Tag Archives: leaflet design

Creating Leaflets That Get Results

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Leaflet distribution has a very successful track record as a marketing tool if done right. If you want to promote your services and attract fresh leads into your business, creating leaflets that get results is a very important factor in the process.

Despite the evidence to the contrary, many people still claim that leaflet distribution does not work and is just a waste of time and money.

imagesHowever, in most of these cases it is not the distribution that is letting them down, but their leaflet itself. If the leaflet is wrong, then nothing will save their campaign and they end up out of pocket, disillusioned and disappointed.

Many businesses both large and small use door to door leaflets to launch their enterprises and they continue to use them to win new clients or to establish their company brand in the eyes of their target market.

There are many factors involved with creating great leaflet designs that work.

Below are 20 things you should consider when creating leaflets that get results.

Headline

Your headline copy must be immediately engaging. It must give your prospect a compelling reason to keep on reading.

A boring headline will just get your leaflet confined to the waste bin.

Captions

Are your captions as compelling as your headline?

Captions underneath illustrations are the next most read part of your copy after your headline. Do they send out a strong selling message?

Your Contact Details

Make sure your prospect knows exactly how to contact you.

Make sure you give them every opportunity to contact you. Give them your address, your e-mail address, your telephone number or numbers and your website address.

And check the details are correct. Check them twice, call the numbers to be sure. You cannot afford to lose a sale.

Call To Action

Have you told your prospect what they must do? Your call to action (CTA) must give them clear instruction on how and when they should respond. Leave them in no doubt what they need to do next.

One Big Thing

Is the message on your leaflet focussed on one thing? If your message wanders from the main point you are trying to make, you will confuse the reader and lose their interest. Stick to the point; don’t waffle.

Images

Are your images relevant? Do they accurately portray what your product or service will do for the prospect? Images put on just for decoration are a distraction, a waste of space and money.

What’s in it for me?

Your sales message must tell your reader of the benefits of your product and how will improve their lives. It must convince them your offer is specifically designed to help them. They are only interested in themselves, nobody else.

Offer

Your offer must a compelling offer that your reader cannot refuse. It should be placed it the start of your copy and if possible you should repeat it next to your call to action.

Deadline

Does your sales message contain a deadline to encourage your prospect to respond before a certain date? Does it tell them what they will gain if they respond before a certain date?

Creating urgency on your leaflet will ensure it’s not just put in a draw with the intention of dealing with it later.

Double sided

Are you using a double sided leaflet? Remember you must use both sides to their full advantage. Do not waste money by filling the second side with irrelevant information.

Does each side stand alone?

Each side of your leaflet must be able to sell your product as if it were a single sided leaflet. You cannot afford to waste space.

Accuracy

It is vital you check all of the details on your leaflet. Then double check it and check it again. Nothing will turn your prospect off than a stupid typo, or an incorrect contact detail.

Angle

Have you approached your sales message from the right angle? Do your headline and copy tell your reader exactly what you are offering? BE CLEAR!

Measurable

Do you have a plan in place for tracking your responses? It is important you know how many replies you get from your leaflet. This information will help you plan your next campaign.

Clarity

Have you read your leaflet over and over again to make sure your offer is clear and concise, leaving your prospect in no doubt about what you are offering?

Personality

Your leaflet and the message it carries must reflect the personality of you and your business. This will make your prospect more inclined to respond than a cold impersonal message.

You: We Ratio

It has been proved that sales message with “you” / “your” or “yours” in the text get better responses than “I” or “we”. Using “you” and its derivatives lets the reader know you are focussing your offer on them.

Logo

hallway-distribution-logo (2)If you are placing your logo on your leaflet, make sure it is placed at the bottom. Do not place at the top so it dominates your message and distracts the reader from what it is you’re offering.

Social Proof

If you have good and positive testimonials from satisfied customers, then make sure you include some of them on your leaflet. An accolade from a happy customer will increase your response rate.

Is your leaflet easy on the eye?

Is it easy to follow and do the colours add to its readability rather than clash with the eye? If possible get someone not involved with your business to read your leaflet and get their opinion on its readability.

If you need assistance with creating leaflets, why not contact the Hallway Distribution design team today and get all the advice and help you will need.

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Is email Marketing Slowly Dying

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If the question “is email marketing slowly dying”? makes you want to punch the air in delight, I am afraid your joy may be slightly premature. However, there are moves afoot to kerb the number of e-mails the general public and employees receive every working day.

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Many companies and organisations across the globe have become concerned about the time their workers waste by opening and replying to e-mails, and to combat this they have taken steps to prohibit the use of e-mails. In some cases, it was discovered that workers wasted forty percent of their time opening and reading e-mails that added no value to their jobs. Forty percent equates to two wasted days each week.

So what is to be the nemesis of the ubiquitous e-mail?

Various tools have been developed to bridge the “social business gap.” These tools have made it possible for employees to share and access ideas and information across the organisation that employs them. Early results have indicated these programmes have immediately reduced the flow of e-mails by almost twenty percent in some companies.

However, as I said at the top of this article, now is not the time to start celebrating the elimination of the e-mail.

The “social business” apps only benefit enterprises with several hundred or thousands of employees. The self-employed or very small enterprises will still use e-mail. (My theory is that those who work for themselves or a very small organisation have more discipline when it comes to reading e-mails.)

I believe e-mail is a victim of its own success. In the early days, it was a boon to business people, but familiarity has bred contempt.

This is especially true of people who use (or try to use) email marketing for their businesses. Because it is free, they put no value on the messages they send. They believe any slapdash message will do, and send out thousands of e-mails that will be deleted before they are read. This method of marketing adds to the “fog” of e-mail spam that is turning many people off the medium.

Incorporating email with leaflet drops

People who are more experienced in marketing know the value of e-mail. Those who use door drop campaigns will often incorporate their e-mail address in their call to action and will request the e-mail addresses of those prospects who respond.

They also have another advantage over the spammers; they know how to produce a compelling and persuasive sales message.

Because leaflet distribution is not free, they know there is no room for complacency or slapdash writing. Leaflet distributors know the value of a concise and well-written sales message, with an eye-catching headline.

To achieve this they use the skills of good copywriting and graphic design. Everything is gone over with a fine-tooth comb to make sure the leaflet is error free and designed to do the job it was created for, to gather valuable leads.

As soon as the enquiries come through, they may start using e-mail as part of their selling technique, which is by no means a bad idea. But, they will make sure any messages they send to their prospects and customers will be well written.

So an email marketing campaign can be used as a valuable and important asset to a well-written leaflet distribution campaign, and another demonstration of how the channel of letterbox marketing can be used even more effectively by incorporating a derivative of the information superhighway.

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Colour Grabs Attention

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imagesWith leaflet design colour is not always the answer, yes it might look great and stand out from the crowd but black and white leaflets as well as colour grabs attention if done correctly.

Door drop leaflets, like any other form of advertising, depend on being noticed. It is vital that they attract people’s attention.

Of course the message they carry is important, but the message will never be read if the leaflet does not stand out from all the other forms of advertising it is competing with. To achieve this, most door drop leaflets follow the tried and tested method of capturing the prospects attention.

They use bright colours, illustrations and, if their budget allows it, high quality paper. This rule has served door drop leaflets very well, and should be continued. However there is an exception to this rule, and using bright colours and high quality paper can be put aside if the situation demands it.

An example of this exception to the rule of using full colour or black and white leaflets for printing on door drops came to my attention this month.

Here in the United Kingdom we have just held a general election, and for the past few months we have been subjected to relentless electioneering from all the many political parties competing for our votes; and of course most of these political parties have sensibly used door drop leaflets to get their various messages across.

Most of the leaflets I have looked at from the various candidates promoting the benefits to be gained by voting for them have been printed in full colour, with each party featuring their representative or house colour, and I must confess most of them have been very well designed and printed.

However, there was one leaflet that really stood out from all the others, and this leaflet proved that you do not need to print your leaflet in full colour to catch people’s attention.

This particular leaflet was not from a candidate from one of the main political parties, but someone who was standing as an independent, and had no affiliation to any party, and, therefore, no party colour to identify him. His answer was to use just black ink on plain white paper; but it was used in a very effective way.

The candidate, being an independent, had a very limited budget, but in my opinion he used it very well, a good message for little money.

The leaflet consisted of a single A4 sheet printed in black on both sides of reasonable, but not high quality stock. The sheet had been folded down to a third A4. A headline with the word “INDEPENDENT” in large bold upper case was printed white out of a solid black box, with the candidates name and sub heading and some copy beneath.

Once the leaflet was opened it had a clear and concise message on both sides. This stark, almost minimal approach, made this leaflet stand out. Lack of cash should not be a barrier.

stand outThe moral of this tale is that it is possible to produce an outstanding door drop leaflet on a limited budget. With some creative thinking at the design stage, even those with a little amount of cash to spend can have access to a door drop leaflet plan.

For more info on designing your leaflet CLICK HERE

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