Have you made any of these mistakes when creating a flyer?

[Scott-Copywriter]

Hi folks.

I've noticed a few people lately have fallen into certain traps when it comes to producing flyers and made some critical mistakes.

It's no surprise mind you, as 98% of flyers I see all make the same mistakes. It's a wonder that anyone gains any sales at all.

So here are the biggest mistakes I've noticed. Whatever you do, you must avoid all of these when you create your next flyer if you want any chance of bringing in new sales.

One more thing: these rules can also apply to many other marketing methods.

1). Using your business name as a headline

A headline is supposed to grab a prospects attention and make them want to read your copy. How does your business name do that? It's a complete waste of valuable space.

2). Not explaining any benefits

You might explain everything your business does, but if you don't explain any benefits then you give the prospect absolutely no reason to use you. Why would they hand over potentially hundreds of pounds without a reason? Why would they use you over competitors?

3). Focusing on design over content

Unless you're a graphic designer, the design of your leaflet will not sell your services. Only the content will. If you sacrifice good content for some fancy design, then you're going to end up with a pretty looking flyer which brings in fewer sales.

However, design is important for a good brand image. You just need to make sure it works with the content to support it and display the text in the most readable way.

4). Listing bullet points of what you do and that's it

This is the most common mistake I see. The flyer simply states what the business is and what they do. If it's a plumber for example it may just say:

J&W Plumbers

• Sinks and bathrooms
• Toilets
• Blockages
• Boiler installation

Call 1234567

No benefits to use the service, no reason to call and no reason to even read it. May as well put a blank piece of paper through their letterbox.

5). Not being ready to pick up where the flyer left off!

Realistically a flyer doesn't always completely secure the deal. Most of the time it may just persuade them to visit your website or give you a call for more information. Your website must have further compelling copy and you must be ready on the end of the phone to close the deal.

Hope this helps some of you.

 

[Tommo]

Guilty as charged

Great post, I'll save it, thanks.

 

[skeeter]

Every single thing that comes through my door sounds like the above.

Would you like me to post them all to you?

 

[Willself]

Excellent! Thanks....I'll pop it through your letterbox!! lol

 

[MASSEY]

Quite helpfull stuff, is this your opinion or have you sourced this from somewhere?

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Quite helpfull stuff, is this your opinion or have you sourced this from somewhere?

Experience. Flyers which don't make these mistakes work, and flyers which make these mistakes do not. I've seen it time and time again.

It's also common sense. I'd be amazed if anyone could contend any of these points with a credible argument.

 

[MASSEY]

yes i agree, they are points i will apply from now on.

 

[Scorch London]

Great post, I'd say the first point about the business name is the biggest and commonest mistake made by unheard of small businesses, although it is a grey area when it comes to marketing in general. If Tesco had 'good value supermarket' above the door instead of simply 'Tesco' would that be such a good idea? There comes a point in the business curve that brand name becomes an important factor, but yes, for small business flyers that is generally not the case.

In fact, I would add to that and say that if you are planning a long-term flyer strategy, involving say 12 flyers over the course of a year, then brand name/identity becomes increasingly important. If those 12 flyers all had different headlines then they may be good on an individual basis, but would not go a long way towards brand building for that point in time when the potential customer suddenly needs that service and is trying to remember which company's flyer they read a couple of months ago. If you build in brand recognition over time then that can be very powerful indeed.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Great post, I'd say the first point about the business name is the biggest and commonest mistake made by unheard of small businesses, although it is a grey area when it comes to marketing in general. If Tesco had 'good value supermarket' above the door instead of simply 'Tesco' would that be such a good idea? There comes a point in the business curve that brand name becomes an important factor, but yes, for small business flyers that is generally not the case.

That's a name of something though. Of course you put the business name above the door as it's more of an identifiable label instead of a marketing method. However, if Tesco create a flyer, the worst thing they could do is put 'TESCO' at the top in large bold text instead of a compelling headline.

In fact, I would add to that and say that if you are planning a long-term flyer strategy, involving say 12 flyers over the course of a year, then brand name/identity becomes increasingly important. If those 12 flyers all had different headlines then they may be good on an individual basis, but would not go a long way towards brand building for that point in time when the potential customer suddenly needs that service and is trying to remember which company's flyer they read a couple of months ago. If you build in brand recognition over time then that can be very powerful indeed.

It is always important. However, it doesn't mean you should sacrifice a compelling headline in place of a brand name. If you do that, then you no longer give prospects a reason to read the leaflet, so they don't read it and even the branding is wasted, nevermind the sales.

You build a brand in a different way. Flyers should always be designed with the businesses brand colours, and the logo should always be included somewhere (usually in one of the bottom corners beside the contact details).

 

[haydean]

Am I missing something here ? I here what everyone is saying but the example you use below is the same bullet type of leaflet my mate uses. He doesn't stop working. In an emergency clients want local & Fast. 80% of his worked is gained in this way. Importantly he sends his flyers out every three months It simple it's what he does, It works..

J&W Plumbers

• Sinks and bathrooms
• Toilets
• Blockages
• Boiler installation

Call 1234567 .

I have in the past delivered 100s of 1000s of leaflets, I always here people moan that they only get a few calls. These companies have copywriters spending a fortune on their leaflets, even with the most compelling copy If It's not a service people want or need at the time it hits the door mat it's binned fact..

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Am I missing something here ? I here what everyone is saying but the example you use below is the same bullet type of leaflet my mate uses. He doesn't stop working. In an emergency clients want local & Fast. 80% of his worked is gained in this way. Importantly he sends his flyers out every three months It simple it's what he does, It works..

J&W Plumbers

• Sinks and bathrooms
• Toilets
• Blockages
• Boiler installation

Call 1234567 .

Well he could get a lot more customers if he solved the mistakes in his leaflet then. Of course he's going to get some customers and if he's lucky with a lack of competition from other flyers, then he will get calls, perhaps a lot of them. 95% of flyers I see make these mistakes though, so if people received absolutely no sales then the flyer distribution industry wouldn't exist.

Put it this way: if a different Plumber put a flyer through the doors at the same time as your mate, but he had a flyer which was well written and gave the prospect ample benefits of using his service over competitors, then your friends business (from flyers) would plummet.

I have in the past delivered 100s of 1000s of leaflets, I always here people moan that they only get a few calls. These companies have copywriters spending a fortune on their leaflets, even with the most compelling copy If It's not a service people want or need at the time it hits the door mat it's binned fact..

You will find that the people who moan the most are the ones who make those mistakes up there.

You are right about the product. You need to sell something decent which people want for the best results. The point of good copy is to make people realise that they want it. It's surprising how little people absorb from leaflets so you need to make sure everything has been said and said properly.

Also, copywriters aren't at a set level of quality I'm afraid. If someone hasn't spent a lot of time learning exactly how text works on a flyer, then the flyer probably won't do much good. Some get it spot on (I've seen the leaflets myself on occasions) and many others just bomb (even flyers from huge corporations).

 

[DancingWithPoodles]

Scot, how do I make a leaflet about chocolates. I mean there are no benefits only one I can think of it tastes great and is high quality

 

[MrsPWN]

Only just seen this, glad to say I changed the heading of my leaflet from "Dragon Babies" which as yet means nothing to no-one to "Welsh language baby clothes" does what it says on the box!

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Scot, how do I make a leaflet about chocolates. I mean there are no benefits only one I can think of it tastes great and is high quality

Your product would be more suited to emotion based selling. The benefits aren't factual, they're more sensual. Instead of using words to explain benefits (i.e. it tastes nice) you use words to stimulate feelings and sensations.

In this situation, images can be just as powerful and even more powerful than words.

Here's some classic and modern examples of what I'm talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUyln1qpj6E&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHFKE6PD_6U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKSvm32GLRI

 

[DancingWithPoodles]

You know your stuff One day you might become a famous copywriter

 

[david8765]

We have never needed flyers but I had one the other day which looked great apart from they had forgotten to put who they were!

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

We have never needed flyers but I had one the other day which looked great apart from they had forgotten to put who they were!

I've seen it all:

-Flyers for events where they haven't put the date
-Business flyers without any contact details
-Brochures with horrendous spelling mistakes
-Flyers which have made every single mistake I've mentioned in this thread

It can boggle ones mind.

 

[papverpoppies]

Your product would be more suited to emotion based selling. The benefits aren't factual, they're more sensual. Instead of using words to explain benefits (i.e. it tastes nice) you use words to stimulate feelings and sensations.

In this situation, images can be just as powerful and even more powerful than words.

Here's some classic and modern examples of what I'm talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUyln1qpj6E&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHFKE6PD_6U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKSvm32GLRI

The second one - has made me want to stuff my face...it was ALL so tempting - I could almost taste and smell the food.

Just have to wait for my breakfast.

Poppy

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

The second one - has made me want to stuff my face...it was ALL so tempting - I could almost taste and smell the food.

Just have to wait for my breakfast.

Poppy

That's the KEY to good copywriting. The words and images should conjure up emotions, feelings, urges and sensations.

Good copy should leave your mouth watering like you can almost taste the food.

Good copy should leave you feeling like you know how nice a certain car feels to drive.

Good copy should leave you feeling more safe and secure as you've just read about a new home security system and you know you'll be able to buy it.

Good copy should give you a brief experience of how nice you would feel if you bought a specific piece of jewellery.

I could go on and on. If anyone wants to understand how powerful good copy and words can be, just look at fiction books. A good novel can take your mind away to a whole other world and create some very powerful emotions. The potential is there.

 

[Deliberator]

Would you have then an example you could post on here of what you'd consider to be a near perfect flyer ?

A helpful post but would be more so, imo, if you did as I suggest maybe ?!?

Thanks

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Would you have then an example you could post on here of what you'd consider to be a near perfect flyer ?

A helpful post but would be more so, imo, if you did as I suggest maybe ?!?

Thanks

Well it's difficult because some of the great flyers I've seen have came through my letterbox and I no longer have them. I'm nerdy enough as it is without adding 'leaflet collecting' to my array of hobbies.

The only way you're going to get a near perfect flyer is if you test many different elements on a targeted set of prospects. You could literally spend thousands testing arrangements of words, slight colour variations and small spacing variations as they can all accumulate and make a noticeable difference.