A little leaflet goes a long way

With small budgets come big dilemmas – you need to spend money to make money, but you haven’t much money to spend. You are not alone and there is often a fine line between bravery (confident decision making) and recklessness (making the wrong decisions) when things are new.

You need to promote your business in order for people to know about it. It is that simple. So the methods to promote your business need to sit within your budget and be effective. No method should work in isolation – all your activities should be designed to support, complement and enhance each other, further increasing positive results.

Moving past the absolute ‘must have’ essentials of strong logo, informative website, brilliant business cards, professional letterhead (for quotes and invoicing) and active social media, leaflets are a very strong contender for getting on the ‘must have’ list as a strong marketing tool at a relatively low cost.

So what’s so special about a leaflet?

·         Makes you look professional

·         Supports your sales

·         Promotes all your services/products

·         Provides reassurance

·         Provides information

·         Promotes social media and website

·         Increases awareness of you

·         Relatively low cost

·         Strengthens your brand (recognition)

An effective leaflet will generate leads...

...if you know what you want them to do

Before you do anything, ask yourself the following questions:

1.       What do you want your leaflet to do?

Generate sales; get people to an event; get people to contact you; etc

2.       Who do you want to pick up and ready your leaflet?

Who is your target audience?

3.       What do you want to tell these people?

How fab you are; new product; range of services; testimonial; etc.

4.       What do you want these people to do?

Contact you; visit website; come into store; attend an event; etc

5.       How will you get them to do it?

Call or email you; social media; entice them with a voucher; provide a discount code; etc.

6.       Where will you be distributing the leaflets?

Through letterboxes; at an event; in the street; etc.

The answers to these questions will define the content, look and size of your leaflet, in order to get the leaflet to be seen, read and be kept so that they achieve your objectives.

An effective leaflet will generate leads...

...if it has the right words

By answering the above questions you will know:

·         What you want to say

·         Who you want to say it to

·         And what you want them to do

This sets the message, the tone and the actions. Read more in ‘Content with your content?’ >

The golden rules of leaflet content are:

·         Be direct

·         Be concise

·         Be yourself

·         Be enticing

·         Be contacted

·         And NO TYPOS!!!!!!

Be direct:

You know who you want to attract with this leaflet, so talk to them direct with messages that will grab their attention.

Don’t make your content generic ‘catch-them-all’ messages.

Be concise:

Keep it short and to the point. Write down what you want to say and then remove and rewrite all unnecessary words... and then add a touch of humour or drama.

Take:

And turn it into:

Be yourself:

Stay loyal to the rest of your marketing material (your brand) – being consistent with your messages will make you memorable and strengthen your brand.

Be enticing:

Give your target audience a reason ‘why’ they should do what you want them to do.

·         Provide a discount code

·         Include a voucher

·         Put ‘for a limited time only’

·         Offer a free gift with purchase

Be contacted:

Always give provide clear contact details: tel, email, location

Provide further information points of contact: website, social media

And NO TYPOS!!!!!!

You only get one chance to make the right (very best) impression, so don’t let misspelt words or bad grammar let you down.

An effective leaflet will generate leads... 

...if it is delivered in the right way

The best leaflets in the word are worthless if they do not get into the hands of your target audience. Think carefully about how to get them in the right hands and at the right times:

·         Get out and about - put on your comfortable trainers and head door-to-door yourself, go round events or hit the High Street (or use a company that offers targeted distribution services)

·         Carrier bags! Talk to a retail outlet (that ervice/product) and see if you can get your leaflets put in their shopping bags

·         Post up on notice boards – where do your target audience shop, hang out, spend their free time, get their dental treatment, get their newspaper, go for coffee, etc

·         Utilise the postal service – Royal Mail offer a number of leaflet distribution packages

·         With your local newspaper

·         Send out with quotes and invoices

...and make sure you get the timing right! What’s the best day of week, best time of year, best time of the day, etc

An effective leaflet will generate leads...

...if it has the right look

If you know where (and how) you are distributing your leaflets, you will be able to determine the size needed:

·         Handing out at an event – make them easy to fit in a pocket or bag

·         Dropping through letterboxes – make them small enough to fit through but large enough to not get lost amongst the mail. (Also, make sure they are thick enough to not crumple when posted!)

·         Mail out with quotes or invoices – make sure they fit the standard envelopes you use

Make them stand out so that people actually choose to pick them up and take a look:

·         Strong colours – avoid being garish, but be bright and be bold

·         Keep it clean – not just the language (!), but the layout. Messy, overcrowded layouts will turn people off.

·         Images speak a thousand words – the right images will work much better than most words. Grab attention and show off your business

So you see, a little leaflet can go a long way... if done properly.