What to Include in a Trade Show Brochure

You may meet a ton of people at your next trade show, but odds are that your interactions with them will be brief. Trade show attendees are often in a hurry, trying to visit every booth they’re interested in before time runs out.

Printed materials allow you to get what you want across without having to say it all. Once attendees have some downtime, they can go over your brochure – which presents you with another chance for you to grab their attention, especially if you know the top industry event pamphlet tips.

Here are the basics of what to include in an effective trade show brochure:

Eye-catching visuals
Recognizable branding
Solutions for customers’ pain points
Social proof with a client testimonial
Call-to-action with next steps
Social media handles
QR code linking to a landing page

Now, let’s dive deeper into the topic with these trade show brochure tips!

Eye-Catching Design

The cover of your brochure is what’s going to catch the eye, get people to pick it up, and intrigue them enough to look inside. You want the cover to be visually appealing — graphics and photographs here will make more of an impact than a lot of text.

Think about the imagery that your target audience will find most appealing. It also helps if the design of your brochure somehow mimics the design of your trade show booth. It'll be easier to associate your brand and brochure with the booth that way.

Simplicity in Design and Message

The simpler the design and message, the “louder” the brochure can be. For example, when you don’t have a ton of text to squeeze onto the cover, you can make the image and headline really stand out, even to people who are a little farther away.

This isn’t the place for company stats, a bio or an overview of every product you sell. You don’t have a lot of room here, and you don’t want big blocks of tiny text. Stay concise by weeding out unnecessary information.

Strong Focus on the Brand

Your brand colors should be in the text, imagery and other graphic elements of your brochure. Use plenty of white for negative space, too – the design will be branded without being overwhelming. Also, stick to your style guidelines when choosing the font, graphics, messaging and buzzwords.

Whatever you do, don’t use old, outdated brochures that no longer reflect your current branding. If you’ve updated your logo, font choice or other brand elements, you definitely need a new brochure.

Convincing Copy

Your brochure is an opportunity to tell people how you can solve their problems and/or improve their lives. Don't simply describe what your company does. Instead, explain how you can help the reader. Often, people are most interested in how they can save time, money or both.

Always include a call to action (CTA) to let the reader know what you want them to do next. Should they send you an email, visit your website, use a coupon code on their first purchase, follow you on social media…? Tell them!

Why Trade Show Marketing Matters

Having marketing materials at your trade show booth lets visitors know that you have more to say than you can fit into a quick conversation. At the same time, providing brochures and flyers for trade shows lets them know that you value their time – you’re not going to eat up precious minutes right then because you know they have things to do.

Sending them home with a brochure maintains a connection between you and your booth visitors. You may be out of sight, but hard-copy materials mean you won’t be out of mind – especially if they’re attractive, easy to read and convincing.

Find Custom Trade Show Giveaway Gifts

Trade show promotional products do double duty to advertise your business while being genuinely useful to recipients. Unfortunately, a lot of promotional products are on the cheap, low-quality side – do you really want a stress ball that falls apart after a few squeezes or a pen that never quite works?

At Merchology, we have classic items as well as ones that are more outside the box. Think phone cases, portable chargers, outdoor gear, Moleskine notebooks, Yeti drinkware and more. And while many of them are low-cost, they’re never poor quality.

For custom trade show giveaway gifts, check out our Custom Promotional Products Buyers Guide.

Contact Us!

For more trade show giveaway ideas and logo-branding information, contact a Merchologist today!