Introduction
Targeting, timing and accuracy of your campaigns are all very important elements of leaflet distribution.
However, no matter how much time you spend on the execution of your campaign, all of your efforts will be in vain if your flyers are not informative and don’t clearly communicate your message.
A flyer that is not well thought-through will inevitably bring you disappointing results.
Leaflet distribution is used widely all over London by businesses of all sizes and it can be a great tool. But only flyers that clearly communicate key information about your business and services will make an impact.
Today we’re going to discuss how you can make your leaflets informative and effective.
Table of Contents
- What are you advertising and what is your goal?
- Keep things simple
- Divide your leaflets into a few sections
- Consider using discount codes
- Discuss all elements with your distribution partner
What are you advertising and what is your goal?
Before you even start working on your leaflet you want to make sure that you know exactly what you are trying to achieve with your efforts.
You can break down different types of leaflet distribution campaigns based on their goals into these categories.
Developing Mindshare
Developing local mindshare in your London area is something that flyers are excellent at. One of the ultimate advantages of leaflets is that they can be delivered through every single door in your selected area.
This means that every household will receive your flyers no matter the demographics. If the household has a letterbox your flyers will make their way through it.
The point of developing mindshare is that when people need the kind of service you’re offering, your company will be the first on their minds.
You can make your clients go from “I need a plumber” to “Company X are the local plumbers to talk to. I’ve seen their advertising a few times this year.”
If you want your campaign to focus on developing mindshare in your area you want to tailor your flyer to this goal.
There is no need to include any discount codes. You want to communicate basic information about your business in a clear form.
Make sure to include your contact details but there is no need for hard-selling. You want to use an attractive, clean design informing people of the fact that you cover their area.
Keep things simple and informative.
You also want to make sure to plan multiple drops of your flyers in each area for mind-share-building campaigns. You can keep 3-6 week rest periods between each drop while targeting the same households multiple times.
A good reputable flyer delivery company should be able to advise you on how this is done and handle all the logistics for you.
Here is a blog article dedicated to repeated drops with more information on this technique.
Informing people of a new service or location opening
If you are opening a new business or a new branch of your business in a particular location, you might want to inform all the locals of this fact.
The same would apply if you are now offering a new service that is in particular demand.
Examples of this would include a new restaurant opening or a local gym starting to offer new yoga classes.
The goal here again is to share information. You want everyone locally to know that a new Italian restaurant is moving in or that yoga classes are now being offered in a gym they pass every day on their way from work.
You can include some discount codes but you can keep these fairly conservative. These types of campaigns have a lot of overlap with mind-share-building campaigns as they are very focused on delivering new information rather than aggressively activating as many clients at any cost.
If you are opening a new location or introducing a new service to an existing business you might want to consider augmenting your leaflet distribution efforts with some social media ads or other offline marketing methods.
Trying to get as many clients through the door as possible
Sometimes the goal is simply to get as many clients through the door as possible.
Different businesses might have different reasons at different times for needing customers to come through the door without a large focus on the profitability of each client.
Maybe your services tend to grow through word-of-mouth or maybe you make most of your profit after your first sale through long-term memberships.
Either way, if your goal is to get as many customers through the door as possible you want to be aggressive with your discount codes.
As you are not looking to maximise the profitability of each interaction you can really lean into offering large savings to your first-time clients.
You can also include referral discounts. This can be particularly useful for afterschool clubs where people recommending your services to friends can be of great benefit.
Reactivating your area
You might also simply be looking to reactivate an area where you’ve already advertised. Maybe you’re happy with the types of clients you are getting and the cost structure that is available to your new clients.
You might simply be looking to put some fuel on the fire of an already functioning local business and advertising.
This could be the case for a local restaurant that does food delivery. Covering their delivery radius a few times a year with images of their food and a simple QR code that takes their clients to their delivery app of choice could be enough.
In this case, you want to keep things simple and repeatable. Focus on simply reminding people of your services or products and make it very easy to make an order.
The QR code that carries you to a delivery app is a good example of how you can make things very easy for your customers.
You should not be trying to do more than two things from the above list with a single leaflet. In most instances focusing your flyers on one of these goals at a time is enough.
Keep things simple (Format, Content, Design)
A fundamental rule of leaflet design is that you want to keep everything simple.
Your leaflets should be printed on a single page A5 paper unless there is a particularly good reason for a different format.
One side of your flyer should be dedicated to an image that clearly communicates what your services and business are about. The back of your leaflet should include all the relevant information you are trying to communicate.
Keep text to a minimum. Always keep in mind the main goal of your campaign and focus everything contained in your leaflet on this goal.
If you are advertising the fact that your existing gym is opening new yoga lessons, focus on that. Use an image of people doing yoga on the front side and describe this new service on the back of your flyer.
Don’t get into the details of your other classes. You can include a list of what else is available for the members of your gym but do not get into your kettlebell instructor’s credentials. They are irrelevant for this particular leaflet campaign you are running.
Always remember that the basic information on your flyers should be legible from 5-8 feet away.
Focus on the ‘strapline’
Using a clear strapline that communicates what you are advertising can help with this. Ideally you should be able to deliver the fundamental information you want your potential clients to get in a single sentence.
This sentence should be printed in large letters at the top of your leaflet. It will be visible from a distance and make it very clear to all recipients of your flyers what you are advertising.
Divide your leaflets into a few sections
It is a good idea to divide your flyers into sections. One half of your flyer can include basic information about the service you offer and the other half can include your credentials. The bottom of the page can focus on contact information.
You want to avoid a situation where all of your text on the flyer is presented as one section. You want to visually separate the different elements to make it very easy for people to navigate your flyer.
Use bullet points where appropriate.
It is important to realise that people are not likely to spend more than a second or two on your flyer if it is unclear what you are advertising.
Structuring information correctly can really help people understand what you’re trying to communicate.
Consider using discount codes
In many cases, flyer campaigns can benefit from including discount codes. You can use them to track the success rates of your campaigns in different areas (use different codes in different parts of London and keep track of numbers of each coming back) or simply to incentivise people to try your services.
However, keep in mind what we’ve discussed in the first part of this blog. Discount codes are not always useful and should be used only if they fit with the fundamental goal of your campaign.
Discuss all elements with your distribution partner
The most valuable asset you can have in leaflet distribution is a good flyer delivery company you can communicate with.
Make sure that you can talk to people in your distribution company and that they can offer you advice on what you are trying to do. Some companies have automated their systems to a point where it can be a challenge to speak to anyone.
You need to be able to ask questions about your campaigns and get feedback on your flyer designs and plans. Find a company that has real experts on staff who can help you and advise you on the details of your campaigns and give you examples of other types of campaigns that might be relevant to you.
