But with a few super-simple tweaks you can turn the humble booklet into a practical tool that people will keep and use, meaning that they are constantly exposed to your marketing messages and reminded daily of your brand identity. How?
Well, just as one example, we know of a health clinic which produced a welcome booklet detailing its facilities, introducing the staff, and outlining the treatments and procedures it offers. All well and good. Also, pretty much standard fare. But someone had the bright idea of adding an 'emergency contact page' and an appointments tracker in the back, along with the simple instruction to keep it safe and visible. The result? Thousands of branded booklets in homes all over the county, displayed every day on fridges, bathroom shelves, entrance stands, and coffee tables.
Needing only an extra couple of pages and a little more ink, that small addition made a huge difference to the efficacy and longevity of an otherwise standard booklet. If you can find a similar way to add value to your booklets and make them useful tools for your clients, you can achieve similar results. Take a basic booklet and spice it up with a creative marketing idea to make the most of your investment.
Easy to produce, inexpensive to distribute
Compared to other printed marketing materials such as catalogs, case studies, and lead magnets, booklets are incredibly easy and inexpensive to write, design, and print. They're also small and lightweight. That makes them ideal for door-to-door distribution, direct mailing, and handing out at events or points of sale.
Powerful, personal, targeted
Any marketer will tell you that personalized, targeted communications are more powerful and elicit higher responses than generalized campaigns. If you splash up billboards all over town, sure your message gets seen, but you have no control over who sees it or if they're the customers or potential customers you need to target. But booklets can be laser-targeted. Based on your market research, you know your customer or prospect profiles and can design your booklets — the messages, style, language, and images — specifically to appeal to them. You can then deliver these personalized booklets directly to your target group either in-store, on the street, or with a mail out.
Have booklet, will travel
Everything about a business booklet is designed to encourage people to pick them up and keep them. Not only that, but booklets tend to travel. They get dropped into handbags and briefcases, left in cafes and bars, taken home, and to the office. So, they get passed on from one person to another, one place to the next, spreading your marketing and promotional messages far and wide.
Short but very sweet
Booklets are short and, if well-written and designed, easy and attractive to read. But they have more room for text, photographs, and graphics than a leaflet or brochure. So, they combine the advantages of high-impact marketing with the capacity to carry a more detailed message and more fully developed branding and call-to-action.
7 ways to use business booklets
We've established that business booklets could be a great asset to your enterprise. But what kind of booklets are possible? And which would be best for your business? Let's answer that now. Depending on your brand, you can use booklets in the following ways:
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Magazine style
Booklets can work well if you style them as you would a magazine. A full color photographic front cover with an enticing title and headline will draw attention. The interior content can include interviews, product reviews, release announcements, and advertorials.
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Mini-catalogs
While you may have a full-scale catalog, booklets make great additions as mini-catalogs. You can use them to promote an end-of-line sale, seasonal and time-limited offers, or a new product line, without reprinting your main catalog.
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Informational manuals
Another fabulous way to use business booklets is to provide technical specifications and other details for your products which may be too in-depth to go in your catalog. You can display them alongside product ranges in-store or deliver them with goods. Just remember to add branding, contact details, and a discount on the next purchase.
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Kid-friendly activity books
Whether your business targets children as a consumer demographic or parents who are likely to shop with children in tow, providing a kid-friendly activity book with quizzes, cartoon characters, jokes, puzzles, and coloring pages is a great way to use a booklet. Obviously, the booklet should be branded and can include product advertisements, too. That's also a booklet that's likely to be kept and to travel.
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FAQs
Depending on your business, you may have clients who need a lot of frequently asked questions answered. You can help them and save yourself time by giving them a booklet which lists those questions and gives clear, succinct answers. FAQ booklets can be sent to clients before meetings, for example, or left to pick up in waiting areas.
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Eye-catching photo essays
A photo essay can be a very powerful marketing tool if your business has high-end, visually beautiful products to promote. Think fashion, jewelry, decorative goods and ornaments, or artwork. Focus solely on fine photographs with subtle lighting and stunning settings. Cut the text content right back; maybe just a product name and your website and contact details. Let the desire-provoking imagery do all the work.
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Insight guides
Your customers and clients may want to know more about your business. A booklet that gives your origin story, a biography of the founder, and insight into what motivates and inspires your business philosophy can be a fantastic marketing tool. It's an indirect form of marketing, but one that can be powerful and effective.
Booklet business marketing: take next step
We hope that you can see the potential of business booklets to build your brand, boost your reputation, educate and inform your customers, and drive engagement and sales. Get in touch today to talk through your ideas. We have decades of experience helping businesses like yours maximize their marketing efforts with beautiful, bespoke printed marketing materials. We'd be happy to hear from you for an informal chat or, if you're ready, to give you a no-obligation quote for your project.
