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(Article first published in Nov '08. It has been modified slightly to suit its publication on our site)
No, I don't mean that leaflets are a waste of money, quite the contrary when well designed, but often that's not what I see when a leaflet drops through my letterbox. So let's review the "Do's & Don'ts" of leaflet design.
Do Treat Your Leaflets Like Adverts
Remember that a leaflet IS an advert and typically you will have the same fraction of a second to attract the reader of your leaflet as you do with a reader of your ad, so make that fraction of a second count by using an engaging and magnetic title or imagery on the front with clear and concise text and a strong call-to-action.
Don't Waste Space
If you paid for a full-page ad, how happy would you be if half the page was completely blank? I would imagine that every business person would be extremely unhappy at wasting half of their advertising spend. It is therefore amazing to me the amount of leaflets I see that only have content on one side. What a waste of promotional space! The cost of printing on both sides will cost you only a little, if any, more than a single-sided leaflet, but will allow you to say more without the leaflet being cluttered. On that subject...
Don't Fill Your Leaflet With Text
There is often a desire to give as much information as possible on your leaflet and this means lots and lots of text. Big Mistake! People don't really like reading leaflets and so they'll just turn off when confronted with a page full of text. Remember that you don't need to tell the reader everything; you just need to get their attention and keep it. On that subject...
Do Use An Attention Grabbing Headline
99% of the leaflets I see have the businesses name at the top. Ask yourself these questions:
- "Where do people start reading from?"
- "How long do I have to get a reader's attention?"
- "How Interesting Is My Business Name?"
In case you don't know the answers to these questions they are as follows:
- The Top
- About 2 to 5 seconds
- Not Very
So don't put your business name at the top of the leaflet, but instead put in a headline that will be interesting enough to get the reader to read on.
Do Give The Reader A Reason To Contact You
If you don't include an offer or some other good reason for the reader to take action then don't be surprised if your response rate is poor. So include a prominent incentive like an offer or a special give-away or even a competition.
So with this basic advice you should enjoy greater success with your leaflet-based marketing.
Franco De Bonis has worked in the field of sales and marketing promotion since 1990 and was most recently the global marketing manager for a major international technology company before setting up DG Group in January 2007.
DG Group is dedicated to delivering all the marketing solutions any company may require. Whether it's a website or leaflets and brochures, or even some product packaging; DG Group will manage the whole project and even provide guidance along the way.
The content in this section is the original creation of DG Group and is protected by copyright. You may use this content on your site or in other materials providing you acknowledge DG Group as the author and include a link our site.
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