You probably have heard of or come across “one-pagers” with all the types of business documents out there. Apparently, they can be great when making sales or networking. What is a one-pager exactly, and how can it be useful for entrepreneurs?

Our article will answer those questions and provide three types of one-pagers and tips for creating an excellent one-pager.

What Are One-Pagers?

A one-pager is a single-page business document containing a compact explanation of a brand and its products or services. Because the space is limited, it includes your company’s critical aspects: the vision and mission, value proposition, and so on.

The document’s objectives depend on why it’s created and to whom it’s distributed. For instance, you can send it to the press for news coverage on a new product launch or to the investors to obtain seed funding. It can be great to gain support if you’re working on a social campaign.

Compared to other types of marketing material, what makes one-pagers different is obvious—they’re always on one page and quick to read (approximately 5 minutes). The content is never too detailed but still grabs the reader’s attention.

 One-Pager Formats 

A one-pager comes in different formats and purposes, making its usage highly flexible. Including fact sheets, here are three common types of one-pagers:

Fact Sheets

All general facts about your company and offers are inside a fact sheet. Also known as a white paper, it accentuates technical features, components, solutions, etc., that make up your business processes. 

Because of its formal tone and style of writing, this document isn’t typically made to entice customers. It’s more about bringing awareness of how your solutions can solve their problems. It’s helpful as a pre-sales marketing kit and accompanies other documents like flyers or product launch press releases. 

Fact sheets also work great for business-to-business relations, such as between retailers and wholesalers. If you’re a retailer, pair your fact sheet with retail strategies whose comprehensive guide can be found in our article “Effective Retail Strategies to Boost the Sales of Your Store”!

Sell Sheets

Sell sheets go by many names: sales sheets, product sheets, and sales clicks, but their purpose is all the same: to pique prospects’ interest and get them to purchase your offers. It highlights the advantages of your products and services and why potential customers won’t want to miss them. 

Its sole purpose is to generate sales, as such. Sell sheets are great to help your sales team when approaching prospects. For example, bring sell sheets to trade exhibitions or demo sessions. Other ways include placing a downloadable link-up on your brand’s social media bio or newsletter.

To further maximise your sales process, try building a solid sales funnel with the help of our guide in “All You Need to Know About A Sales Funnel”!

Case Studies

Case studies might be less common depending on your business focus and field, but they’re still great tools to boost sales and conversions. They’re great for emphasising how your company helps clients reach their goals through real-life situations. 

With that in mind, case studies employ showing rather than bringing awareness (fact sheets) or selling (sell sheets). This means putting projects, numbers, success stories, achievements, and so on.

For instance, software companies can detail a client’s implementation project. Or, in cases like EWOR, which provides entrepreneur education, alumni milestones are often shared.

Why Are One-Pagers Useful in Business and for Entrepreneurs?

Entrepreneurs constantly network to expand their business presence. Carrying as much information as possible makes that process more efficient. Rather than telling your listener that you can come back to them later, having a one-pager handy is faster and more practical. Whether printed in advance or stored digitally, on-the-go entrepreneurs will feel more confident when approaching their audience.

Though, there are more benefits of one-pagers. We listed them below for you:

They Highlight Your User Selling Points

Unique selling points or propositions (USPs) make your brand “you”. 

You can use the phrase “the best…” all you want, but eventually, it boils down to what distinguishes you from hundreds, even thousands, of competitors. Your USPs don’t have to be the most spectacular, either. It’s all about finding their uniqueness and phrasing it cleverly to boost the impact.

A well-written business one-pager imports the USPs without overusing them throughout the content. Since USPs aren’t permanent, your one-pagers always follow the updated USPs to keep the advertising aspect fresh.

They Clarify and Close Any Gaps

Whatever you want to convey and highlight, one-pagers aim to clarify and close any information gaps.

This benefit works best if you don’t cram much information at once or condense a lengthy draft. Focus on the most relevant topics that match the purpose of the one-pager. Don’t present doubt—identify and clarify probable questions about your company and offers. In turn, doing this allows you to work on improving the information, discovering which parts need improvement.

They Save Your Readers’ Time

Because one-pagers are designed to fit important information on only one page, they are time-saving and allow readers to learn what you’re about quickly.

What Makes Great One-Pagers?

In general, most one-pagers are structured in a particular manner. We can always expect them to include the following information:

• Company’s name and logo (tagline optional)
• Company’s contact information (address, phone number, etc.)
• A brief description of the company
• Products and services
• Statistics

We’ve compiled the five best tips to help you make a fantastic one-pager.

Make a Design That Stands Out

One-pagers don’t have to be plain. 

It’s not about creating the most innovative art but paying attention to how you present the information in your one-pager. This means thinking about the layout, colour, fonts, graphics, etc., that aid the visual aspects, helping readers respond to and process information better, as stated in this article from Thermopylae Sciences and Technology. They further elaborate that visual information accounts for up to 90% of the data transferred to our brain.

Don’t go overboard with visuals, though. The document grabs attention but doesn’t give your readers a headache. More importantly, the design should display your brand identity in one look.

Clear Communication Is Essential

Your readers should know what they’ll read from the document title. Stick to compact and descriptive wordings. 

It’s a business document, so ensure that the tone is formal. Aim for simple language, even if your readers are experts in their field and understand specific jargon. 

Another key is to maintain conciseness by using fewer filler words and phrases. Your one-pager isn’t a literary project with flowery or scientific language. It’s a one-page document, so there shouldn’t be any room for wordy passages or data. 

Showcasing your brand and expertise through compact yet impactful delivery leaves a lasting impression on your readers.

Provide Further Directions to Your Readers

Your readers already read everything presented in the document, and then what? Don’t let them go away. Give them further directions.

By the end of their reading, intrigued prospects know what kind of action they must do. Make it clear that they can reach you or your team effortlessly. 

Put all social media accounts, registration forms, landing pages, microsites, customer services, consultants, etc., on your one-pager. Alternatively, attaching a business card also works great when approaching your audience in person.

Follow Your Company Style Guide, if Any

A style guide or style sheet is a guiding document that provides established standards for a company whenever they plan to publish content (written and audiovisual). Those standards include tone, voice, font, graphics, and more, depending on the content.

A style guide for your business documents helps maintain content and brand image. It ensures everyone who interacts with your brand has a uniform experience. The last thing you want is to send mixed signals to them; consulting your style guide before publishing any content helps avoid that.

A style guide doesn’t have to be complicated as long as all the standards are listed and updated accordingly. The most important thing is to ensure everyone on the team is well-informed and has access to it.

Conclusion

A single-page business document gives detailed yet compact information about your company and its products or services. A one-pager is a critical part of your marketing tool kit. 

There are many variations of one-pagers, such as fact sheets, sell sheets, and case studies. Fact sheets spread brand awareness, while sell sheets target sales and case studies showcase data. Any one-pager is helpful for entrepreneurs as it highlights USPs. It closes information gaps and quickly clarifies to readers what your business is all about.

A fantastic one-pager comes from the combination of eye-catching design and clear communication. Don’t forget to provide further directions to your readers. After all, you don’t want them to leave afterwards! As a final note, it is helpful to establish a brand style before creating a one-pager. This ensures your content and brand image are reflected in all steps.