Advertising

Leaflet or Magazine Advertising

Advertising, Direct Mail, Leaflet Distribution, , ,

You have come to a point where you want to promote your business and are wondering what form of advertising to go for. Nowadays, there are numerous options available, from the Internet to print, but when you are a small business the first two ways that come to mind are most likely leaflets or an ad in a local magazine. So the question beckons leaflet or magazine advertising?

Both means of promotion work well on a local scale; however, when you consider all the pros and cons in more detail, leaflets turn out to be the most efficient strategy. Here are five key reasons why leaflet distribution is more effective than a local magazine advert.

  1. COST-EFFECTIVENESS

No doubt about it, for the price of the same size (A5) advert, usually a full page in local magazines, you can have twice as many leaflets printed. Leaflet distribution is a very affordable way of getting your name out to the wider public, and let’s be honest, when you’re a small business you don’t have a £1million+ marketing budget, do you?

  1. PERFECTLY TARGETTED AUDIENCE

When it comes to leaflet drops, we’re able to hand pick the most responsive areas for your campaign. We look closely at demographic and geographic factors and plan your distribution to ensure your leaflets go to those most likely to be interested in your services. We are even able to skip particular streets, to give you a fully tailored service. By contrast, with a local magazine you are not able to target specific areas in such detail, rather you are locked into the major areas that their distribution covers – and locked out of others.

  1. FLEXIBILITY

When it comes to designing your leaflet, the sky is the limit. Make it round, square, postcard, folded, DL – you name it, we can produce it. An ad gives you a standardised size scale, without much room to make your business really stand out. The flexibility leaflets provide also means that you can have two different design leaflets going out to various areas as part of the same campaign, whereas with an advert you’d have to pay for two advertising spaces, which would both be distributed to the same areas.

  1. QUICK TO PRODUCE

Had a change of heart? Realised you’ve put a wrong telephone number? With leaflet distribution we’re able to stop your campaign and quickly print a new batch, so you can always be sure that the right materials are going out. Unfortunately, with an ad, once it’s signed off to print you can’t call it back to update your artwork or copy.

  1. CONVENIENT

What’s easier to quickly fold and put into your pocket or bag? The answer is simple. Leaflets have the advantage that they can be easily stored for future reference, something a magazine doesn’t have. They are also a fantastic way of presenting your offer to the potential customer in a concise and direct way, whereas in a mag your ad might go unnoticed amongst a sea of others, thus producing no results but significantly draining your budget.

Next time you face an advertising decision-making moment bear in mind the features described above. Leaflet or magazine advertising is a big decision, these are only five of them, but in our opinion they are the most important aspects, particularly for small businesses. Affordable, well-targeted, flexible, quick to produce and convenient means are the most efficient and fruitful media to help you grow your company. Having over 9 years’ extensive experience we’re always here to help you promote your brand, so get in touch today to see how we can work together to achieve your business objectives.

We hope you got some value from this article, five reasons why leaflet or magazine advertising. If so leave your comments below.

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How To Have a Memorable Leafleting Campaign

Advertising, Leaflet Distribution, Marketing Strategy, , ,

Today I am going to share with you five secrets to make your direct marketing leafleting campaign memorable.

Breaking the mould and capturing people’s attention with your direct marketing campaign is not easily done. But with the right idea, design and strategy, your mailing can have a huge impact. All businesses crave a memorable leafleting campaign.

1. Think laterally to capture the imagination of your target audience

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Successful direct marketing is about making your mailing stand out and the most effective way to do that is by capturing the imagination of your readers. People get used to seeing the same thing, it’s boring. If you give them something they are not familiar with they are more likely to want more.
However, don’t go overboard. It’s not about shocking people. But at the same time you need to think about an arresting way to engage them with the right image, the first thing they’ll notice about your mailing and strapline. And the best way to do this isn’t always by making your direct marketing directly relevant to your product or service.

Think laterally, ask your readers a question, and tell them something surprising. One of the most successful campaigns I’ve ever worked on for a carpet cleaning company asked readers: ‘What does your carpet tell you about you?’ The response, as people glanced guiltily down at their floors, was overwhelming.

2. Sell the feeling that the product or service will give

The most important thing to remember when working out your strategy is to focus on your target audience. How will they benefit from the product or service that you’re offering?
Drone on about the features of your product or service and they’ll soon lose interest. But tell them how good it will make them feel and they’ll want to know more.

An example I often refer to when explaining this concept is selling plane tickets. People don’t care about the features of the plane they’ll be travelling on. They’re sold by the lure of a holiday of a lifetime or of being reunited with friends and family.

So the best agencies will not only take the time to understand what your business does, but will think about your product or service from the point of view of your target audience. What’s the benefit for them? That’s what you should be selling if you want a memorable leafleting campaign.

3. Research your target audience thoroughly

You can blow the budget by having a beautifully glossy leaflet with a captivating image and strapline. But if you don’t know anything about the people you’re targeting you could be throwing your money away.

I once worked on a campaign for a landscape gardening company who wanted to launch their new tree felling service. Despite my reservations, they went ahead with an incredibly expensive campaign. Unsurprisingly, due to the large amount of flats and social housing in the area it failed miserably.

By contrast, I recently worked on a campaign delivering leaflets in envelopes, the aim was to prove that leaflets delivered this way would be more beneficial to the client, and it was a roaring success. It was a popular, effective and memorable campaign.

In the last four years the door drop market has changed. Advances in mapping technology (which we’ve helped develop) mean you’re able to target very specific sectors of the demographic. So the more you know about your target audience, the more you can focus on what will be memorable for them.

4. Don’t think just in terms of return on investment

Often people keep your leaflet for future reference or even if someone discards your leaflet immediately, they still have to pick it up to do so. They may not read it but you can guarantee that they will glance at it for five seconds, even if they’re not aware they’ve done it. It’s human nature.

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And then, the next time they’re on the high street or searching the internet and see your product, they’ll notice it. Even if they can’t remember where they’ve seen it before.
In this sense, a door drop leafleting campaign is a unique and powerful medium with a huge scope to reach everyone it targets.

The sales benefits of a direct marketing leafleting campaign may not be tangible. I’ve managed campaigns that didn’t get the response rate the client had hoped for. But often shortly afterwards the client has seen a huge boost elsewhere – in internet sales, for example – despite not carrying out any other marketing. This is no coincidence.

The success of a door drop campaign can’t be measured in return on investment alone. The effects are subliminal. So, in a sense, every campaign is successful, whether or not it’s memorable. That’s not to say that the memorable ones don’t have the greatest impact, of course!

5. Have a strategy and think of your leafleting campaign as a taster

The main aim of a leaflet campaign is to give your potential customer a taste of what you’re offering. It’s like an invitation or a recommendation. So if your mailing is memorable, you’ll have tantalised your customer and left them wanting to know more.

Nowadays, people like to research things for themselves, especially online. Pique their interest and they’ll look up your product or service.

A direct marketing campaign should never be just a one off. Most campaigns will be successful if they’re ongoing. It takes two or three attempts for people to start to understand that your product or service is around.

My most successful clients are those who have a budget and a strategy for the year. They make a plan and stick to it. And they’re the ones that conduct the most memorable campaigns and see the best results.

Want to know more about how our technology has revolutionised the door drop market?

email: [email protected]

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Choose Wisely Grasshopper

Advertising, Business Branding, Leaflet Distribution, , , ,

downloadWhen I was younger I would watch a TV show called Kung-Fu, which was full of old Chinese proverbs, it was about a Shaolin monk who was always called Grasshopper by his teachers. I use the following quite regularly in my daily life today and that is; choose wisely.

The following post is exactly why you should choose wisely in your business especially when advertising it. There have always been frauds and scams carried out by unscrupulous people looking to relieve decent law-abiding citizens of their hard-earned cash. But with the introduction of technology, fraud has become easier as far more people can be approached by the fraudsters and scammers.

The telephone has become one of the instruments where the bad people contact their victims with promises of easy wealth.

Many people have been conned by the false promises of money to be made by investing in fine wines, and many people have lost thousands by scammers convincing them to invest their pensions in non-existent financial schemes.

All these corrupt telephone callers sound plausible and convincing, and now they have another weapon they can use to dupe people: The Internet!

The website

Now it is possible for them to design and put up a highly convincing website to draw people into their dodgy schemes.

The opening up of the internet and the comparative ease to design and put a professional looking website up on it has made it simple for people to start their own businesses.

A majority of new businesses launched online are not frauds and scammers and are in fact genuine offerings. However, some don’t have the expertise their websites’ suggest and ultimately don’t have the ability to provide the services they are offering.

The chancer

Among the genuine businesses operating online, there is a group of people who, although are not actually dishonest can cause unsuspecting people as much financial damage as the fraudsters.

These people are looking for a business that, on the surface, seems easy to set up and operate. They then create an attractive looking website selling these services and hope to develop clients and income streams without any real knowledge of the business they have decided to operate.

One of the businesses they try to operate in is leaflet distribution.

They think it is easy

It is easy to see why these chancers think leaflet distribution is an easy business to enter. To them it is just a matter of convincing some small business owners to hire them, then get some leaflets printed, hire a few students or unemployed people to distribute them and then send an invoice. It’s easy, even their grandmother could do it. Only she couldn’t.

Leaflet distribution & door drop marketing is a business that requires management skills and the availability and deployment of modern technology.images

Soon the poor business owner who hired them realises they have been seriously misled. They begin to realise this when no orders or enquiries are forthcoming from their campaign. They also realise their mistake when the so-called distribution company they hired cannot provide proof of any deliveries because they do not have GPS tracking, and have been using inexperienced and untrustworthy people to deliver the leaflets.

It is not long before they realise they have wasted their marketing budget; their money.

This is what a chancer, a person looking for a quick buck, can do to a business: it can do lasting damage. And it can do lasting damage to our industry too.

How many of the people who have fallen foul to the imposters, offering cheap prices, posing as door drop experts are left with the belief that leaflet distribution does not work?

So what should business owners beware of when they are faced with a glamorous website promising them the earth?

What to look for & choose wisely

You should ask the people behind the site what they are really offering.

Does their blog only have one or two posts from months, even years ago?
Is the content on their website well written and informative?
Do they have any reviews or case studies from previous clients?
Do they monitor the leaflet distribution using the latest GPS technology?
Do they supply a detailed report of the distribution including dates and GPS logs of the delivery?
Do they provide a complete leaflet design service and do they offer examples of work they have done?

Choose wisely with Hallway Distribution not only offer every capability listed above but we also offer expert advice to help you get the best results from your leafleting campaign. This includes the best time and the best place for launching a marketing campaign, how to present your business with the design of the leaflet, what material to print it on and much more.

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Door To Door Marketing Techniques

Advertising, Leaflet Distribution, Marketing Strategy, , , ,

Door to door marketing can be intimidating, but it also offers a lot of benefits as a strategy for building your business. The chance to directly engage with potential customers and pitch your offerings in person brings a connection with your audience that commercial advertising can’t match. Understanding some basic marketing techniques can help beginners make the most of these interactions.

Location Is Key

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A key part of any door to door marketing campaign is picking the right neighborhoods to canvas. If you already have a database of previous customers, the neighborhoods or post codes that show up most frequently are good places to start. If you’re the local ice cream parlor, for example, walking around the neighborhoods within walking distance or a short drive away and handing out coupons for a free small cone at the beginning of summer can be a great way of either introducing yourself or reminding folks that you’re there at the start of your biggest sales period.

Hone Your Pitch

A successful transaction rarely is as simple as knocking on the door of the fortunate customer who already needs what you’re selling. You’ll have a very short amount of time to convince the resident to patronize your business, and many times the best way to do so is to sell a larger idea rather than your specific product. Someone might not think they need a pest control service, but if you ask them if they want to protect their home from termites it might resonate. Use whatever strengths you have if you’re naturally funny, start with a joke, for example. But whatever you do, make sure you’re focused on the customer and their wants and needs.

Make Materials Count

If you’re going door to door marketing to promote your local business, the fact that nobody answers when you knock doesn’t mean your marketing work is over it just means your prospective customer will have to read about what you have to offer instead of listening to you say it via a leaflet. As you are working your script to present in person, don’t neglect the brochures or other marketing material that you’ll leave behind if nobody’s there. Make sure they catch the eye, that they include a call to action or incentive to become a customer and that they’re placed somewhere hard to miss, like hanging from a doorknob or placed in the mailbox.

Set Realistic Goals

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Doing door to door marketing isn’t going to make you a millionaire over night. Be realistic about your expectations and also be realistic with any canvassers you hire to go door to door for you. It can be a frustrating job with a lot of rejection, and it’s only worse if someone goes in expecting nothing but credit card numbers and referrals. Whatever your business is, and wherever it is located, you should be able to find out an expected response rate to serve as a benchmark. Use that as an initial guide to determine whether your own efforts are effective, and adjust as necessary if you fall below that threshold.

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Supercharging Your Business

Advertising, Business Branding, , , ,

imagesThe following are some of the best ways for super charging your business, no matter what kind of business you are in.

  1. “Same-Old” is out

    Getting attention with something new is in. To get new business, you must strive to be innovative and dramatic. For example, an insurance agency, offered “the biggest steak dinner in town” if it couldn’t save any person money on their car insurance. This challenge was enough to make the telephone start ringing off the hook for days at a time. The customer flow was “absolutely crazy” for days.  The bottom line: dozens of new insurance buyers and tons of new cash flow and all they had to do was fork out the cost for a half dozen steak dinners!

  1. Tight target marketing.

    The big job in marketing and sales is getting to the right people inside another company. Addressing mail to “Facilities Manager” or printing a “routing slip” on the outside of the envelope is ineffective. Hitting the target is the challenge. Scoring a bull’s eye means making contact with the right individuals and is the only way to make the sale. Taking time to be highly targeted in business communication is essential.

  1. Be more creative.

    Pushing direct-mail pieces out the door or sending the newsletter to the mail room isn’t doing the job. Ask yourself: “Will anyone be intrigued enough to read the mailer before tossing it in the wastebasket?” Ask the same question about the company newsletter. A highly creative approach is necessary to be different and distinctive. Creativity costs money. But, if more people read the ad, take time with the newsletter or decide that the offer in a mailer makes sense, you have accomplished the goal.

  1. Focus on what customers care about.

    imagesAfter listening to the admissions director talk about what should be shown in the school’s new recruiting video, the marketing consultant asked, “Is this what parents and prospective students are interested in knowing?” Suddenly, everyone became less confident. Someone suggested asking the student tour guides what questions the visiting parents and kids asked? Whether creating an ad, a brochure, or a sales presentation, knowing what the customer wants, needs and expects is what works.

  1. Tell customers how to think about your company.

    We come to conclusions by making comparisons. If you don’t let customers and prospects know why it is in their best interests to do business with you or buy your product, they won’t. The rating of life insurance companies makes an impact on customers. The J.D. Powers’ customer-satisfaction survey on cars and personal computer manufacturers influences buying behavior. Wise companies spend time and effort consciously influencing the way they are perceived by customers, prospects, bankers and stockholders.

  1. When supercharging your business make your offers outstanding.

    Customers are cautious. They don’t like being put on the spot; they don’t want to make a mistake. This is why offers are essential. “Try it for 30 days free.” “We won’t deposit your credit card slip for a month.” “Your satisfaction is guaranteed.” “Take the car for the weekend and drive it all you want.” The goal is to overcome the customer’s reluctance.

  1. Be in the right place at the right time.

    “Why didn’t I think of you last week when we bought the new…” Some salespeople simply shrug off such comments. Oh, well. I can’t be in the right place every time.” Wrong. Being in front of the customer is today’s assignment. Developing a consistent program for staying in front of customers regularly is the challenge. A mix of seminars, newsletters, bulletins, fact sheets, special events and informative articles will keep you in the customers’ minds.

  1. Be relentless when supercharging your business.

    Persistence is power in marketing and sales. Far too many firms fail in their efforts because they don’t follow through long enough to produce proper results. Marketing momentum comes from a consistent effort. Once you start a newsletter, issue it on schedule. It takes time for customers to comprehend what you are doing and for prospects to get acquainted and comfortable with a business.

  1. Get rid of the self-serving nonsense.

    Most company publications, ads, letters, brochures, and other sales materials are filled with words, photographs and information that do nothing more than toot the company’s horn. No one cares that the business says it is the “best,” “oldest” or the “biggest.” Pictures of the staff are only interesting to the staff. A better approach is to ask prospects what they want to know about your company. We doubt anyone will be anxious to see pictures of the CEO, chairman of the board or the executive vice president.

  1. Tell them everything you know.

    Spill the beans, so to speak. Since today’s customers want information, knowledge and helpful ideas, do everything you can to share everything you know. This is the only way to become a valued resource to your customers. When people use your ideas, they will buy what you sell.

  1. Be generous.

    No one wants to do business with firms operating on a one-way street. Buy a new car and the dealer hands you a 20-cent plastic key holder! It sends a message that this dealer doesn’t under-stand his customers. You may forget the car, but you will never forget the lousy key ring! Another auto dealer delivers the new car to your office. What a difference. This dealer sends a powerful message our customers are important.

  1. Make prospect identification your mission

    imagesThe single most important daily activity in any business is prospect identification. By making prospecting a continuing process, companies produce a steady flow of new sales leads. They never stop asking, “Who do we want to do business with if we have the chance?” Then make sure all prospects are entered into a database so they can be cultivated over a period of time.

  1. Scrutinise your corporate identity.

    Yes, how a company presents itself makes a difference. Is the logo appropriate? Is it dated? Does it communicate the right message and the correct image? Is the president the only one who understands it? What about the company colours? Are they reminiscent of the late ’70s? Do the letterhead, mailing labels and business cards convey a strong, positive message? Or, are they dull and ordinary looking? If you don’t think this is important, your competitors will be thrilled. Corporate identity is the face you put on your company.

  1. Write customer-centered letters.

    Most business letters have cold, impersonal words. “As per our conversation,” “Pursuant to our agreement.” When was the last time you heard anyone talk this way at lunch (other than perhaps a lawyer)? Yet, give the same executives a pen and they become stilted. There is no reason why business letters should not be warm, friendly, conversational, interesting and customer-centered. Write as if you were the one reading it. Should a letter end at the bottom of the first page? Yes, if that’s what it takes to tell the story? But it may take two, four or six pages. A letter should be as long as necessary and always interesting to the reader.

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Print vs Digital

Advertising, Direct Mail, Leaflet Distribution, ,

We now have the scientific proof. Print is better than digital for advertising.

Despite the enormous migration to electronic media, neuroscience research shows that paper-based content and ads offer special advantages in connecting with our brains.

HImage result for print vs digital imagesow many times over the years have we have been told print is dead?

Ceefax (remember that?) was going to kill newspapers and videos were going to replace colour brochures. Now both theories were confined to history while print carried on.

But then the digital world exploded onto the scene. It did at the time, look as though print had met its nemesis.

Marketing people began turning to electronic mail and the internet to sell their products and services. Some even openly disparaging print as old-fashioned and doomed. However, some of the savvy marketers continued to use print to sell products because they believed it still worked and worked better than digital.

Now science has proved us right.

What we found the print vs digital facts

So, what is the scientific community telling us about printed messages being more effective than digital ones?

A study by a Canadian neuromarketing firm, True Impact, compared the effects of digital media in the form of display ads and email against a direct mail piece.

To carry out this test, the firm used two technologies. These two technologies were a high-resolution EEG that measured brain waves and eye-tracking techniques.

The critical metrics evaluated in this study were attention, persuasiveness and ease of understanding. In all three cases, the direct mail piece was found to be easier to process and proved to be better for brand recall mentally.

Those participants exposed to the direct mail piece had recall 70% higher than those exposed to the digital advert.

Now we cannot expect a mass exodus from digital marketing to direct mail and door drop leaflets. However it does prove that print-based advertising still has a significant part to play in the marketing plans of advertising managers across the land. And we cannot expect digital marketing to disappear either. The print vs digital argument will roll though.

The future is going to be print and digital working together.

Image result for print vs digital images

Any good direct mail piece or door drop leaflet must also have an online presence.

Despite the popularity of print in getting a sales message across, many people feel comfortable ordering from a website, and print can drive this valuable traffic to an online order or enquiry form.

However, a printed leaflet can only work if it has been carefully constructed. It must be well written, designed and printed by people who know their craft.

Hallway Distribution can not only advise on where to distribute your printed marketing leaflets, we also provide copywriting, and a design service all of the highest quality.

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Marketing Via Leaflet Drops

Advertising, Leaflet Distribution, Marketing Strategy, , , , , ,

Many businesses depend on marketing via leaflet drops as their primary strategy for bringing in new clients. We at Hallway Leaflet Distribution not only help entrepreneurs and businesses to get their leaflets through doors but we help them use the proven “direct-response marketing techniques” that have helped many other businesses to succeed.

Marketing via leaflet drops is a very powerful strategy when used correctly. It should give you the facility to bring in new business at a rate that is chosen by you! The control that you will have over your leaflet distribution campaign should give you the flexibility to scale up (or scale down) the influx of new clients as you require it. Very few marketing techniques or strategies have this flexibility.

To make a profit from your distribution campaign is absolutely paramount. To put thousands of leaflets through doors in the belief that you are successfully raising your companies profile (but not actually making any money), with the hope that people will “eventually” decide to use you when the time is right, is unfortunately one of the biggest mistakes you can make with leaflets.  The techniques I can show you to maximise your results from leaflet distribution will be focused on gaining an immediate targeted response from ‘ideal’ clients you want to work for (i.e. filtering out time wasters)!

The following guidelines for designing your distribution campaign outlined here are not business specific but have been proven to work for many different types of businesses.

See The Bigger Picture

Marketing Objectives

Decide exactly what you wish to gain from your leaflet campaign. Workout all your costs and how much revenue you need to make for it to be successful. For example, consider: How many leads will you need from the campaign?  What is your conversion rate?  What is your average job value?  What is your cost of sales? You need to consider what information you will need to know to establish whether you are making money, breaking even, or losing money. Tracking the origin of client inquiries is absolutely essential for monitoring the success of your campaign.

Design Campaign

Design your leaflet campaign to meet your marketing objectives. Consider also the types of client you’re hoping to attract and the demographics of target areas. It is always worth thinking who your ideal clients are (i.e age, income, home owner, geographical area etc), have a look at your existing client database if you are unsure. If you are unsure as to which geographical areas will be suitable for your business then contact us for further information. Your leaflets will probably get an excellent response in some areas and a very poor response in others. Careful planning as to where your leaflets are dropped will always improve your response.

Tracking

Ensure that you have a robust system of tracking PROFIT from your campaign and assessing whether marketing objectives have been met. It is a fact of life that certain types of marketing strategies will not work for certain types of companies.  Leaflet distribution is no different, and if you are not making money you need to know straight away. Effective tracking is the only way to do this.

Designing Your Leaflet

USP

What is your Unique Selling Proposition?  This will be a reason why clients will choose you over your competitors and should be something that you convey in your literature. A USP can be anything from being ‘the cheapest’, ‘the best quality’, ‘the fastest’, ‘the most thorough’ or anything that gives your business an edge. If you tell people why you are different you will attract the sort of clients who want to use your service. For example, if you are selling a product which is of the finest quality or of high value you need to tell people that specifically because those are the types of people you trying to attract. If you don’t mention this fact, and you only attract people who are seeking the cheapest product on the marketplace, then you will have failed to pre-select your ideal customers using your leaflet.

Services/Features Versus Benefits

A typical flier design that many people use is: company name at the top, a list of the services provided in the middle, followed by a phone number at the bottom. Unfortunately, this type of design will do nothing to convey to your prospect clients why they should choose you as opposed to your competitors. You must convey the benefits of using your service. If you are not absolutely clear what benefits your clients are looking for then ask them! Try to build as much ‘value’ into your product as possible. If a client doesn’t perceive the ‘extra’ value you offer them over your competitors their decision to buy will be based entirely on price comparison. If you are selling a product on price alone, working with the thinnest possible margin, the only route to success is to sell MASSIVE volume. Selling high-volume is not as easy as some people might lead you to believe, and is certainly much harder than building value into a product or service (which is consequently sold at a higher price!).

Objections

If your clients typically have objections to using your kind of service then it is important to raise them and explain why they will not be a problem if they choose your company. If you do not tackle your client’s main concerns head-on they may decide not to use you. It is in your interests to raise these issues (assuming that you have a very convincing argument as to why your company can overcome these objections).

Using Text

Don’t be afraid of putting lots of text in your leaflet.  If you were going to use a new company you had never used before (and spend hundreds of pounds with them) wouldn’t you want to spend five minutes reading about them to know that they were a good company? People will read it! The design process is NEVER about designing the most beautiful flyer; it’s ALWAYS about getting people to pick up the phone and call you. Don’t fall into the trap of asking your friends and colleagues (who may know nothing about direct response marketing techniques) what they think of your newly designed flyer only to get put off by their comments that they think you have inserted too much text and that it doesn’t ‘look attractive’.

Image Based Marketing

Many companies make the mistake of trying to get “brand recognition”. Unless you are a huge national company with massive marketing clout you will struggle to achieve this.  Smaller companies need to focus on getting a direct response from their marketing. If your initial leaflet design concept revolves around your company logo and some nice looking pictures don’t be surprised if you get virtually no calls from your campaign. It might work for multinational companies with millions of pounds to spend on developing their brand awareness, but “pound for pound” will almost never be the most effective way for you to spend your money.

Specific Design Mechanisms

Heading & Subheading

Putting your company name at the top of the flyer is a wasted opportunity. You need a catchy hook to get them to look at the rest of the flyer. A good heading might include your foremost USP, a guarantee, or special offer for example.

Make Them An Offer They Can’t Refuse

Don’t just tell them what service you provide, make them a fantastic offer that they must take you up on before a specific deadline. Build the offer up with a story if you can. Make it believable, giving them a reason why this offer is a one-off offer and if they don’t take you up on it they will miss out for good!

Vouchers

Put a voucher in your leaflet is a great way to market via leaflet drops. It is a fantastic mechanism to get people to keep your leaflet and gives it real value.  Make sure your voucher has a dotted line around the outside and has a very bold deadline to it. A deadline is absolutely essential for getting clients to call you straight away.

Testimonials

Proof from satisfied clients of yours will be the best advertisement you will ever have. A good testimonial will probably have a client stressing a particular benefit or overcoming a potential ‘objection’ to using your service.

Guarantee

If you guarantee an aspect of your service it will give a prospect client confidence in you. A guarantee can be anything from a moneyback guarantee, a lowest price guarantee, guaranteed timelines, 100% satisfaction guarantee, or quality guarantee for example.

Website

A leaflet gives you a limited amount of space to convey to your prospect client why they should use you.  If you have an excellent web site which markets your company really well it is important to direct your clients to it from your leaflet.  Don’t forget to give a reason to go to your web site, perhaps you are giving away special offers or consumer information for example, or maybe they can book or order on-line. There are specific things that you can do with your web site such that it will run alongside your leaflet campaign, and make it more effective. If you are not experienced with maximising the potential of your web site please get in touch with us as we have some of the best contacts in the industry who are able to advise you in how to fully exploit this medium.

Contact Information

The way you present your contact information on a flyer will affect your response. You should always have a contact address on a leaflet (even if you’re not local to the area you are dropping the flyers in). Rogue tradespeople don’t have addresses on their flyers and prospect clients know this! Consider also the type of phone number you’re using.

You may get more calls if you use the local area code for the area you are dropping the leaflets in, even if your office is not from that area. People like to use local companies and will be attracted to the local number as a consequence. These days obtaining a ‘local telephone number’ for an area that is then rooted through to your main office is VERY cheap to do. You should also consider having a freephone number that people can call (some people will call an 0800 number but will not want to pay the expense of paying for a local rate call!). Never put your mobile number as a main contact number.

Most people will not want to spend their money on expensive mobile charges, and besides it won’t help you to look professional. If you do not have someone to take calls in office hours it is very straightforward to have your business landline number diverted to your mobile phone or a remote messaging centre to take your calls whilst you are out (or indeed do both together!).

Professional Bodies

If your company belongs to any reputable (but relevant) trade bodies it is a very good idea to include this information in your leaflet. A logo with a brief explanation of why it is beneficial for a prospect client to choose a company who is a member of this body is all that is required.

Testing Your Leaflet

Once you have got together a design you’re happy with don’t forget to test your leaflet. It is recommended when conducting tests to use a reasonable sample size (at least 10,000 leaflets) otherwise the statistics you gain will be very difficult to analyse, or worse – probably meaningless. The best way to improve your leaflet, once you have something that works, is to conduct an “A-B” test using two different flyers to ascertain which one is the most effective. There are specific ways too conduct this type of test however if it is to be truly representative. The only way I would recommend doing this test is to systematically mix two equal numbers of Leaflets A with Leaflets B and distribute them to the same area on the same day (remembering to deliver to a reasonable sample size). As long as each distinct flyer has a separate reference number which is tracked when clients call (or some other way of easily distinguishing them) you will have enough information to know which leaflet is the most effective. Marketing via leaflet drops need to be tested this way.

Whilst all the above will help you maximise the response from your marketing campaign don’t fall into paralysis by analysis.  The only way to be successful is to act (and actually put something out!). So good luck with your marketing campaign and don’t forget we are always here to help.

Graphic Design & Printing

Hallway Distribution is a specialist door-to-door distribution company.  We do however have a large amount of experience working with graphic designers and printers to ensure that our client’s promotional material not only looks great but is also delivered on time and to specification! If you are at that initial stage of planning your campaign and you want to save a couple of days time trying to find a good printer or designer then call us. We have some of the best contacts in the industry, which will probably save you hundreds of pounds, plus a great deal of stress! I should also stress that we receive no commission from recommending you to other businesses, the gain for us is the more successful you become through leaflet distribution the more successful we become! Good business is about developing good relationships!

How Can I Make My Business REALLY Successful?

Learning how to run a successful business is no different to learning how to make (for example) your leaflet distribution campaign successful, in that it is all about getting the right information. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, all the good information is out there, you just need to seek the right sort of success information for your business. If you need pointing in the right direction then get in touch and let me know, with some of the many marketing and business development contacts I have developed over the years I have no doubt that I will be able to put you in touch with people who can help.

Check out more advertising tips right here.

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Discover Leafleting Benefits

Advertising, Leaflet Distribution, Marketing Strategy, , , , , ,

What are the exact benefits of a local leaflet distribution campaign, is it right for your business?

leaflet-advertising-imgWhilst the 21st Century digital world offers a wealth of modern marketing techniques that can deliver healthy returns on investment and a great cost per conversion, for local businesses particularly, “old school” leaflet and flyer distribution is still popular and can yield impressive results.  In fact, done well, there are few techniques, online or offline, that are as effective.

This form of direct marketing, also known as leafleting or door to door marketing is simple, affordable and effective at bringing in new customers and boosting sales.  It involves delivering unaddressed flyers to homes in the local area. If you offer a service locally, such as takeaway food, window cleaning or a taxi service, leaflet distribution is an ideal way to spread the word about your business. When it comes to launching a new venture, such as a shop or restaurant, this type of advertising is particularly effective.  If, on the other hand, your business is already established in the area, leafleting can be used to advertise a future event or promotion, or to deliver money off coupons to incentivise your target audience to buy now rather than later in a drive to boost sales.

In addition, you can select delivery areas to ensure you are reaching your target market, such as families or affluent consumers, and unlike TV or radio advertising, you can also have confidence that your advertisement will be seen.  By choosing leaflet advertising you are leaving nothing to chance. You’re not reliant on your prospective customers buying a newspaper, listening to the radio, checking the Yellow Pages, or doing an online search. You’ve put your business message on the doormat of the people that you most want to see it; they will need to pick it up and so inevitably, it will be seen.

Advertising campaigns based on leaflet distribution aren’t for everyone, but if you are a business owner managing a local business of any size there is compelling evidence to suggest that there are big rewards to be had here.

So, what makes an effective leafleting campaign?

  1. Eye catching design
  2. Clear message
  3. Professionally printed
  4. A call to action
  5. Targeted distribution
  6. Measurement of the response

Creating and Printing your door drop

In the past, poor-quality leaflets and flyers have given leafleting a bad name.  To make your leaflet or flyer stand out, good design and professional printing are essential. The creativity of your campaign will have a significant impact on the level of response.  Of course, the good news is that leaflets and flyers offer a great deal of creative freedom, restricted only by the size of the letter box, the look shape and weight of your leaflet or flyer are all up to you.  You can use more than one creative design or have different versions of the same leaflet if you are targeting different groups of people.  On the doormat, your leaflet will be competing with other door drops, post and newspapers. Your challenge is to create a flyer that captures the attention of the recipient and avoid it going straight into the recycling box!  Even if it just gets glanced at by a prospective customer as they pick it up from the doormat, a well-designed leaflet will grab their attention sufficiently to create an interest in your business and develop an almost subconscious respect for it, such that even if they do not require your services personally, they may mention your business to family members, friends or colleagues that do.  A printing company will be able to guide you as to what is possible and what isn’t from a creativity point of view.

A call to action

Your marketing message should be clear, with a call to action. Offers and coupons work well as an incentive and are likely to be kept and used.

Leaflet distribution

Distribution is a vital part of the whole campaign, and there are several ways to deliver your flyers. Many small-business owners pound the pavements themselves or pay casual staff to do the delivery. If you use outside leaflet distributors, ensure you employ trustworthy people who will deliver every leaflet to every house in a way that reflects well on your business.

If you are sending out large numbers of leaflets, there are specialist door-drop delivery companies that provide a professional service. The Royal Mail also offers a service whereby it delivers flyers with the post to specific postcode areas.

Leafleting is generally seen as a blanket-marketing method. However, as mentioned above you can take a targeted approach to your door drops and improve response levels. Study your local area and assess which streets are most likely to have residents that fit your target market.

Also for effective targeting, consider the timing of your campaign.  Could the sales of your product or service be affected by the seasons or a particular time of the year? For example, the Landlord of a local pub may wish to offer a Christmas party menu throughout December and the New Year period and may decide to use a leafleting campaign to promote it.  However, timing will be key here as distributing too early may cause the leaflet to be viewed as irrelevant and put in the bin and distributing too late may miss opportunities if prospective customers have been organised and already booked their Christmas Party meal.

Measuring the response to your campaign

Leaflet distribution gives you full control over where you advertise, making it easier to accurately gauge performance and success.  It’s a good idea to use a promotion or coupon to help you track response to your leafleting activity. Give different campaigns or delivery areas unique promotional codes or coupons so you can compare and measure the results.

Like other direct marketing techniques, leafleting is a numbers game and the bottom line is cost per response. Once you have calculated this, you can roll out the most successful creative approaches to the most responsive areas.

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Why Does Your Leaflet Advertising Fail

Advertising, Leaflet Distribution, Marketing Strategy, , , ,

In my dealings with small business owners, I have discovered something very interesting: Leaflet advertising almost NEVER works for them. As you can imagine, since I own a leaflet advertising / marketing company that I grew from nothing using direct mail marketing, this comes as a huge shock to me.

It seems that, contrary to what has been proven over and over by thousands of other business owners, leaflet advertising actually doesn’t produce new customers, leads or revenue! I hope you can sense my sarcasm there.
Now, I will grant that not all marketing works for everybody. That’s a fact, too. But the truth is, marketing does work and it can work for you if you do it correctly.

Below are the 3 of the most common reasons why marketing hasn’t worked for you:

You don’t target your ideal market
You don’t communicate clearly
You give up

Now, please notice that they all start with “You”. There’s a reason for that. If you take care of the points above, you will have a change of heart — and revenue. The key is to find the marketing channel that works the best for your business and industry. However, if you commit the marketing sins above, even the best marketing will fall flat. That’s just the way it goes.

So let’s talk about how to avoid them. For each problem, I’ll lay out how you can solve it with direct marketing.

Problem: You don’t target your ideal market
Solution: Ask for a targeted mailing list based on the demographics of your current best customers.

For every business there is a smaller segment of the greater population that is more likely to need, want or respond to that business’s marketing. So, say you are a lawn care company. The people most likely to respond to you are those who can afford to have someone else do the work and those who live in a free standing home. Even more specifically, you can assess your current customer list to get most common income level and home value. The key is to find who that is for your business, then ask to target those people.

Problem: You don’t communicate clearly
Solution: Use proven copywriting and graphic design techniques to deliver your message with clarity.

If your prospect doesn’t grasp the point of your advertisement in the first fraction of a second, you’ve lost them. That means you need to read through your copy and take out anything that would slow down the reader’s understanding of the message. Be clear and to-the-point. Then, match that text with an image that supports the message. Atention, Interest, Desire, Action!

Problem: You give up
Solution: DON’T!

Think about leaflets in terms of television commercials. Do you ever see a commercial just once? The answer is no, because even if you have, you wouldn’t remember it! Repetition is the key to establishing yourself in the mind of the prospect, building credibility and being remembered. If you aren’t committed to marketing, it just won’t work for you, so don’t bother. However, if you are committed, go ahead and plan for more business!
Once you’ve corrected these mistakes, there is nothing standing between you and a significant increase in new customers.

For help putting together a successful leaflet marketing campaign get in touch with us here at Hallway Distribution.

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Make Leaflets Connect With Your Audience

Advertising, Leaflet Distribution, , , ,

Interacting with your audience is paramount when it comes to creating a strong, long lasting relationship with them.

As Gloucestershire’s leading leaflet distributor, we have seen a great rise in bright colours, witty slogans and attractive leaflet layouts to help catch the wandering eyes of target audiences, but what can you do to stand out from the crowd and make leaflets connect? How about exercising various degrees of interactions between you and your audience?

imagesIncluding your audience in your leaflets can help to keep their interests and spike their curiosity, it can help you transform your leaflet from simply informative to exciting and audience friendly, helping you create a strong, long lasting relationship you can be proud of.

Questions

Asking questions in your leaflets can spark thoughts and ideas in your audience. You can make these subtle questions such as ‘Ever thought of…’ or you can make them stand out from the rest of your content such as ‘Did you know…’. Of course you don’t want to interrogate your audience with copious amounts of questions which could make them feel inadequate if they don’t know the answer. Spacing your questions out allows you to give your audience information rather than question their knowledge. This careful balance will help you to keep your audience’s interest when reading your leaflet.

Surveys

One of the main ways of ensuring interaction with your audience is by tagging on a survey or questionnaire to the foot of your leaflet. If this is your first time producing a leaflet, a simple survey asking your audience what they think can spark an interest in your leaflet, thus allowing your leaflet to reach more people and keeping your audience interested in what you have to say.

Features

Including a small feature section, perhaps highlighting members of your business who’ve achieved something amazing, or even loyal audience members of your business, not only directly interacts with your audience, but will also help to spur on word of your business with the potential to be featured in your leaflets.

It’s not all about style and looks, though these initially capture interest; creating a long lasting leaflet is also about what you include and how you address your audience and how your leaflets are broadcasted. For more information on these key points to make leaflets connect get in touch with us here at Hallway Distribution.

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