How to run a successful Leaflet Campaign

December 6, 2019

Leaflet and Flyer Distribution

Type in Leaflet or Flyer distribution into Google and you’ll find a good selection of listings promoting distribution services. Before diving into booking a leaflet distributor, it’s a good idea to do some research first. Make sure this method of marketing is going to engage with your target market. If it looks like a positive option for you, then it’s important your campaign is carried out correctly to help ensure a successful outcome.

Do leaflets drops work?

550 000 tonnes of flyers and mailings are delivered in the UK each year, and despite the fact that most of us complain about the amount of unsolicited mail we receive through our letterboxes, direct Marketing Agency figures state that 52-63% of us find the information received useful. In fact, their research shows that 79% of recipients of direct mail and door drops keep, pass on or glance at what comes through their door, and 38% keep it for at least a few days. All well and good, but how does this convert to business? 48% of customers said they had visited a shop, requested further information or made a purchase as a result of marketing materials received through their letterbox. This is a very positive and encouraging statistic for the use of flyers and leaflets when marketing your business or organisation.

What is more, door dropping is one of the most flexible and cost effective forms of marketing, as it gives you 100% control of your campaign and allows you to target exactly the type of customer you want for each of your promotions.

So, with 650 items of mail being delivered to houses each year, how can you ensure that your marketing is part of the 13% that is kept for over 1 week and, more importantly, generates sales? Here are some tips.

Effective Marketing

Know your market and target them!

Decide who your leaflet is aimed at. Who is most likely to buy from you or order your services?
Research your market and find out what’s going to appeal to them. Think about what’s important for them when it comes to buying your product? For example will they be concerned with safety and reliability or would they want something cheap and/or delivered quickly?
Make sure the content of your leaflet is relevant to that market. Whilst the design is important, the copy of your leaflet needs to read well. Think about what questions your potential reader might ask and make sure your content answers those questions. If necessary hire a professional copy writer.
Instil confidence in your business by ensuring there aren’t any mistakes in the text. Always proof read your content to ensure there are no spelling mistakes etc. Ask other people to read your leaflet and give their opinion.
Make sure your delivery area corresponds to your target market. For example there is no point in delivering flyers advertising garage doors to terraced houses with on street parking.
Make use of geo-demographic targeting systems like Acorn, Mosaic, Cameo and Superprofiles which provide info on income, spending habits, occupation etc. Going that extra mile and spending money on research can help you save money in the long term. Effective marketing should increase sales.

How to distribute your leaflets

Distribution methods

Solus or shareplan? Solus distribution means your promotional material will be delivered on its own. This allows you greater flexibility in the start and end dates for your campaign and will maximise the impact of your leaflet as it will remove the competition from other flyers.
Shareplan distribution is when your leaflet will be bundled together with other leaflets. This can reduce the impact of your leaflet to potential customers/clients. Having your leaflets delivered with those of non-competing businesses reduces cost but requires greater planning due to reduced flexibility and control of timings.
The Royal Mail offer a nation-wide door to door delivery plan, distributing flyers and leaflets 3 days a week with the mail. It has been proven that this is when customers are most receptive to promotional messages. As the Royal Mail is a trusted brand, this can have a positive knock on effect with your leaflet campaign by helping to encourage consumer confidence.
Use reputable distribution agents to ensure your leaflets reach their intended audience. Ask if they have tracking methods to ensure your leaflets are going through doors and not in a bin!
If you are on a tight budget, get family and friends to help deliver your leaflets. Alternatively if you have the time, deliver the leaflets yourself. This will obviously save you money but is very time-consuming and is often not an option when running a business!

Time your campaign

Research other people’s experiences by reading case studies about leaflet campaigns, to help you choose the best time of year for your campaign. Ask on business forums or speak to other business owners about their own experiences. What worked for them?
Coordinate your marketing campaign to coincide with calendar dates, such as Valentines, Easter, Back to school etc. In many cases you might be able to run a campaign linked to a holiday, festival event etc. This can be a great way to engage with your target audience and increase sales.
Book your dates with your chosen distribution method (Royal Mail, leafleters etc) and ensure any other material such as Facebook notices, email newsletters or adverts that you want to run alongside your leaflet campaign are all designed and ready to run at the co-ordinated time. Time planning is key to a successful campaign.
Once you’ve established who is going to design and print your leaflets, find out about timescales and always allow sufficient time to have your leaflet designed and printed. Not meeting a leaflet distributer’s deadline can cost you money as well as momentum with your campaign.

Leaflet Design

Image is everything

By the time you come to creating a leaflet you should have your logo designed and brand established. A professional logo and brand image will make a good impression with potential customers.
Ensure your corporate identity is carried through all elements of your marketing so that customers will come to recognise your business each time you advertise, regardless of the medium. Brand consistency is important in establishing confidence and familiarity with your target market.
A professional flyer design will convey a professional image. Gather quotes from designers and look at their portfolios to see what previous leaflets they’ve designed.

Need a quote? Visit our folded leaflet design page for more details and prices. We also offer a flyer design service if you are looking for something smaller for your campaign.

Grab their attention

There is not usually much difference when it comes to the cost of having a leaflet single or double sided. As you want to aim for maximum doormat impact: Two sides are better than one and you can never be sure which way up your leaflet will land.
Use relevant photographs to attract attention. Where possible ensure you use quality photos specific to your business to help engage with the audience. Hiring a professional photographer can be greatly beneficial in the long run as you will have a stock of quality photos to use throughout your promotional material, website etc. There are also plenty of online stock photo websites you can sign up with to purchase professional photos. Always make sure you have the copyright to use a photo.
Keep your message clear and simple. Less is often more and you need to make sure you get your message across by not overwhelming the reader with information cluttering up the leaflet.
Don’t forget to have a clear call to action e.g. buy now or call for a quote. There is no point in having a great leaflet design with wonderful content if you don’t tell the reader how to get in touch or find out more!
When promoting special offers, add an end date to provoke a rapid response.
Include your contact details. Using a landline phone number and business address as well as a mobile number will increase customer confidence in your business.

Printing Leaflets

Quality counts

Consider the size and weight of your leaflet. 300gsm silk A6 and 150gsm gloss A5 flyers are amongst the most popular sizes, as they are easy to push through doors without folding. Size, weight and quantity will determine your distribution costs. Discuss the options with your printer.
The feel of the flyer will convey a subtle message. If you are aiming at a luxury market, make sure your choice of material reflects this.
Full colour printing can be up to 40% more effective than black and white. You will also find that most printers will offer colour printing as a default and you won’t save anything by choosing to have a black and white leaflet.

Need a quote? Visit our folded leaflet print page for more details and prices.

An important marketing tip

Repetition

The greater the exposure, the more likely your campaign will be successful. It is said that a customer may need to be exposed to your advert up to 6 times in order to retain your message. Running your leaflet marketing as part of a wider campaign will obviously increase exposure.
Combine your leaflet campaign with other forms of advertising e.g. local radio, TV and press to reinforce your message. Make reference to this for example – “as seen on TV”. Use social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to help promote the campaign. Look into local Facebook pages and see if they would share your flyer. You could also run a competition to help engage with your audience and stand out from the crowd.
Ensure your corporate identity is carried through each element of your marketing campaign so that customers recognise your business each time you advertise, regardless of the medium. This will strengthen your message and increase the impact of your campaign.

Measure the success of your leaflet drop

Reporting

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it! Make sure you track and record response rates to your flyers or leaflets, by asking customers where they got your details, returning coupons, or quoting references. Have a system in place to monitor the feedback and record it for future marketing campaigns.
Once you have your data, make sure to look at the cost of your campaign and the generated income from the sales. Always remember that some customers will come back, so you need to factor in customer loyalty and long term spending with you. Summarise your campaign to decide whether it was a success.
Whether your campaign worked or not, look and see if you can improve upon the results. Either to determine if it’s worth running another leaflet campaign, or if successful, see what you could do to ensure continued success.
If you manage and record the outcomes well, the more campaigns you have under your belt the better equipped you will be in creating and running a great leaflet campaign.

In conclusion

The 7 steps to running an effective leaflet campaign

Research – find out if it’s the right marketing method for your business. Know your target market and look into what’s going to grab their attention and generate sales.
Content – Write relevant, clear and engaging content and make sure to proof read the text.
Distribution – make sure you leaflet drop in the right areas and use a reliable distributor.
Get the timing right! Will your campaign be seasonal? Know when it starts and be ready!
Professional design and print – don’t cut costs. Hire a professional designer to create an eye-catching design and ensure your leaflets/flyers are printed full colour on quality stock.
Repetition – use other marketing methods alongside your campaign to increase the impact.
Measure the outcome of your campaign and use that for future marketing.

Whilst more and more people are turning to the internet for services and products, with time and research a leaflet or flyer campaign can still be a useful way to bring in customers. If you are on a tight budget, there are ways to keep the costs down but as with a lot of marketing methods, you often need to speculate to accumulate.

Check out our leaflet design and flyer design pages for prices and more information about the services we offer.

About us

am:pm graphics is a graphic design partnership based in Buxton, Derbyshire. We offer a range of quality, affordable graphic design solutions for print and web, helping our customers achieve a consistent professional identity across a variety of media.