Q: Attached is a pdf of our current fall print brochure. We are considering some changes in the way the content is organized with the goal of making it more intuitive about where information is located. First of all the sections of the table of contents will be in alphabetical order, and possibly be listed with the icon that is found on the top of the corresponding pages within. Secondly we are considering changing the section titles to more clearly reflect what is within them. This all still in the very early rough draft stages, and we are still thinking through the details. Before we get too far down any given path, we would like some feedback on this idea, and/or other organizational suggestions for improving the effectiveness of the communication.   

A: Your table of contents is a critical element on your brochure's first pages because it is where your readers will look to find out what you may have that is of interest to them, so you need to be careful about the presentation here.  Organizing your contents section by topic (rather than alphabetically) is the best way to help the reader find options that may be of interest. In fact, the best way to organize content is in order of popularity, with your most popular categories of programming first.

You definitely need to provide more information in your table for some sections.  For example "Certificate Programs" is too broad - readers will want more information on the categories.  Start by skipping the long dotted lines in your table and use a two-column format for a more space-efficient presentation that will afford you space for not only the icons you are considering, but for categories.  For Certificate Programs, you should include categories like Green Building/Construction, Sustainability, Human Resources, eMarketing/Social Media, Project Management, etc.  You do not need to list every topic/title but categories will be helpful for readers.  Your Table of Contents should help readers move quickly to more details inside your brochure on the topics that interest them.

The icons on the section pages need stronger contrast and clarity.  Graphic elements will draw the reader's eye and can help increase comprehension, but they need to stand out effectively.  Start by using bold dark text instead of reverse (white over the blue background) for the section headers.  Then use the same approach for  the icons - bold dark color over a light background to optimze contrast.

LERN would strongly recommend looking at targeted marketing.  With separate brochures for distinct target audiences (personal enrichment, career development, kids, zoomers), the content could reflect, address and deliver the right message for the right target audience, maximizing the marketing effectiveness of each brochure.  Separate brochures afford you the opportunity to specialize your marketing message for each target audience.  They also allow you to reduce the number of pages for targeted content, as well as reduce mailings for each of your brochures to specific audiences.  As a result, your production budget will be better spent and your promotions will be more effective and efficient. No type of programming would have to become “secondary” in emphasis or placement in the brochure (or in the table of contents).  Each type of programming could receive the focus and marketing emphasis it deserves to increase the value of the message for recipients.  This is an area where LERN can provide you with a lot of help through complimentary membership benefits that will analyze your registration data to target your marketing.  I have attached some information on how this works and what we will need from you to run the analyses.

http://media.lern.org/webinars/Brochure-table-of-contents.pdf
http://media.lern.org/webinars/Software-tools.doc