Surprisingly, perhaps, business flyers are making a comeback as a marketing tool. Low tech they may be, but done right, they can be supremely effective.
Truth be told, the humble flyer has a lot of advantages. It’s:
- Inexpensive
- Quick to produce
- Easy to distribute
What it’s not, is easy or quick to write.
Sure, you can write a flyer in about ten minutes if you want, but unless you’re suddenly inspired and exceptionally creative, it’s not likely to bring you the results you seek.
So, what exactly makes a successful handout?
Try starting your own flyer collection. Over the course of about a week, pick up every flyer that comes through your mailbox or that you find on your travels and put it in your flyer file.
Once you’ve got about 20 samples, sit down and grade them. For the purposes of this exercise, assume that you are in the target market for each one.
Pass or Fail?
Give a passing grade to those flyers that you think would have prompted you to take action of some kind; whether that action is to call the company, turn up at a meeting or buy something. Fail those you think would have ended up in the trash without a second thought.
Now take a look at both the passing and failing piles. What do the leaflets in each pile have in common? Think about everything from the design to the color scheme, and of course the text. And don’t forget more subliminal elements such as the type of paper and whether or not the flyer has a fold in it.
What have you learned so far about your own response to a business flyer?
In the next part of the Fabulous Flyer series, I’ll take a look at the critical role that text plays in persuading your prospects to take action and give you a list of flyer copy dos and don’ts.
