Copywriting: How Different Should Your Brochure Be from Your Web Site Content?

Many think of a Web site as an electronic brochure, and in many ways it is. A Web site, however, keeps going where a brochure leaves off. This response often leads to the question, “Well, how different should my brochure be from my Web site then?” There are ways that your brochure should be similar to your Web site, but there are many more ways that your Web site should be different from your brochure. It is also important to consider who will receive your brochure and who will be visiting your Web site. 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 Web site, 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 Web site comes in handy.

A Web site is more than a brochure.

A Web site picks up where your brochure leaves off because a Web site 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 Web site can expand on these details — providing even more information. A Web site can also be a form of purchase since it allows visitors to buy instantly from your online store.

Brochures should mimic your Web site and vice versa.

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

Web sites and brochures: The same, but different.

When you are creating your brochure and Web site, 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 Web site, you may also have many clients that read both. While the tone, look, and feel of your brochure and Web site 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.

The order of exposure.

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 Web site 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 Web site.

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

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

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