Continuing on from where we left off we come to the next stage…

Leaflet language

Start with an attention-grabbing headline and make sure it is prominent enough. Avoid making the headline the company name. The first few moments that someone looks at your leaflet determines whether or not they will care to read on. Customers won’t be interested in what your business is called until they get to the call to action. A degree of research into your target market/customer base might be required to find out what’s important to them. Once you know, incorporate that knowledge into the headline.

• Write for your target audience. Know who it is you are aiming your products and services at and make sure that comes through in the language you use and the leaflet design itself.

• The biggest mistake to make is writing long, drawn out sentences. People rarely read them thoroughly. Use bullet points if possible. Get to the point as quickly as you can.

• You can always gravitate towards power words that are known to attract the attention of potential customers and leads. Words like “offer”, “save”, “discover”, and “free” are quite common to see used in leaflet literature. Just be sure, if you do want to incorporate them into your leaflet copy, try to organically insert them into the text.

• Don’t be afraid to illustrate your literature with pictures/photos/images. They say a picture speaks a thousand words so maybe that could save you on your word count! You want images that reinforce what you are trying to get across or at least visually clarify it.

• Call to action – this is what it is all leading to. You are basically telling people what they have to do without being passive. The goal of your leaflet, once you boil it down to the brutal basics, is to motivate action. E.g. “Sign up now before (day/month/year) to get 50% off.”

And those are the main factors to consider when writing up your leaflet literature, or indeed, any marketing or promotional literature. The goal is to get more customers/clients out of the distribution. There’s one more area of leaflet design that we need to discuss and that’s to do with layout. We’ll cover this in more detail in our next blog.

Get more information from Walkers Distribution before designing your leaflets.

A leaflet MUST grab the attention of the recipient. If you can tap into that spark of interest the recipient may have for the products or services you are offering then you are closer to inducing them to take action whether that’s directing them to a website, making a call or actually placing an order.

So what’s the secret? There has to be one right?

Well actually, there’s a few. We’ve decided to split them up into sections so we can address each element of design in detail. Walkers Distributions has a lot of experience in this area, in fact we provide a service for designing our client’s leaflets. Here’s our take on how to get your leaflet design to stand out and make a considerable impact…

Colour is king

Colour plays an integral part in everyone’s daily lives. Think about it. Colour affects everything from the clothes we wear to interior design options in the home and at work to the artistry of agriculture and floral arrangements. Colour is everywhere! When it comes to marketing, colour really is king.

Anyone can write a few lines about their business, add some pictures, and then print it off in black and white before posting it through people’s letter boxes. However, those are the leaflets no one will look at. Whether it is cost-effective to go with black and white printing or not, printing in colour should be the only option worth considering.  Remember, we’re talking about making your leaflet stand out, not blend in.

An unprofessional, colourless leaflet will reflect badly on your company. The simple fact is this; if you don’t have enough confidence in your business to invest in your marketing and advertising then why should people feel confident when ordering through you?

There are psychological associations involved with colours in marketing. For example single shade choices infer very specific meanings and connotations such as the colour red. Red is generally avoided as a single shade choice on leaflets simply for the fact that on its own it connotes danger, alert, emergency and worry, but if it used in subtle degrees it can catch people’s eye. When used in a combination with other colours it can change its meaning altogether. And that’s just the colour red. This is why it is important to really think about the design of your leaflets and promotional materials.

Invest in high quality and professionally designed leaflets. Be creative and colourful. Don’t send someone something that looks like it was written in a word document and printed out at home. In our next blog we will look at attention-grabbing language on leaflets.

If you’d like to discuss your own leaflet designs with us at Walkers Distribution please Contact Us.

So if a business wants to be more environmentally friendly but also needs to continue marketing through print materials then how do they tackle this particular environmental dilemma?

The best option that satisfies both sides of the argument is to use an eco-friendly printing and distribution service.

Walkers Distributions believe that everything counts. We are always looking into new ways to be environmentally friendly whilst keeping prices as low as possible. For example;

• All envelopes are from recycled paper only
• We encourage our clients to use lower cost recycled paper when printing
• Our mass marketing photocopying is done on economy print settings and recycled paper

There are many ways for you as a business to use such available options to your advantage.

For instance; when printing promotional flyers, business cards, brochures or any particular paper-based products, opt for recycled paper instead.

Know your numbers. Print only what you need rather than printing more than is necessary.

These days it can mean a lot to customer bases if you are a friend of the environment and in many instances it can influence their decision about whether or not they want to go with you or someone else. It’s called “gaining green marketing credibility.” Don’t stop at your marketing materials and leaflets; consider eco-friendly business cards too. Use recycled content to maximum effect. By being clear about your business’ eco-friendliness (if that’s what you are aiming for) you gain an advantage over your competitors who have yet to catch-up to the reality of this green business era.

Going green is something to be proud of and something that should be prominently featured in your advertising, packaging, promotional materials, online copy and paper copy. This is not something that is going to go away anytime soon. The Green era is here to stay.

You should get behind it now, or at least explore its possibilities.

Going green with your printing and your general marketing doesn’t mean changing your campaign and tactics completely. By implementing a few green practices with your marketing materials you help to sustain both your business and the environment.

We can help you to get started at Walkers Distributions. Contact Us for more information on green printing.

Each leaflet should be offering an incentive to the customer that makes the leaflet’s marketing irresistibly good. At Walkers Distributions, we have some tips on how you can encourage them to convert and ensure a higher success rate for your business.

To discount or not to discount

Discounting is seen in two different ways by businesses and consumers. Some view discounting as the perfect way to attract new customers to your business. This can be the case; consumers find propositions such as these very attractive, as they see a discount as an incentive to buy, particularly if money or budgeting are issues in their minds. Discounts are the proverbial sweetener that will encourage them to convert to purchase when they see the offer of a discount on the leaflet that gets distributed through to their home. Offer a discount that applies to purchases over a certain amount to ensure that the discount is profitable for your business at the same time. Consumers will be more encouraged to purchase if there is something in it for them.

Conversely, discounts are also seen as a deterrent by some consumers. If the discount is too large, consumers can see it as an act of desperation on marketing like leaflets.

Freebies

Buy something, get something free. That is one of the oldest tricks in the marketing book for promotional leaflets. It’s also one of the most overused. Having said that, if the free incentive is attractive enough, it will encourage a greater proportion of recipients to convert to a purchase with your company.

When designing your leaflet, collaborate with your marketing team to create an offering that remains profitable for your business. Buy one get one free or other such freebie promotions work very well with more expensive purchases, because customers feel like they are getting much more for their money than they would be ordinarily. If your company offers home improvements like double glazing or patios, other home essentials, this could be a good opportunity to use the free item promotion to your advantage on your leaflets.

Use the design and the leaflet copy to emphasise both the saving and the free items. Combine that with a clear call to action and you’re in a much stronger position to convert customers to buy with your business.

Walkers Distributions can offer advice and unique expertise based on years in the industry. Together, we can help you to attract more customers to your business in difficult economic times. This form of direct marketing is one of the most effective forms of marketing your business and encouraging conversions.

Share-plan distribution

The share-plan distribution involves your leaflet being distributed or ‘dropped’ with a variety of other marketing flyers at the same time. Share-plan is a cheaper and more cost-effective way of distributing your leaflets to houses in your targeted area. Cost is usually a big driver for businesses opting for this method of distribution; costs associated with share-plan drops are much cheaper than solus distributions. The advantage of this method is that it keeps costs down for businesses that can’t afford to spend too much on marketing because they are too new or are currently suffering in the recession.

The disadvantages of the share-plan distribution method is the fact that your leaflet will be landing in homes with several other pieces of direct marketing, which are all seeking to grab the attention of the customers to drive new business. The cost is cheaper, but it can be a less effective method of marketing to your potential customers. Running this kind of distribution means that you are competing for attention in an already competitive pack. If opting for a share-plan distribution, you should ensure that your leaflet is designed to have great impact on readers with a determined and clear call to action.

Solus distributions

Solus is probably the most popular method of leaflet distribution due to its effectiveness and high rate of conversion. Solus drops are a more focused method of distribution. This method means that your leaflet is dropped alone, without any other marketing materials from other companies. This gives your leaflet the best opportunity, in ideal circumstances, to be read in isolation and receive the most exposure.

The advantage of the solus drop is the more targeted and individual approach to acquiring new business. Your leaflet is dropped through the door alone and has more chance of catching a greater number of potential customers without having to fight for their attention.

The disadvantage of solus distribution can be the unknown quantity of when people are at home. If customers are not at home when the leaflet is distributed, they may return home to find your leaflet sitting with post, free newspapers or even other leaflets.

In-fill distributions

In-fills are the cheapest method of distributing leaflets around London.  In-fills are a basic service; your leaflets are stored and then are used to fill spaces that occur in other share-plan drops. This can be the least effective method of distribution, particularly if you want to focus on targeted areas or demographics. It is usually the solution for businesses that cannot afford a more targeted drop.

Our team at Walkers has years of experience in different types of leaflet drop and we can offer unique expertise on the most appropriate solution for your business. Contact us in London or Essex to find out how we can help you to gain new business.

Digital marketing reinforces what you are offering to your customers, but it also works effectively in a broader sense when coupled with leaflets dropped through a customer’s door.

Socialising creates awareness

Any business operating now should know the power of social media as a support for other marketing efforts. Creating awareness of your brand through social media is one of the most effective methods. Social media has many great advantages as a marketing tool because it’s a proactive and infinitely reactive media that allows you to engage with your customers directly.

Register a Facebook fan page and Twitter account for your business and start actively using them. Put links to them on your leaflets and ask people to get involved with your social pages. Encouraging them to go online from your leaflet can open you up to discussions with your customer-base; it gives them a channel in which they can talk about your business and can be excellent support tool for marketing campaigns with the functionality of the app features. These can be updated instantly whenever there are news and offers available and can be used to support a leaflet drop by timing updates to coincide with the moments when customers receive their leaflet. Leaflet distribution is still a potent marketing tool, but it has to be merged with other forms of marketing in order to get the best results out of each campaign.

Give the people what they want

Lead your customer to your website via your leaflet to give them more information on the services that you offer. Your website is a great place to have more information about the offer or promotion that your business is running. The website is also a good place to have the terms and conditions for your offer, so that people can see the full details and terms of what you’re offering during the promotion. This covers you legally in the case of anything going wrong or the offer expiring. Show the website URL clearly on the leaflet design and encourage people to read more online to enhance the information given on the leaflet.

Using leaflet drops in conjunction with digital marketing pushes will greatly enhance your overall marketing drive and increase awareness of your business across a wider platform. You can find more information about our methods of leaflet distributions in the London and Essex areas. We can help your business to promote itself through direct marketing.

Offering the world

Whatever line of business you are in, you need a strong offering in January and February. These are two of the toughest months in any normal year, but more than ever since the recession. Every business now has to approach things with greater care in order to gain new business in tough climates. One of the key pieces of the puzzle is your offer.

Leaflet distributions can often live and die by the discount or offering on the leaflet. Your offer is your point of difference; it helps your business to set itself apart from its competitors and attract potential customers with an appealing offer on goods or services that they might be thinking about purchasing.

A good offer is what’s going to tempt the customer to buy, so think about an offer that is both profitable for your business and attractive to customers. If you’re offering a discount, make it bold and clear on the leaflet that you’re distributing and pair it with a strong call-to-action. We naturally have a short attention span and have to be led to acting on an offer.

Stand out from the crowd

Leaflets come through the door thick and fast these days, so establishing yourself is difficult. Invest in a stronger design and you’ll instantly differentiate yourself to the competition. A good design should balance complementary colours and simple graphics. A leaflet that looks too busy or childish – even unprofessional if the leaflet is poorly designed – will deter customers from wanting to use the company.

Use striking typeface and avoid any of the so-called ‘bad fonts’ like the most ironic of all the fonts available on Windows computers… More professional fonts will have a greater impact on the reader because they show that real thought and consideration has gone into designing the leaflet before it gets sent out into the world. Get a graphic designer to design the leaflet and you’ll see the difference it makes in the style and layout.

Walkers Distributions can offer advice and excellent leaflet distribution in the south of England. We have offices in both London and Essex and can cover a greater area in the south east. Our experience in distributions has marked us out as unique in the industry and our devotion to customer service is difficult to beat. Contact us for more information and have a great New Year. We can help you to start 2012 on strong footing.

Leaflet or flyer distribution is strongest when your business clearly and distinctively marks itself out from its competitors and crafts a unique offering for the business. Distinction is the key when it comes to getting your leaflets distributed, particularly in built-up areas such as Essex and London.

Simple steps for an effective leaflet distribution campaign

It’s an easy mistake to make when designing a leaflet. You create an attractive flyer and decide that that’s all you need to attract new customers to you. Distribution gets sorted and the customers will come rolling in, right? Wrong. It takes more thought than that if you want to bring in new business and start the new year with a bang.

Think about the AIDA model and you can tick off boxes to run a more successful leaflet distribution campaign that is a strong form of direct marketing. AIDA means:

Awareness: This first step is about grabbing the attention of your potential customer as they look at your leaflet for the first time. Use complementary colours and catchy headlines; give them a bold offering that will attract their attention even more.

Interest: Creating interest in your product, service or offer is key. Show the customer what’s in it for them when they choose to use your business over another competitor. Make sure that the offering is relevant to them to truly spark their interest. Say, for example, that you’re a takeaway restaurant that offers free delivery to customers within a certain radius, it’s redundant to send the flyer to customers outside of that radius.

Desire: Play to their desires. Your leaflet needs to convince them that they really do need your products when it lands in their home. Make them desire it by using strong graphics that showcase your products in the best possible light. Make everything on the leaflet look alluring and convince them that they want this product more than life itself!

Action: Demand that they act upon their desires. Consumers need to be led to act; if your leaflet doesn’t have a call to action on it, the potential customer won’t necessarily act on their desires. Add a graphic or tagline that calls them to act upon the information they have been given.

Nailing down these checks will help you to tailor a more attractive proposition for the customers that receive your leaflet through their letterbox when Walkers Distributions delivers. Our experience in leaflet distributions around London and Essex has given us the knowledge to improve our distributions each time we deliver.

Walkers Distributions offers a tailored and comprehensive distribution service across many locations in South East England. For more information on how we can help your business, contact us here.

Leaflet distribution is a vital marketing channel for businesses looking to grow their operation over time and strengthen a fledgling customer-base. Whatever type of printed marketing your business wants to distribute, Walkers Distributions can offer a professional service based on years of experience that has given us a unique insight into distributions in London and the south east of England, including Essex county.

The struggling economy is giving everyone pause at the moment. From top down in businesses, everyone is worrying about spending and worrying even more about how they can attract new customers to grow the revenue of the business in a strong way. There was a DMA report in 2010 that showed the total expenditure on leaflet distribution topped £1bn in 2009. Volumes distributed increased by 5.7 per cent to 12,560 billion items. There are different types of leaflet distributions with different results.

Solus distribution

Solus distribution is one of the more expensive methods of leaflet distribution. The reason that the price tag is higher on solus distributions is that they are a more targeted method of dropping the leaflets; like the name implies, leaflets on solus distributions are distributed alone, without any other materials. The focus is on specific targeting of key areas related to your main demographic. You can base the solus drop on specific postcodes or certain key areas.

These targeted leaflet distributions give you the opportunity to directly engage with consumers on a more intimate level in their home. We can focus our targeted leaflet distributions around most areas that you would want to cover in the whole of London; the same targeting can achieved in areas of the county of Essex. If your business has a strong base in these areas, this could be an ideal solution for you to develop new business with distribution of a strong direct marketing campaign.

Leaflet distribution is an instant form of marketing that drops right into a person’s home. It’s also incredibly cost-effective for a business to engage in this form of direct marketing because the costs of initiating a campaign are relatively low compared to other forms of advertising. The huge benefit that comes with leaflet drops is individuality. When you compare the distribution of leaflets to advertising in magazines, newspapers or other such media, it stands out. It stands out because it’s not competing in the space against the advertisements of other businesses. This can give you a huge advantage because you’re not battling against your competitors to attract customers to your business.

Walkers Distributions is an innovative leaflet distribution company that can tailor its services to the specific needs of your business. Talk to us about where you want to focus your efforts and we will work with you to target the areas that matter the most to you.

Pre-Christmas leaflet drop

The month of December can be a great time for leaflet distribution in London, depending on the type of business you’re in. Restaurant leaflets tend to do well around the festive period because there’s lots of eating, drinking and general merriment to be had by families and friends; after the Christmas fun is over, people get hungry for convenient, high quality restaurant food and if your leaflet has recently been dropped into their house, they’re likely to think of you as their first port-of-call when their appetites are calling to them.

Leaflet distributions in December can give a potentially large boost to December’s sales and hopefully lead you into the new year on a strong footing, depending on the offering. It could be just the kind of boost your business needs for the busy festive period and beyond, particularly in the current climate. Distributing leaflets directly engages potential customers with your brand and drops right into their home.

Leaflet distribution is a very effective form of direct marketing that puts your business’ information right into the homes of many potential customers.

New Year, new business

A lot of businesses get their leaflets printed and ready for distribution because they want a strong marketing push in the New Year. January is an ideal time to start the marketing cycle again and introduce more people to your growing business.

Getting leaflets printed and distributed in London and Essex in time for January can give your business a potential boost for a new year. Around that time of year, after the excesses of Christmas and tightening of budgets, people start to consider purchasing again and start to plan out their list of needs and wants for the new year. This can often include things like home improvements, which is why double glazing companies and other home improvement firms often print marketing leaflets and ask for distribution in their targeted areas around December and January. Distributing these leaflets then opens up a new market of potential leads; it could be a way for you to expand your business nicely in the slower first quarter of the new year.

You can find more information on Walkers Distributions Christmas cut-off dates and the services we offer here. Whatever your needs, Walkers will find a way to make it happen and will offer you excellent customer service from start to finish. Here’s to a very Merry and potentially busy Christmas and New Year!