Brochure Writing Hints For Friendlier Copy

The best way to bring your brochure copy to life is to make it personal and friendly. No matter what industry you’re in, changing your brochure copy from formal, academic-speak to informal, friendly copy will help you gain new customers. Here’s how.

Write in first person and second person
First person is “I.” Second person is “you.” Third person is “she.” Third person writing sounds impersonal. By writing directly to the customer, you’ll engage that person and make the brochure feel more like a conversation rather than someone lecturing at another person.

Writing in second person leaves room for writing in first person; it wouldn’t sound very friendly to say “Noble Store will help you save money.” But “We’ll help you save money” sounds pretty personal. This implied closeness will help your store and your brand feel more connected with the reader.

Use contractions
Using contractions as you would in real-life conversation makes your brochure seem friendlier. “We’ll help” sounds much more sociable than “We will help.” The only time you shouldn’t use contractions is when you want to emphasize a part of your phrase, such as “We will NOT be undersold.” Obviously you can’t italicize or cap just part of a contraction and spelling it out gives a stronger punch than leaving it as a contraction.

Use short sentences
Short sentences are easier to read, especially in a small space like a brochure. Using short sentences means you won’t have as much punctuation, like commas and semi-colons that can trip people up and make them re-read your sentences. This will also help the brochure printing process when the designer lays out the brochure: breaking up long sentences can be hard to do in the space of a brochure panel. Short sentences look better as well as read easier.

It’s okay to use incomplete sentences
Your grammar teacher in elementary school probably told you to never start a sentence with “and,” “but” or “because.” You’re out of school now and the rules are different for marketing and advertising copy. Incomplete sentences are an easy way to add emphasis to your copy. They can be used to emphasize something that should give the reader pause or to contradict a statement: “Will you get a great deal? But of course.”

Pretend you’re writing to a friend
By pretending you’re writing a product description to a friend, you can find many descriptors and other ideas you never would have thought of if you were trying to write formally. Use real words that people use in conversation and avoid jargon and long, complicated words that aren’t used in everyday language. This way you won’t alienate any of your readers and instead you’ll create an easy-to-read, understandable brochure.

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