When deciding on using a marketing tool two questions need to be answered. How effective is it and how much does it cost?
We know that leaflet distribution is effective as it’s been used by the most successful businesses in London for decades. But how much does leaflet distribution cost?
Introduction
Leaflet distribution costs are calculated on a per 1000 basis.
The average cost to deliver a 1000 leaflets in an A5 format in London is approximately £48+VAT.
In general the accepted minimum drop is 5000 leaflets.
However there is more that goes into the cost of a leaflet distribution campaign than just the per 1000 delivery cost.
Let’s have a look at this in more detail and discuss the individual elements that will impact your costs.
Solo Delivery 5000 leaflets (minimum) £425+VAT
Learn more about us and our services here.
| Service | Number of leaflets | Cost | Is VAT applicable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared Delivery | 1000 leaflets | £48 | +VAT |
| Shared Delivery | 5000 leaflets (minimum) | £240 | +VAT |
| Solo Delivery | 1000 leaflets | £85 | +VAT |
| Flyer design | £200-£400 | Depending | |
| 5000 leaflets (170gsm, A5) | £149 | no VAT | |
| 25,000 leaflets (170gsm, A5) | £581 | no VAT |
How are your flyers delivered?
The way your flyers are distributed will have an impact on the cost of your campaign.
The two most common types of deliveries are Solus and Shared.
Solus delivery cost
Solus distribution means that your leaflets will be the only leaflets being delivered through each door that day by us. Find out more about how the deliveries themselves work here.
The costs for this kind of delivery tend to be higher as the distributor is fully devoted to delivering only your leaflets.
Solus distribution will run you £85 per 1000 leaflets +VAT.
How much does shared leaflet distribution cost?
This is in contrast to the more common Shared distribution where your leaflets are delivered together with one or two other non-competing clients.
This means that if you are a real estate agent your leaflets will be delivered together with a local restaurant and a high quality hair dresser for example.
This allows us to minimise some of the distribution cost and spread it over multiple clients.
Shared distribution will run you £48 per thousand leaflets +VAT.
In a place like London shared leaflet distribution is mostly recommended as many marketing materials and post get delivered through each door every day.
This means that even if your leaflets were delivered on their own they will be laying on the doormat with other letters and flyers.
At that point it makes no difference if your leaflet was delivered as a part of a shared leaflet distribution drop or not.
How much does the format of your leaflet
affect distribution cost?
When you are printing and delivering a single page 200gsm, A5 leaflet the costs will most likely correspond with the above mentioned numbers.
Sometimes you might want to deliver a larger A4 gatefold leaflet, booklets or folded menus.
Any extra complications like larger size, folds or multiple pages will have an impact on the cost of distribution as well as production and print.
There are specific instances where a more unusual format can be beneficial. However we mostly recommend sticking to the good old A5 leaflet on high quality paper.
It is the most robust and rugged format in use. Even if we take every precaution a multi page leaflet can result in some damage to the flyer/brochure while delivering.
Many letterboxes in London are not of the ideal size or construction.
Many homes have rusted metal letterboxes, overly tight springs and other issues that don’t negatively affect the delivery of an A5 leaflet but can have an impact on a gate fold A4 flyer.
Design
Design is an incredibly important part of your campaign planning.
It doesn’t matter how well you plan your drops, targeting and timing. If your flyers do not deliver your message clearly your campaign will likely fail.
A good quality custom leaflet design made by a professional will cost you somewhere between £200-£400.
Given the fact that you can keep using this design for as many campaigns and deliveries as you want this tends to be money well spent.
Professionally designed flyers will also considerably increase the effectiveness of your drops.
In many instances a single extra client gained due to the quality of your flyer design can cover the whole design cost for you.
When you are delivering tens of thousands of leaflets as most companies do this benefit only multiplies.
Your flyer delivery company should be able to help you whether you are looking to design your flyer from scratch or just to tweak your existing flyer.
At The Private Postman we have designers that can help you with either. We can also offer you free feedback on your existing design if we believe there are elements that you should improve.
You can then take this to your own designer or make the changes yourself.
How much do leaflets cost to print
If you want to deliver flyers you must first print them.
We’ve already discussed how the format you choose for your flyers will heavily impact the cost of production.
Let’s have a look at the costs for printing a regular 170gsm, A5, double sided flyer to establish a baseline.
The print of 5,000 flyers of this type will cost you £149.
The more flyers you print the less you will pay per unit. To print 25,000 of the same flyer will cost you £581
This is a 22% lower price per leaflet compared to printing only 5000.
Should you print larger quantities then?
Depending on your plans it might be worth it for you to consider printing larger quantities for a few drops in one go instead of multiple smaller print jobs.
A good leaflet distribution company will be willing to store your flyers free of charge if you explain the situation to them.
Storing your flyers for an extra couple of months is a non-issue for a professional distributor with a warehouse.
If you have a good relationship with your distribution company, also ask them for their printing contacts.
Most distributors will be able to get you a considerably better price for print than you will be able to get on your own. Distribution companies tend to have good relationships with UK printing houses and have better leverage than you on your own.
It is also worth pointing out that in the UK we do not pay VAT on the printing of flyers.
Campaign example
Here is an example of the costs for a common campaign that a local business might run in their London area.
| Service | Number of leaflets | Cost | Is VAT applicable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leaflet design | £250 | depending | |
| 25,000 A5, 170gsm leaflets | £581 | no VAT | |
| Shared Delivery | 25,000 leaflets | £1200 | +VAT |
| CAMPAIGN TOTAL | £2031 |
B2B flyer delivery cost
B2B flyer deliveries tend to work differently to residential door drops.
Due to the fact that business addresses are spread out differently to residential homes, the time required to deliver the same amount of leaflets differs quite a bit.
The distributor will also often present themselves to the manager or receptionist while making each delivery.
As such costs for B2B flyer distribution work on a per day/per person basis.
You can expect to pay £120+VAT per person to deliver your leaflets per day.
Here is a good article about B2B advertising if you are interested in this topic.
Extra charges and what to look out for
A good professional flyer distribution company will not hide extra charges for their services to you.
You can expect some charges to apply if you need your flyers picked up from your location. However beyond that all you should be paying for is distribution itself.
Your quoted price should include storage, GPS tracking and delivery updates as well as delivery iteself. These are intrinsic parts of the service that you shouldn’t accept separate charges for.
Always check that this is the case and look out for companies trying to charge you for things like GPS tracking. A good reputable company will not do this.
We hope that this summary of leaflet distribution costs in London has been helpful. If you have any questions or if you’d like to book a campaign with us please feel free to get in touch here.
