Marketing isn’t about the medium; it’s about getting and keeping customers. In order to succeed, every salon or spa must have brochures and other forms of printed sales literature to hand out to customers and prospects. Brochures can help, but only if you use it in conjunction with other tools.

A salon or spa needs printed marketing literature for two reasons:

Credibility - People expect a “real” company to have printed sales literature. Anyone can spend $60 on business cards and letterhead and call themselves a company. But if you want people to know you mean business, you need a brochure.

Time - People want printed material to take home and read at their leisure. Brochures also support other advertising, direct mail, and online promotions. In short, a good brochure sells.

Here are 12 tips on writing a brochure that will support your marketing efforts and increase your sales.

1. Know what your reader wants - Write your brochure from the customer’s point of view. What are your customers’ concerns? What do they need to know before they come in for a service or make a purchase? Try writing down all the questions you hear from your customers and try and answer them in your collateral.
2. Motivate your reader to look inside - The first page your reader will see is the front cover. Get it wrong and you will likely lose the sale. Start with the benefits of your product, or use thought-provoking statements that motivate the reader to pick up the brochure and open it. Tell the reader there’s something inside just for them — an exclusive invitation, a free report, a special discount, or advance notice of sales. Don’t put just your company logo or product name on the front. That will not work.
3. List the contents - In brochures of eight pages or more, a table of contents is essential. Design it so that the table of contents stands out from the rest of the text. Use the contents to sell the brochure. Don’t use mind-numbing words like “Introduction” or “Services.” Use your key sales points in your headings.
4. List your product’s benefits - Purchasers care about benefits, not features. To develop a list of benefits, draw up a list of service features and add the words “which means that…” after each point. For example, “This treatment includes a foot massage, which means that…it feels o-so-good.” Or, “This facial has an exfoliation component, which means… your skin will glow.” Benefits are what sell products.
5. Make the brochure a keeper - Putting helpful information in your brochure will encourage the reader to keep it, refer to it often, or pass it on to other people. If you are selling skin care products, you can give your readers tips on how to combat pimples, dry skin, fine lines, and wrinkles.
6. Alter the shape - Who says a brochure has to be 8 ½ by 11? If you are selling massage, design a brochure in the shape of a person’s body. Hair coloring services? Design it in the shape of a paint brush. Use your imagination to come up with an original, eye-catching piece. Try tall and slim, square, oblong, whatever you like. The only limitation is your imagination, and, of course, your budget.
7. Make it personal - An experienced speaker talking to a large audience will pick out someone in the crowd, and talk directly to him or her. This connection allows the speaker to make the talk more personal. In a similar fashion, write your brochure with an imaginary person in mind. Why? Because writing in a direct “I’m-talking-only-to-you” style will increase response.
8. Add atmosphere - You don’t want your brochure to sound aloof. Let your reader share your feelings. A description about a body treatment does not need to go into the ins and outs of how the body treatment is performed. Instead let your words show them how warm, snug and relaxed they’ll be when they get one of your body treatments.
9. Start selling right away - Not everyone needs to know about every aspect of your product or service. Don’t waste their time telling them about things that don’t convey a benefit.
10. Address your reader’s needs - Don’t get carried away with your own interests. Talk about your reader, not yourself.
11. Give directions - Organize your brochure so readers can flip through the pages and easily find what they want. Provide clear signposts or headlines throughout the brochure and make sure each one says “Hey, pay attention to me!”
12. Ask for action - Regardless of how you organize your brochure, there’s only one way to end it. Ask for action. If you want your reader to come to your salon or spa and get a service or purchase products, include an 800 number, gift with purchase offer, or some form of response mechanism. In fact, to increase your brochure’s selling power, include your offer and a response mechanism on every page.