Many of our campus partners communicate with prospective students and others through electronic means, often by email. While visually attractive emails are not impossible to build, there are some practical limitations to this channel.
Some clients attempt to overcome this issue by developing print brochures, then posting them online or emailing them. The logic is that the brochures are prettier; so, when the recipient prints them out, they will be holding something very impressive in their hands.
In a perfect world (and with perfect printers), yes. But there are some realities we discuss with campus partners. The first reality is that there are better options.
One of these better options is placing your content on a new web page or renovating your current website. There are several advantages to doing this over designing a brochure to place on the web or email:
- Content can be updated quickly without needing to redesign the brochure (a much slower process). Details and other content can change pretty quickly these days.
- The reader can find the information they want more quickly on a web page than by downloading a brochure, printing a brochure, then hunting through that document for the information they need.
- Web pages can look nice! The Office of Marketing web team is exceptional at organizing content, photos, and graphics in a cohesive and visually pleasing way.
- Web page content is easier for search engines to find than PDF content
- PDFs are more challenging to read on mobile devices because they do not readily adapt to screen width.
- PDFs are not readily accessible to readers with visual impairments.
- PDF email attachments may never be opened due to the reader’s reluctance to download. Some email attachments can harbor computer viruses.
- PDF email attachments can trigger spam filters, so your email may never arrive in the reader’s inbox.
The Office of Marketing can help make your existing web pages look nice without building a problematic PDF document. Our quick facts page is one example. Please consider letting us help you communicate effectively and professionally.
