A wide range of companies and businesses both large and small use leaflet distribution because it works. They range from the giant multinationals such as Virgin Media down to small one man businesses.

Many of these businesses have used the medium of leaflet distribution to build healthy profitable enterprises. However, a large number of the smaller concerns often fall at the first hurdle.

The reason for this is so many people hoping to start a small business fall into the trap of believing door drop leaflets are a cheap alternative to other forms of advertising, and this is because at first glance it looks so easy.

No planning or money.

How many people who have decided to venture into the world of say, garden and tree maintenance, think they can launch their business on next to nothing?

They get a few cheap leaflets poorly designed, printed and distribute them themselves. When they receive no replies they get discouraged and give up. They are among the many that do not realise that to set up a business however small, demands some planning and most of all some investment into a marketing strategy.

Having a couple of hundred cheap leaflets poorly designed, printed and delivering them by hand in the blind hope someone will respond is guaranteed to fail. They do not realise the aim of distributing leaflets is not just to get a few odd jobs but to collect customers. Customers who will keep coming back to them time after time.

To achieve this, they need to make and draw up a proper marketing plan and strategy ideally in conjunction with a media specialist. It does not need to be an official business plan but some financial considerations should be incorporated to ensure the strategy can be afforded and how it can be made to work.

The leaflet.

Single A5 colour leaflets printed on coloured stock was often the norm for leaflet campaigns in the 80’s and 90’s. However in this day and age with full colour being so affordable a striking and eye catching leaflet can be produced very cost effectively.

Success is all in the copy.

An effective leaflet will have a good punchy stand out headline and well written copy listing the benefits the reader will enjoy taking advantage of. Some quality relevant pics but not overloaded with visuals and a persuasive CTA (Call to Action) to encourage the reader to take the next step and make contact.

Most people expect to see a web or mailing address on leaflets and a postal address will show that the business is properly established. It is easy to set up a simple webpage free of charge. This page should contain contact details and an expanded description of the services being offered. It should also contain the location of the business and a page where the visitor can leave their contact details.

More than just a mobile number.

However, if a having web page is not possible the leaflet should display a landline telephone number along with a mobile number. Having just a mobile number and no other contact details does not inspire confidence in prospective customer’s minds.

There is the added disadvantage of the mobile being switched off or out of range when a would-be customer calls. If this happens, it is unlikely they would call again, the opportunity to gain a client gone forever. A landline or virtual landline with voicemail would be a more sensible way to collect contacts.

Take expert advice on leaflet distribution.

Finally, there is the question of how many leaflets should be printed and where should they be distributed.

For this important information regarding the campaign plan, there is only one place to go; and that is to an expert. A well-established leaflet distribution company will not only be able to advise the would-be entrepreneur on the design of the leaflet as well as the content to include, how many leaflets he should have printed but the best area to have them distributed.

In fact, a good distribution company would be able to give advice on all the things needed to launch a small business, from design and printing to distribution. They will also be able to advise that it will usually take more than one drop to secure a good client base.

If more one-man startups or small businesses would take the time to talk to a professional expert, then more of them would able to overcome that first hurdle and prosper in their new enterprises, simply put leaflet distribution works, and that is a fact.