Is the Health Brochure Dead?

Image of "Here lies PRINT" on a tombstone.
alt: A phone screen shows a headline that reads “OMG Print?” Below the text, a doodle stands in front of a tombstone with the words, “Here lies print?” written on it. The doodle cries and says, “Why, print?! WHHHYYYYY??”

With so much health information available online these days, you might be wondering: Does anyone still need health brochures?

We say… maybe. How you deliver content depends on your audience. If you’re rocking a Twitter feed but your audience is watching Golden Girls episodes on Betamax, you’ve got a problem.

Don’t get us wrong, dear readers — we ❤ digital content. It lets you reach more people in fun and innovative ways. In particular, mobile is becoming a great equalizer across income levels.

That said, you need to meet your audiences where they’re at. Like it or not, they may be at the doctor’s office staring at a rack of brochures — or they may be at home, without access to the computer they use at their local library.

And sometimes, people want both. For example, when we’re doing usability testing, we often hear testers say things like, “This webpage is great. I would print it out and show it to my mom.”

So keep on with digital and mobile. Find new and creative ways to get your messages out there. But always research your audience, including how they want to access and share your content.

The bottom line: Go bold with digital and mobile — but do your homework to be sure you know how and where your audiences get their health information.

Tweet about it: Is the health brochure dead in the digital age? Not yet. bit.ly/2MRCLFj via @CommunicateHlth #HealthLit

 

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