Now is the time when many tour operators are making the final changes to their brochures as they prepare for next year’s tourism season. Here are some tips for creating a great brochure:
Unique Selling Proposition [USP]: Explain your position as it relates to your competitors in the market. What is your primary [key] benefit of the product or service being marketed? If you have already established your USP, can you improve it? When attracting first time customers to your business, what is the primary differentiating factor that will make potential customers choose your business over that of your competitors? Clearly communicate your USP in your brochure content and make it stand out.
Create an irresistible offer: Be creative. There is much debate by venue operators regarding the effectiveness of discounts or coupon offers. You’re the best judge of whether or not it will work for your business but for some venue operators coupons are effective, generating new business and results [and they're measureable]. There are other ways to create purchase incentives such as tour packages that offer “free” tickets to a partner attraction, children ride for free, Web specials, contests and giveaways, etc.
Ignite Interest: Many of us have the urge to communicate the core benefits of our company, products and services [I'm guilt of this too] but your brochure needs to focus on your target audience first. Communicate in terms of what your visitors can expect to experience when they visit your venue and make meaningful connections with their interests.
Clearly Communicate the Benefits: I’ve read many brochures where key benefits are lost in the content. Make your benefits stand out by positioning your most important points as headlines, subhead, captions, and bullets.
Create a Clear Call to Action: Create a clear call to action and make your brochure measureable. Make it easy for your target audience to purchase tickets by phone, email and online. Use an alternate phone number or 1-800 to track phone queries. Create a landing page to track brochure generated Web traffic with special incentives [book now and save] to close the sale online. Measure marketing effectiveness.
[A landing page is used to provide a special offer which does not exist on your website - and is best used for improving conversion rates by testing various landing-page creative and offers, which encompasses the entire user experience, including navigation, layout and copy. You can create AB testing - measuring the success of A offer versus B offer to determine which offer is more effective for selling your tickets].
Use Testimonials: Use visitor testimonials to sell your business.
Support your Brand: Your brochure should support your branding efforts. It should tie into and mesh with your other marketing materials.
Use great photography: In A good picture is worth more than a 1000 words we talked about the importance of using great photos to sell your business. Photos count so choose them carefully. Ensure your images are high-resolution [at least 300 dpi for print].
Multilingual Support: Ensure the most compelling messages for your multilingual tours are translated into the language markets your serve. Place country flags along the top of your front cover so your target audiences can easily identify your brochure on the rack, at hotel concierge, etc.
Use high resolution paper: Use quality paper for printing your brochures. Quality is a part of your business offering.
