How To Use Leaflets/Flyers To Advertise Your Business- An Insider’s Guide.
This article shows you how to use leaflets/flyers to promote your business, service or event, most effectively for maximum results.
All aspects of your door-to-door leaflet delivery campaign are covered- including practical tips and tricks on your plan and strategy, leaflet design and printing, and distribution- to help you take full advantage of this great marketing medium, and take your business to the next level!
Everything here is based on the practical experience of a successful professional leaflet distribution company, helping numerous businesses, service providers and event organisers with all aspects of their leaflet campaigns. This is a professional 'insider’s low-down', if you will, with proven practical advice and short-cuts to success for you to put into action.
As with everything, the best results are achieved by doing things right, and leaflet campaigns are no exception. Get things right, and you've every chance of your campaign proving a real success- gaining immediate new customers and work, and growing your business through increased awareness, branding and trust- but get things wrong, and your campaign is likely to be a flop, and a waste of your time and money! The insights offered here will give you the best chance of making the most of your leaflets, whilst avoiding the many pit-falls.
Using leaflets to promote your business.
Leaflets may be 'old school', but have stood the test of time because they work! Almost all successful businesses use leaflets, and many smaller business rely on them for all their work.
Leaflets offer many unique benefits and features that can make them the most powerful and cost-effective way for you to generate interest and find new customers, some of which are:
Leaflets are highly targeted- allowing you to target specific areas and demographics to reach your best prospects, and focusing your spend where it works best to minimise 'wastage' and maximise cost-effectiveness.
Leaflets allow you to easily and accurately control both the timing of your message and your spend.
Leaflets don't rely on chance, but are a guaranteed way of getting your message to your prospects- literally into their hands- and without the competition associated with most other forms of advertising.
Leaflets offer complete freedom and control over the look, content, and size/length of your 'message'- and let you tell your potential customers everything about how you can help them (such as showcasing your service; displaying case studies; giving price information; opening times; etc).
The physical nature of leaflets offers a personal 'connection' between you and your prospects, and allows your message to be saved until needed, and shared with others.
And the facts speak for themselves:
According to the DMA’s survey*, leaflet distribution remains the most effective form of marketing, with it being noticed and responded to more than web, email, TV, radio, press and poster advertising.
88%** of small companies who have used door drops say they have boosted awareness of their business.
Door drops boost your audience, with 92%** of people reading door drops delivered to their home.
Door drops drive response, with 59%** of people visiting a companies website to find out more, and 67%** of people prompted to make a purchase as a result of receiving them.
Door drops are proven to be read and kept in the home for up to 38 days* on average. Not only do people hold on to leaflets, but many households also have a designated place where they are kept for future reference- a clear indication that they are valued and intended to be referred to at a later date.
What’s more, door drops are revisited up to 3 times on average***; and 20%*** are shared with friends and family, making your marketing go even further.
*DMA’s Annual Door Drop Report 2017
**Royal Mail MartketReach, Illuminas 2014
***JICMAIL, KantarTNS, 2017 Survey
What response-rates can you expect from leaflets?
Before you start, it's important to be realistic about the results you can expect from your leaflet campaign. Having some idea of response-rates will both help prepare you mentally, and help you plan the size and cost of your campaign.
To give you a rough idea, here are some typical ‘real-life’ response-rates that we tend to see in our work with many customers across many sectors.
Pizza companies: the typical response is around 3% or 30 per thousand leaflets- and that's why you get them all the time;)
Restaurants & Take-Aways: typically around 0.4% or 4 per thousand- markedly less than Pizza, but their offering is more expensive and less impulsive.
Trades such as Landscaping/ Roofing / Building: typically around 0.1% or 1 per thousand. Naturally, response rates are far lower for significant and expensive work, but a single job is potentially valuable and enough to cover the cost of a sizeable leaflet campaign.
Estate Agents: approx of 0.1% or 1 enquiry per thousand. Again, this might sound low, but leaflets help establish an estate agent’s all-important awareness and branding, and a single instruction is all that’s needed to cover the cost of your typical town-sized campaign.
Most other services could typically expect a return in the order of 0.2% or 2 per thousand.
Do be aware though, that response-rates are notoriously unpredictable and vary wildly, even when the key factors of leaflet design; offer; seasonality; and demographics are the same, so treat these figures very much as a rule of thumb, and don’t be surprised if yours are very different. We've delivered 10000 leaflets for a roofing company, for example, without a single enquiry, before seeing them get more than 10 enquiries from the next 1000 leaflets; and seen landscapers receive a 3% response (15 times more than above); and had ‘our’ estate agent’s receive over 30 enquiries from 10,000 leaflets (0.3%); and 'our' Pizza companies achieve over 4%; and ‘our’ lawn-care company consistency achieve more than a 1% response.
It is also important to understand that roughly half your calls are likely to be delayed by weeks or months as people will hold on to your leaflet and contact you when they are ready. Appreciate too, the longer-term branding benefits that marketing your business will reap for you at a later time, and the lifetime value of new customers:)
Your leaflet campaign’s plan and strategy.
Before you get going, it’s important to step-back and consider the 'big picture'- your general plan and strategy.
The key points to consider are:
1. The purpose of your campaign and the message needed to achieve this.
Leaflets can be used for many reasons, including finding new customers and work, generating awareness, building branding and trust, and much more.
Identify the single most important message and focus solely on that- and don’t be tempted to have more than one message as this will only ‘blur’ the lines and reduce impact.
2. Who and where to target, i.e. who are your key prospects, and how to find them.
You will know your target market, i.e. who your best prospects are. If you don’t, then please please please stop everything now and focus on this before doing anything else! Your whole business model should revolve around your target market, with ‘everything’ structured to meet their needs as best as possible, and provide maximum value- so you absolutely must have a clear picture of your target market before starting any marketing or promotion!
To target your market as effectively as possible, try to think where your typical customer is most likely to live, so try to pin-point the likely neighbourhoods, the most likely properties and the roads etc; and if unsure, why not study- and ask- your current customers. Here are a few examples:
You sell children’s products- and will be trying to ‘find’ young families. Most young families are likely to reside in 2-4 bedroom properties, perhaps near schools and often in newer housing estates. Conversely, they are unlikely to live in smaller flats or 1-bed properties; bungalows typically housing the retired; or the biggest properties typically owned by more mature families.
You’re a tree-surgeon looking to grow your business locally. You’ll probably be best to start with your immediate local area (see below*), and will want to focus on properties with outside gardens with trees and foliage (the ‘greener’ parts) and exclude properties with no outside space such as flats and back-to-back properties.
If your product is one that appeals to everyone equally- irrespective of age, income or property- and cannot be targeted as such, then you are probably best to start your campaign as locally as possible, on the basis that those customers are more likely to use your local service, and will be quicker, easier and cheaper for you to service.
Knowing where to find your prospects will pay big dividends- helping you both maximise your leaflet’s response, and minimising your spend by focusing delivery where it works best- so your time establishing this will be very well spent!
3. When and how often to target.
The following factors will help you decide on the timing and rate of your delivery.
Certain factors may dictate the timing of your campaign for you, such as the seasonality of your product or service, or having a specific deadline for an event, lesson timetable, or shop sale etc.
Consider how many enquiries you can cope with at one time, or how many new customers you can take on, then use the likely response rates (see earlier) to give you an idea of how many leaflets, and at what delivery rate you would need to meet your target. (If for example, you have a cleaning company looking for an additional 10 jobs per week, at a typical response rate of 2 per thousand, this should require in the order of 5000 leaflets to be delivered a week.)
Deciding whether you are best to target a larger area once or a smaller area a number of times is a common issue. Generally speaking, leaflets work best when delivered regularly (as this builds confidence and trust in your business) so regular leaflet deliveries smaller areas are usually more effective than fewer deliveries to larger areas. Indeed, second and subsequent deliveries to an area typically outperform the first delivery- so don’t automatically give-up after a disappointing first delivery, and don’t only focus on the immediate work gained, but remember the important longer-term benefits that reap reward later on.
Don’t forget to factor in the design, printing and delivery booking and execution times into your schedule. Most printers will typically require a week to print your leaflets, and professional leaflet distributors often have a 1 or 2 ‘lead/booking’ time before they can start, and may only be able to deliver a few thousand leaflets a week to your areas.
Designing a leaflet that works.
When creating your leaflet it's important to consider the following key points.
Before you start writing, first consider your 'message'. What is the purpose of your leaflet and how do you want people to respond? Is it to sell an existing service, promote a new offer, or tell people about a new product or service, for example; and do you want people to ring you now, visit your store, or check your website? Focus on one single goal and make your message as direct, clear and simple as possible.
Consider the style, size, and paper to use for your leaflet. The most common leaflet are A5 size in 130g-250g weight paper, and A6 size in 200-400g card, but many options are available with varying prices, so it’s wise to first check what’s available with your local printer or over the internet (such as onlineprinters.co.uk that we use).
It’s best to use both sides of the leaflet, as printing costs are only slightly higher for twice the effective advertising space, and printing on both sides prevents your leaflet landing blank-side up (and reduce your response-rate).
Try to include an offer. An offer, such as a discount or free item/service, can really boost the response- and you can’t have an offer without a deadline, so don’t forget to include that too. The shorter the deadline, generally the better, but don’t forget to allow time for your leaflets to be printed and delivered.
When writing your ‘copy’, consider the marketing mnemonic AIDA:
Your leaflet must first grab the Attention. And it must work fast- because you only have 2 or 3 seconds until it’s too late and in the bin! Start with an attention-grabbing headline, which can be your offer or a key benefit of your service- but NOT your business name.
You must then get their Interest. A good picture, such as a relevant before-and-after picture is a great way to create interest. Unless you are using a before-and-after picture, be aware that a single larger picture generally has more impact and effect than multiple smaller pictures.
Create Desire. Tell them how your product or service will benefit them- Make them want it!
Have a call to Action. Don’t forget to ‘Ask for Action- And Now! So, instead of just listing your telephone number, a carpet cleaning company might say ‘Call Us Now For New Looking Carpets At Half-Price!’
Designing leaflets is tricky, so if things still aren’t clear, here’s another approach:
Start with a Problem. What problem are you solving for your customers? House sale? Blocked gutters? Lose weight? Whatever your customers problem, relate to this and state it right at the top of your leaflet to grab their attention.
Agitate. Once you’ve established the problem and have your customers attention, agitate it for greater impact- has your house been on the market a long time? Is the leaking from your gutters and ruining your walls? Are you fed up with feeling lethargic and low on energy? You’re just emphasising the problem they already have, so that you can offer a..
Solution. Now tell your customer how wonderful your business is and how they need you. Once you’ve stated this, always, always, always! Have an…
Offer. Give your customers a reason to respond to your leaflet- ideally now- or at least to hang on to it, and thus improve the chance of it being used later or passed on to someone else. Be creative. Anything goes- as long as your offer is relevant- whether it’s a limited-time discount or free introduction or sample; and be as generous as you can- considering the life-time value of a potential new customer might help you reconsider, and improve, your offer.
Credibility. Do you have happy customers- then show off! Do you have high ratings on google, trustpilot or freeindex? People love recommendations and credibility. Consider adding who you currently work with, photos of previous jobs or clients, etc.
Close. Finally and equally importantly, go for the close- contact us now, call us now, email us today. It’s amazing how, by simply asking for a call, the customer will call you!
Designing your leaflet can be a little daunting, but if you bear in mind that, first and foremost, good copy is engaging, easily understandable and genuinely persuasive, then you should be just fine- but if you're still not quite sure, feel free to send us an image of your ideas via www.the-extra-mile.co.uk and we'd be happy to take a look and offer feedback.
Printing your leaflets.
If advice and assistance with your printing requirements or leaflet design is important to you, then your local printers are likely to provide the help you need. If instead, you don’t need such a personal service, then be sure you check a few online printers too, as they can be significantly cheaper and faster. One online printers offering excellent quality, service and value- which we thoroughly recommend- is onlineprinters.co.uk.
A great way to save money on your printing (and delivery) is to share your leaflet with another business by having one side each, and to split the cost- so why not suggest a shared leaflet with other local businesses. This works especially well with complementary businesses and services, such as a carpet cleaner sharing with a general cleaning or oven cleaning service, or a tree-surgeon with a gardener, and so on.
When printing your leaflets, be aware that there is a large ‘economy of scale’ with printing costs, as a large proportion of the cost is setting-up the print run. If you are considering multiple individual deliveries/campaigns at different times therefore, try to have all your leaflets printed together rather than individually.
Delivering your leaflets.
Once you have your leaflets, they need delivering- and you’ve 3 options:
Delivering yourself and/or using family & friends.
Using a professional leaflet distribution service, including The Royal Mail.
Whoever you choose to deliver your leaflets, be aware that it’s important to choose wisely, as who and how your leaflets are delivered will reflect directly on your business- for better or for worse- and can strongly impact your response rates and cost of your campaign.
1. Delivering yourself
If you’re just starting-out then you will probably begin by delivering your own leaflets, as you’ll probably have some free time and will want to save money. Delivering your own leaflets also overcomes the key problem with using someone else part- i.e. trust, and the certainty of your leaflets being delivered- and (depending on your business) may offer the opportunity to knock on doors to introduce yourself and your business, and find customers.
Be prepared for some hard work though, as delivering leaflets is arduous and time-consuming. The time it takes to deliver leaflets varies widely- based on your speed, local knowledge, and property types- but you can expect to take approx 8-12 hours to deliver 1000 leaflets.
How your leaflet is delivered has a huge affect on its response/effectiveness, and here are some good practices- which very few professional companies even use!- that will significantly improve your results:
Ensure that your leaflets are pushed fully through the letterbox without anything hanging out, which looks unprofessional, annoys the home-owner, and only gets wet and damaged in bad weather.
Try to ensure that the leaflet reaches the home-owner in perfect undamaged condition, and try to have it land face-side up and facing the home-owner when it lands.
Post your leaflets through the letterboxes in flats, not left on the bottom step; and deliver to the houses with the long drives. These types of properties are avoided by many companies, meaning less competition and a better chance for you. (We hardly ever see others delivering leaflets in the widely spaced properties, but almost always see others in new estates or terraced-properties.)
Respect the property and owner by not taking short-cuts over lawns, closing gates etc, or delivering at unsociable times including Sundays; and be friendly and polite to the owner.
It might sound odd, but adopting these practices should at least double the response-rate of your leaflets- effectively bringing in twice the work for the same cost; or, were you to halve the area but achieve the same response, halving the cost of your campaign!
To help delivering your leaflets, family and friends that you trust will naturally be the first to call on. Another great way to reduce your workload- and save money- is to double-up with another business. Either you could offer to deliver another business’ leaflets with yours, and reciprocate, or you could suggest sharing a leaflet and taking one side each, and splitting the printing costs too. Whoever does help you, make sure that they also appreciate the importance of proper delivery, and that they also follow the above bullet-points wherever possible.
Once you become more established and busier however, you will want to focus your time on the more productive and income-producing parts of your business; and your time will be far more valuable than the approx. £5 an hour it costs to effectively replace your leaflet delivery activity with outsourced help. A good reliable and cost-effective leaflet distributor is potentially a valuable asset to your business, yet this rests on your being able to trust them, and not be duped by the many unscrupulous ‘operators’ out there!
2. Finding a good reliable leaflet distribution company to help deliver your leaflets.
Unfortunately, the leaflet distribution industry has it’s fair share of the dishonest, and you’ve likely heard stories of others paying big sums up-front only to receive no calls, or even of leaflets binned or dumped. Despite the risks though, a quality reliable leaflet distributor can be a great asset to your business- helping you capitalise on what could prove to be one of your most effective ways to find customers and grow your business- and finding one should be important enough to do your best to overcome these concerns. There are good companies out there- and the following considerations will help you find a quality service, and limit your risk and avoid ‘getting burnt’.
How many leaflets are delivered together?
Most professional leaflet delivery companies will offer you the option of a ‘solus’ delivery- i.e. your leaflet delivered on its own- or a shared delivery, with your leaflet delivered together with other leaflets (sometimes as many as 5 or 6). As a rule of thumb, the fewer the leaflets delivered together, the higher the response-rate you can expect- with a solus delivery considered the ‘gold-standard’- but this comes at a cost of course, with the fewer the leaflets, the higher the charge.
Our own tests have shown that delivering 2 or 3 leaflets together has a negligible detrimental impact on response-rate, but that response-rates tail-off quickly when 4 or more leaflets are delivered together- and it is our opinion, backed by experience, that delivering 3 leaflets together is the ‘sweet-spot’ to offer greatest response and value. We would therefore urge you to be cautious of having your leaflet delivered with too many other leaflets, and to avoid the temptation of saving a few pounds- the cost may be a little less but your responses will be a lot less, and the service offered by these companies is likely to be poor too (as their motivation is likely greed, not your results).
A solos delivery typically appeals to businesses offering a premium, high-end product or service; and offers- in theory- the benefit of undivided attention from your prospecst, without distraction. Do bear in mind however, that should anyone- including the Royal Mail- precede or follow your solus delivery, that the benefits of your solus delivery are then likely to be lost, in that despite your best efforts, your leaflet will still be seen amongst others. With this in mind, unless cost is not really a factor, and the benefits of a minority of your leaflets being seen on their own are significant, we would suggest a shared delivery to be your best option.
Bearing the above in mind, be sure to ask prospective distribution companies how many other leaflets yours will be delivered with. The typical poor quality company that deliveries numerous leaflets together is unlikely to volunteer this information, so do ask. We would also urge you to check that your leaflet will not be delivered alongside a competitor’s, which would naturally ‘dilute’ your response rates.
Which leaflets are delivered with yours?
It is also worth noting that we have found that the leaflets delivered together can impact each other, and it is for this reason that we avoid delivering fast-food leaflets as our experience has shown that they tend to reduce the response of the other leaflets, but are keen to deliver the more community-focused leaflets, such as local events or clubs, which tend to improve response. For this reason, it is also worth asking if they can tell you which other leaflets a company is likely to deliver alongside yours, and you can decide whether you think that would be good or bad thing.
Expect to pay from £40- £70 per thousand leaflets.
As with everything, you tend to get what you pay for, so if a delivery company looks too cheap, you’re unlikely to receive a great service. Cost-cutting may just mean your leaflets don’t make it up the stairs in flats, or reach the slowest properties to deliver to, or that the staff take the most direct routes over lawns etc; or it may mean that your leaflet is delivered with numerous other leaflets. However the ‘corners are cut’ though, please be aware that the quality of service will have a direct impact on your response rates, and that money saved this way could well prove a false economy.
Being aware that it typically takes in the order of 10 hours to deliver to 1000 properties, in addition to the admin, organising and driving, will give you a good idea of whether the costs offered seem feasible, factoring at least minimal wages for the delivery staff.
How the leaflets are delivered.
It is also worth noting that the way leaflets are delivered is just- if not more- important as the number delivered, such that 3 leaflets, for example, delivered ‘properly’ to a high standard could easily outperform a single leaflet delivered poorly. We would therefore urge you to ask the open question of how you deliver your leaflets to prospective companies and hear what they say- that should give you a pretty good idea, and please refer to the tips in ‘1. Delivering yourself’ above for some pointers.
Be wary of paying cash up-front.
Be wary of anyone asking for payment up-front, especially the first time they work for you. They should be confident that you will be satisfied with their service, and happy to invoice you on completion- and someone asking for cash up-front should sound the alarm bells.
Carry out your own checks.
Once you have found help with your deliveries, try to carry out your own checks on their delivery where possible, such as asking friends, family or customers in those areas to keep an eye out for your leaflet beforehand, and to let you know if and when it’s received. Also keep an eye out yourself for any of your leaflets hanging out of people’s doors, or left on the stairs in flats etc (see the above bullet-points on good practices) which indicate poor service.
It is also important to try your best to monitor the response from all your marketing methods, to allow you to focus your budget as effectively as possible, so always ask how the new customer found you.
GPS Trackers and reviews.
Many companies use GPS trackers to ‘prove’ delivery, and some even base their whole business around their use. It does require a bit of a leap-of-faith to trust a delivery company with your leaflets, and any evidence/proof is important, but just be aware that GPS trackers are not infallible, as some would have you believe- they ‘probably’ show where someone has been, but did they deliver your leaflet when there?
At the end of the day, you are looking for people you can trust and there's really no substitute for a good chat or, better still, face-to-face meeting, and for you to use your own judgement of character- and referring to some of the points and warnings in this article should put you in a strong position from which to make that judgement.
Reviews are also very important, so spend a few minutes checking reviews (particularly Google’s) to see what previous/current customers think of the delivery company.
First and foremost, you're looking for an honest & reliable co. you can trust. You can get a good idea of this from the moment you first call them to enquire- if they're not in, you'll want them to return your call quickly . Let's face it, if they're slow in getting back to you about your enquiry, be aware that- just like most other industries- they're bound to be slower once they've secured your work!pay attention to how easy they are to contact
Further tips.
Since many companies avoid delivering to the more isolated properties and those with long drives, if you see someone delivering to those kind of properties, why not have a word with them to see if they have the attitude to match. The same goes for someone following good practice, such as not crossing lawns, seeming to post properly- they too could be the people you’re looking for!
Once you have chosen a leaflet delivery company, it is wise- and fair to the company- to wait until a few thousand leaflets have been delivered before you make a judgement. This quantity should be enough to give you some idea of how good a job they are doing.
There is much more we could add here, but we’re guessing that this has already been more than enough for most people, and that you’re one of the few to have made it this far- so a huge thank you for reading this full article, that we hope has been of help to you.