Printed brochures, sales sheets, product guides, and handouts still have a place in business. A salesperson sitting across the table from a customer may get more value from a physical brochure than from asking someone to open a link on their phone. Trade shows, networking events, and in-person meetings are other situations where printed material continues to work well.
The problem comes when a business relies on the printed version alone.
Customers now move between physical and digital interactions constantly. Someone may receive a brochure from a salesperson, look up the company later that afternoon, forward information to a coworker, and return to the website several days later before making a decision.
Sales materials should be able to move with them.
Printed Materials Should Not Be the Only Copy
A printed brochure is useful when it is physically in someone's hands. Once that person leaves the meeting, loses the brochure, or needs to send the information to someone else, its usefulness becomes much more limited.
That is why businesses should think about print and digital materials as two versions of the same resource rather than competing formats.
A company can still print a professional brochure for meetings while also making the same information available online. The digital version can then be emailed, linked from a website, shared by a salesperson, or opened through a QR code on the printed piece.
This is especially useful for small businesses that do not want to maintain several completely different versions of their sales materials.
Make It Easy for Salespeople to Share Information
Sales materials are most useful when employees can access them quickly.
If a salesperson has to search through folders, locate an old attachment, or ask someone in the office for the newest brochure every time a prospect asks for information, the process is harder than it needs to be.
A digital version gives the company one place to direct people.
That link can be saved on a phone, included in an email template, added to a salesperson's follow-up message, or placed in a CRM. Instead of attaching a large file every time, the salesperson can simply send the customer to the current version.
For businesses that already have brochures designed as PDFs, tools such as an Interactive brochure maker for small businesses can also turn existing material into something that is easier to view and share online.
Use QR Codes to Connect Print and Digital Materials
QR codes are one of the simplest ways to connect a physical sales piece to additional information online.
A business might place a QR code on a brochure that opens a more detailed product guide. A trade show handout might link to a demonstration video. A service card could send customers to a page where they can request a quote.
This lets the printed material stay simple.
Instead of trying to fit every feature, specification, photograph, testimonial, and call to action onto a single sheet of paper, the printed piece can introduce the important information and give interested customers an easy way to continue.
Keep Frequently Changing Information Online
One of the biggest disadvantages of printed material is that it becomes outdated.
Prices change. Products are replaced. Employees change. Promotions expire. New services are introduced.
If every piece of information is printed directly into a brochure, even a small change can require another print run.
Businesses can avoid some of that waste by separating permanent information from information that changes frequently.
A printed piece might explain the company's services and benefits while directing customers online for current product options, specifications, pricing, or availability.
The physical material remains useful longer, while the business can update the online information whenever something changes.
Think About How the Customer Will Actually Use the Material
Businesses sometimes create sales materials based on what they want to say rather than what a customer needs to know.
The better question is what the customer will do with the information.
A business owner researching a new copier may want to compare equipment options with another manager. Someone evaluating an IT provider may need to send information to the person responsible for technology. A company considering a new phone system may want to review features internally before scheduling another conversation.
In each situation, the information needs to be easy to share.
That may mean providing a printable version, a digital brochure, a webpage, or several formats depending on how customers typically buy.
Do Not Overcomplicate the Technology
Modernizing sales materials does not require replacing every brochure with a complicated online experience.
In many cases, the best improvement is simply removing friction.
Make the material easy to open on a phone. Give salespeople a reliable link to send. Make sure the current version is easy to find. Include a clear next step for customers who are ready to contact the business.
The technology should make the sales process easier, not give employees another system they have to manage.
Use Print and Digital Together
Businesses do not have to choose between printed and digital sales materials.
Printed pieces still work well when customers are meeting face to face with a salesperson. Digital materials are better when information needs to be shared, updated, revisited, or accessed from somewhere else.
Using both allows a business to meet customers wherever the conversation happens.
The goal is not to make every piece of marketing more complicated. It is to make useful information easier for customers to find, understand, and share.
