leaflet distribution drops

[sellickbhoy]

what are your experiences of using leaflet distribution companies?

friend of mine is looking at buying a veg box delivery business and plans to hire a leaflet drop company to distribute his marketing info to new areas for the business

any hints/tips when choosing one?

what should he look out for?

i've suggested he uses the door hanger type leaflets instead of a flyer through the door as it doesn't just landed with the other junk mail and the potential customer will actually have to pick it off the door (and hopefully look at it!)

thoughts?

 

[stender]

I don't personally think leaflet drops work and I know they Pee me off bigtime. They would have the opposite affect on me and usually are filed immediately under B1N. But then i'm mentally disturbed according to my wife.

 

[thebigIAM]

If his area has one of those el cheapo A5 parish pump publications I'd probably recommend he try advertising in one of them. There's a certain cross-section of the public who tend to flick through them. I've spoken to several traders recently who have said this form of advertising works for them.

 

[SmilePrint]

You MUST start from a position of mistrust with any leaflet distribution company.

You need to know if your leaflets are being delivered, if you are getting what you pay for. Pay for 10 000 delivered get 800 delivered is not a good investment, but it is a reality with some companies.

Ask, ask, ask keep asking, until you are satisfied they WIll do what you want. If you're uncertain or don't feel entirely happy, walk away.

I did this with a 'national' leaflet distribution company, and had some input (not OP) in a thread about them, which was subsequently removed. However this thread remains.

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=119124

Pay after delivery, after you have independently verified the delivery was done, don't listen to the whinges from the distribution co., look after yourself and your business when dealing with this type of company.

My 2 bits worth.

 

[Andy Lock]

I do my own drops around certain areas. I got asked why not let them do the rounds with the local paper.
My view on this is the bumpf (leaflets) comes out, read the paper then trash. With a single leaflet through the door I will give it a quick glance.

 

[Business Vitamins]

I agree with the Parish mag idea. For local traders these tend to yield high results.

In my experience as a Marketer, you do have to be careful with leaflet distribution companies, while many are reputable, there are always the ones that use teenagers to distribute flyers and you find your literature in a bin two days later.

It's worth asking local shops if you can leave a pile of flyers by their tills as long as they're not the competition! Think about who your perfect customer would be, and target the type of places they would visit. Consider golf clubs, high-end hairdressers & gyms, doctors surgeries etc and just let people pick up a leaflet if they want one. This works really well if they are in an area where people have to sit and wait like a dentist. Cuts down on the wasted flyers too!!

Also consider ante-natal classes. As soon as the new mums have their small baby at home, the thought of having their vegetables delivered is very appealing rather than battling round Tesco with a small child!

Also, where is your friend sourcing the vegetables that he is going to drop? If it's a farm shop, leave leaflets there offering his service. You know that people are already buying the goods, so offering the delivery might appeal to some customers too.

If you spent one or two days delivering piles of leaflets to the places suggested above, I would expect you'll gain just as much coverage, if not more, than paying someone to drop your leaflets for you.

Hope that helps!

Regards,

Selina

 

[sellickbhoy]

thanks for the advise

spoke to a friend who had used a company and he has only bad things to say.

he said when HE hand delivered them himself, he could get 2% response rates (which is pretty good I thought)

when he got a company to do it - NOTHING, though, the company was supposed to deliver to an area that included 3 members of his immediate family - surprisingly, none of them got a leaflet! So they were punted.

Think I'll just get my pal to do it himself then!

Love the idea about Antenatal classes - will pass it on. Also someone suggested doing presentations at local primary and secondary schools.

 

[Business Vitamins]

If your friend wants a five minute brain storm, let know and I'll be happy to have a chat with him. Two heads and all that!

 

[Rodent1982]

i've suggested he uses the door hanger type leaflets instead of a flyer through the door as it doesn't just landed with the other junk mail and the potential customer will actually have to pick it off the door (and hopefully look at it!)

Minor flaw with this. Most people have yale style locks... no handle to speak of.

 

[sellickbhoy]

Minor flaw with this. Most people have yale style locks... no handle to speak of.

really??

a few years ago i had to take a part time job reading electric meters - i actually really enjoyed it. got me out of the house and some fresh air and you got a fascinating insight into how some people live!!

but they all had some sort of handle. Even the yale lock doors had something you could hang it around - but even if they didn't - you can still put it through the letterbox (i don't think there is a law about only hanging them on the handles)

But i'll mention this, and maybe he'll get some normal flyers printed too.

 

[wevet]

If I came back from holiday and found a leaflet hanging from my door i would certainly get the advertiser round and ask why they have seen fit to advertise that my house is unoccupied?

 

[TKDS]

I must be a lone voice in this respect but I have had a positive response from the leafleting campaign I undertook. I operate an after school programme for maths and English for 4-18 year olds and I would definitely use the company I used again. I got one through my door as did my parents, my brother and my freinds who live in the area. In terms of % response I got 19 calls from 16,000 leaflets and 4 enrolements which more than paid for the campaign. That's only 0.12% response and a 0.025% sign up but pound for pound advertising leading to new business I considered it successful. I suppose it comes down to the question 'Do leaflets work for your type of business ?'

 

[peacemaker]

I think leaflet distribution can be effective, but I'm probably biased as it's something I do from time to time
I know of some of the bigger companies who just hire in people for the day who are untrustworthy and just dump the leaflets - all too common in my area (Brighton) as the competition is so fierce.

I don't hire anyone I do it all myself as I'd rather have the reputation intact than save a few hours/quid, especially in this business as plenty of previous posters have said many people don't trust leaflet distributors.

 

[Feldon]

I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it either. I'm currently doing my own leaflet drop of 10,000 at a rate of 1000 per week. So far the response has been 0.35% with a conversion of about 0.12% but its early days and quite a few of those leads are what I would call hot leads and still in the might buy stage.