The role of the holiday brochure in your marketing mix

There can be little doubt that, in our online world, some traditional methods of marketing, including the humble holiday brochure, have taken a back seat. It is true to say that online marketing can provide that instant impact and enable holiday park operators to track its effectiveness and ROI, something that is more difficult to equate for traditional printed media. So, is it time to re-imagine the holiday brochure and its influence in the marketing mix?

Here’s just a few reasons why we feel there’s plenty of life left in the holiday brochure…

Not everyone is online:

Whilst we live in a predominantly online world, are all of your guests online? A brochure can be a great way to engage users adverse or sceptical of online booking.

Lasts longer than a few fleeting moments:

Websites have to work hard to engage visitors from the 1st second and, in general, people’s regard to technology and the internet is one of impatience and frustration. Browsing a brochure evokes a different emotional response; people will take more time to browse a brochure and perhaps engage more with what is in front of their eyes

A chance to showcase your business:

Coming from a design perspective, there can be little doubt that a brochure offers greater design freedom from that of online media. Without a concern for SEO, page speed, code etc, designers can flex their muscles and get creative on a new perspective of your park.

Tell a different story:

For those looking to extend the life of their brochures beyond annual updates, there is a unique opportunity to tell a different story through your brochure. Rather than present factual information in print that is hard to keep up to date, let your website do the talking in that perspective and re-visit your brochure as an opportunity to tell a story about real guest experience. Try to create and deliver an emotional response from the reader that could see you through several seasons of use.

Touch and texture:

For all of the many benefits of web, it is 2-dimensional. Screens or trackpads offer no tactile response for the user in relation to your product. A physical brochure, however, allows the viewer to not only look, but get a physical feel for your product. With such a broad range of papers, laminates, varnishes and textures available to printers nowadays, the opportunity for you to capture a tactical response is unique and should not be ignored.

Great for online conversions:

We still see ‘Request a brochure’ and ‘View brochure’ pages as some of the most popular on websites that have them. There are great tools that can convert your printed brochure into interactive online versions, or simply a super opportunity to gather valuable data and sign-ups via conversion forms.

So, you’re thinking that maybe 2020 is the time to get creative and re-visit your holiday brochure, here’s some top tips before you start:

You will need great photos!

• Don’t under estimate the value of great photos. Hire a professional photographer for those all-important park shots, don’t forget they will be valuable for online use also! You will be grateful for it when you receive the brochure hot of the press

Get hands on

• Before you start, think about the format. Don’t just opt for A4 because it is easiest, collect some brochures, examine the paper options and sizes and how they ‘feel’ in your hands. A good print house will be the best place to start and can usually provide you with a wealth of samples.

Get creative!

• What can we do differently? Unusual shapes, flyouts or page orientations can all help to get your reader engaged in the product, get involved with the designers and make it a fun process.

Tell your story

• If you can, get yourself a good copywriter to write the content. Reduce factual information to essentials if you can and try to let your brochure communicate to the reader in a tone of voice that would generate a positive emotional response.

Get your guests involved!

• Social photo competitions can be great example of presenting real-life stories in your brochure (and gain yourself some social traction too!). Get your guests to share their adventures with you and they will no doubt love to show their friends when they make the brochure final edition too!

Want to re-design your holiday brochure or kick start a project? Pitched have the creative team on-hand to handle your brochure from start to finish. Take a look at our holiday brochure design services here, talk to us today on 01726 418 118 or drop us an enquiry here