Brochures are also known as pamphlets and are more expensive to print. A brochure is generally a standard-size sheet of paper that has been folded lengthwise two times to create four panels (bi-fold) or folded three times to create six panels (tri-fold). Brochures are more complicated to print because each panel has its own margins, its own photos and its own headlines. Businesses create millions of brochures each year and sometimes copywriters are even hired to just write brochure text.

Brochures are opposite of flyers in the throw-away category: they're created especially to be kept and referred to again and again. They're handed out at the end of sales presentations, as take-away information at trade shows and they're displayed in racks at banks, doctors' offices and cash registers.
It's expected that only people that are interested in learning more about a product will pick up a brochure.

The purpose of a brochure is
• To follow up after an initial sales contact.
• To give more-detailed information than a flyer.
• Brochures are used in direct mail campaigns as the follow-up to a postcard that was mailed out to generate interest.