So here we are again!, clients Googling what works and what doesn’t in marketing. They have read somewhere that its all about being #1 on Google Rankings. It’s like self diagnosing an illness online but with a more serious outcome if you like to gamble with your businesses brand trust and loyalty.
I have been working with a client on a really effective marketing campaign and part of it was a great but simple flyer campaign to the local community. All was going well when a friend of theirs said “they are wasting their time as they did a flyer campaign years ago and got nothing from it.” After my eyes finished rolling into the back of my head I felt I had to respond.
Marketing does not have a one size fits all solution. If it did you would not have TV, radio, billboards, social media, websites, van signage, business cards or flyers etc etc. All these types of media form a touchpoint of media playing an active part in promoting you and your brand, building loyalty and trust to future customers.
Focusing in on the flyers. I hear all too often that “print is dead”. Blah, blah, blah, I have heard it all before and yet it is still here. It is still relevant and it still has a good return on investment. With the average flyer campaign returning a 1%-5% contact/conversion rate that means that even a small 1000 distribution would connect you to 10-50 new customer/clients, not bad for such a small outlay but there are other factors to bare in mind when running a flyer campaign. The biggest factor is the distribution itself. My clients on average have between 5-10K flyers but before we even go to print we look at where are their clients located. A proper distribution company will deliver post box data showing the concentration of an area and you should know the most affluent areas you wish to target. Once you have these numbers and demographics, you will have a good idea of return.
When Social Media spins past faster than my electricity meter, I still look at my kitchen or hallway table to see flyers that have sat there for a good few days now. Marketing is all about connecting with your customers and building a relationship. If I could tell you there is a way to have your brand under someone’s nose for longer than a day or even a week and it would cost you pence per house, you would probably bite my hand off, flyers have the ability to do just that. Yes they may eventually go in the bin but their longevity is still as great now as it ever was. They are a strong part of the 7 touchpoints that local and national companies still use today to keep their brands name and message under existing and potential customers noses. I personally keep flyers, leaflets and brochures for a long time as I like to use and support local whenever I can. My wife has a drawer thats full of them as well as Chinese/Indian menus. It may not be as glamorous but they are still in my house for when I urgently need them.
So whats the plan now? Well after a brief chat with my client about his friends credentials in the marketing sector it turns out that the flyers were a very good idea!. 7500 were sent out and the return on investment was 399% so let’s call it a nice 400% for you to work out your maths later.
When you think about marketing, do not discount a good quality flyer. They can have a very bespoke message to an area / demographic but keep it consistant with everything else. Use a QR code or “Quote Ref:…” to track how effective they are, a good local graphic designer can really help you here(please feel free to call but hey, try and keep it local). Make sure you discuss with your distributor where best you would like your flyers to go and where best to cast your net. Once this is all done you will have an effective touchpoint that delivers a long lasting message that works well with every other form of marketing you may be doing.
Get in touch if you want to learn more or need some help with your marketing.