Leaflet Distribution - good or not?

[KELKEL]

Hi all

I am thinking of doing a big leaflet distribution in the town where I live - I am just curious if anybody else has done this and actually generated sales or enquiries - do you think it works?

 

[Sharpy]

It's probably one of your cheapest forms of marketing and it's quick.

Theres companies out there that will print and distribute like 10k leaflets for a few hundred quid with full information where the distribution happens and when so you can oversee it if you wish.

I've done a 10k leaflet distribution before and got a good turn out from it, it didn't bowl the financial world over but got me a return on a pretty modest investment.

It just depends what service you're offering in relation to where you distribute. Choose your areas relevant to your service and products offered. Be clever about it and you may get results. A small promotional offer to new customers can help bring in some trade too.

I did a coffee morning for some old dears when I was selling mobility products, which was advertised on a flyer. Made an absolute killing that day, and got some regular customers from it.

 

[Purple Jigsaw]

Hi Kelkel,

Leaflet distribution is a good cost effective way of getting some sales and enquiries. Remember that you shouldnt just be concerned about immediate sales, not all potential customers will want to buy at that moment.
If you have a new shop for example, it is a good way of getting word out and get people talking about you. Also make sure the copy of any leaflet is good, run it past other people before you approve it for print.

 

[WJP]

If you're realistic in your expectations, it can be effective. Do not expect high percentage response rates as these are unusual even in highly orchestrated, highly financed campaigns. Leaflet drops can also be usual for presenting your business initially (not, necessarily, immediately to sell), with follow up adverts in local media etc as part of a wider campaign.

 

[Bruceflea]

If you're realistic in your expectations, it can be effective.

i think this is the key here and probably with all forms of direct marketing.

 

[Venus International]

We are a direct marketing company and handle all aspects of advertising and distribution. The leaflet distribution side of things tends to get good feedback if you choose a solus option rather than a share saver. Its cheap to get the flyers printed and like most of the posts say as long as you make your advertising clear and readable with something to attract attention then 99% of the time you will get really good results. What normally works best with our clients is rather than a discount or voucher, putting an open day or event and sending a ‘invitation’ to come and visit you. We recently handled a campaign for a large florist in Manchester who just made a member of staff stand outside in a bunny rabbit suit for 4 hours handing out free chocolates to passers by. We distributed 5000 leaflets locally and the turnout was excellent.

There are alternatives to leaflet distribution such as direct marketing where we post out advertising material to specific businesses or residential properties. We have access to a large database of clients who we know are interested in receiving information on certain sectors and this way we know that we can get a better response from the campaign.

We would be more than happy to discuss your requirements in more detail if you would like to arrange a leaflet drop and our prices are very competitive starting at just £25 for 1000 leaflets distributed in your chosen area. We can offer discount for large orders and our minimum order is only 1000. We can also provide you with the company details of the florist so you can ask for yourself how we handled their campaign and how successful it was.

Good Luck

 

[PerfectP]

We're just in the process of doing this.
Our leaflets are being printed as I type.

I've gone through Yell and a few other online directories and got the details (names/addresses/postcodes) of different trades (builders/plumbers/electricians etc).

I've then mapped this data onto Autoroute - by doing this I have found local concentrations of trademen in the local area (for instance we have 100 builders less than 5 miles from base).

When the leaflets are sent to us - early next week, I will go to these local trademen locations and leaflet them.
A week or two later I'm planning on spending the day on the phone, asking if they've seen our leaflet and our 10% off voucher.

As has been said - I'm not expecting a initial surge or rush of orders, I'm hoping to get our name out there and a trickle or orders coming in and keep turning over.
Here's to it - can't wait!!!

 

[KELKEL]

Let us know how it goes PerfectP

I think I will carry on distributing, it gets my name known to those that may be interested and you never know I may get a few leads from it.

 

[jbell2210]

I am an accountant and I have found that leaflet distribution has been a good way for many of my clients to get there names out there in the local area. It does seem to depend on the industry though, many professional industries such as consultants do not have as much success with leaflet dropping as people obviously prefer to work with someone who has been recommended. Also, please note that if you offer any kind of special offer in your leaflets you must include a closing date for the offer. If you don't then you are obliged to honour the price you quoted even if someone produces the leaflet years later.

Joanne Bell

 

[relaxkids]

Hiya = i would do a small one and then scale up if it works - start with a few hundred and work up = this is what i used to do. No point in spending loads if you dont get the return that you want. It is good to do this in combination with other things - ie networking, local PR, google, sales. Do everything just a little bit and see the response and what works for you!

 

[relaxkids]

forgot to add - joint ventures is another way of getting out there!

 

[relaxkids]

could you do a joint venture with a beauty therapist shop and do a beauty day or something - it is only the start of an idea and needs thought

 

[KELKEL]

Thanks relaxkids, I will bear that in mind, I do girls nights in which working with a beauty or nail therapist we could work together that way some how - 'have a manicure or pedicure while browsing our brochures?' scope there I am sure.

 

[Rocket_Fuel]

Personally I would never leaflet drop again. We paid £1,700 (including door drop) in our local town and didn't see the return on the outlay never mind anything else. If i knew then what i know now i would advise investing the money in an advert in your local newspaper instead. Same audience and they are less likely to bin it as soon as it comes through the door. I think people (including myself) are fed up with piles of leaflets landing on their door mat.

 

[Bruceflea]

Personally I would never leaflet drop again. We paid £1,700 (including door drop) in our local town and didn't see the return on the outlay never mind anything else. If i knew then what i know now i would advise investing the money in an advert in your local newspaper instead. Same audience and they are less likely to bin it as soon as it comes through the door. I think people (including myself) are fed up with piles of leaflets landing on their door mat.

how many leaflets was that for if you dont mind me asking?

 

[Lm_Fitness]

Hi KELKEL, i am also in Northampton, and have recently started a small scale leafletting campaign in specific areas of the town.
Initially I wasn't expecting an immediate return from this due to economic climate etc, so it was more of a "getting the name/brand known" exercise.

However, this said, I have been really busy the past week trying to fit people into my diary for appointments and consultations. And the return I have made so far has been far greater than i would ever have anticipated.

My advice would be make a small, easy to read and above all friendly flyer and distribute between 300 & 1000 every week. This way you can manage any incoming enquiries without being flooded and remain professional at all times.

Good luck with it & let me know how you get on.

 

[bigmouth241]

As an indication, we just leafleted every industrial estate in Greater Belfast, Larne, Antrim, Lisburn & Newry area to push our IT Services for small & medium business, on a run of about 2000 leaflets. So far, 3 weeks down the line, we have seen 0 return on enquiries. Copy was professionally written, full colour A5 leaflets & not a single bite.

I know they were delivered as I actually did 90% of them myself across a couple of weekends & a few evenings.

So, I think it really depends what industry you're in as to whether this will work or not. The next plan here (once I get my very broken car back!) is to go round to visit some of the places to see if they're ready to talk about how we can work together.

The above said, we do rather seem to have an invisible force field around our business right now, which means we seem to be OK for those who want something for nothing, but as soon as it comes down to paying for a service nobody is interested in talking to us. *shrug*

Just my 2p

 

[asap distribution]

There are a number of factors to consider when using leaflets as a form of advertising.

The companies we have delivered for will get a good return if they take into consideration the size of the leaflet ( a big A4 sheet of paper will be binned whereas a small concise postcard can be pinned to a noticeboard for a later date)
Also look at the demographics of the area you want your leaflets to be delivered to. A friend of mine put 2,500 leaflets out advertising a computer repair service in an area of Somerset where the majority of the population were over 65 years of age, not surprisingly the return of his advertising was not a good one yet had they been delivered to another part of town where the average age of the residents was 25-40 then the story could have been alot different!


Steve
ASAP Leaflet Distribution (Bristol)

 

[KELKEL]

Thanks everyone - I have taken a lot of feedback on board. I think I may start with a redesign of the leaflet - at the moment its A5 but maybe reduce to postcard size?!

To date I have distributed over 2000 leaflets and had 1 reply

 

[jamesmd]

is this for your lingerie business?

you need to think about who you want to reach, and then how best to reach them.

for example, if you did leaflet distribution, how many male students would be the lone recipient of the leaflet? how many women over 50? how many men?

the royal mail "mailshots online" is the probably the best way to reach your customers, if it is for lingerie.

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/jump2?catId=65700705&mediaId=72600709

you can select who will get them, by age, gender, location. you can create or upload your mailshot, either as a letter or leaflet, and it's all delivered by the postman, which means people will be more receptive to it (i.e. picking it up and looking at it with their pile of post)

you don't have to buy the data either, which makes it much cheaper.

again, if it is for your lingerie business, then are there any other ways you can reach your target market? e.g. coffee mornings, perhaps home parties, planning a learn to salsa night with all of your products on display and available to buy...

 

[KELKEL]

Thanks jamesmd - yes it is for my lingerie business - I have just taken a look at the link - I think I may give it a go?

have you used this?

We aer already offering party nights which seem to be doing quite well which I am pleased with.

 

[jamesmd]

i haven't used it myself but have suggested some clients do, and it was very easy for them to set up, create a mailing campaign and get it distributed.

 

[jamesmd]

also you could take a look at www.signposter.com - real proper adverts on real billboards, bus stops and phone boxes.

you can either upload your ads or create your ads on the website using their templates, find a ad site where you think your target audience are and stick an ad up there for 2 weeks! they sort out printing and putting it up, etc.

 

[jamesmd]

and, by-the-by, if you would like any help with ad creative/design, etc, drop me a pm...

 

[Jacob F]

I run a distribution company. I also distribute my own leaflets which I find brings me in a fair number of clients. The point is and as others have grasped, its a cheap direct form of marketing that needs to be done in conjunction with other forms to compliment your business. I advertise via google adwords, leaflets, word of mouth, newspaper and trade adverts as I see the benefits of each. I always encourage my clients to look at where they are distributing, you've paid to design and print the leaflets so spending 5 minutes speculating where your customers might live or work is worth the effort.

 

[pur_wpd]

Hiya = i would do a small one and then scale up if it works - start with a few hundred and work up = this is what i used to do. No point in spending loads if you dont get the return that you want. It is good to do this in combination with other things - ie networking, local PR, google, sales. Do everything just a little bit and see the response and what works for you!

I am doing that just now. I had a free printing offer on 150 postcard sized for £8.60 (down from £14.50) - which I'll be distributing at a few independant shops and small businesses locally. So be interesting to see what my return of investment will be!

 

[BuilderMan]

Hi I am a builder in NW London and leaflets are a fantastic way to advertise especially postcard size as they double up as business cards too. I got 5000 designed and delivered for only £199 from printwebshop.co.uk

 

[mayank89]

You can ask from asa distribution London for leaflet distribution services in London and they also offer job in same.

 

[HazelC]

Obviously this is a very old post, but yes - leaflet distribution works if you have a target audience, a good flyer and a good offer!

 

[mayank89]

Yes its very good as it depends upon the purpose for which you are doing. In the past month we saw that how much every single party for election in UK used this.

 

[Leaflet Distri Experts]

Hi,

Leaflet distribution has been proven to generate one of the highest return on investment ( according to the DNA data ): printing costs nothing and you are more likely to drop a leaflet in a house than avoiding the spam email box.

However do not think printing out thousands of leaflets and delivering them at random would guarantee the success of your leaflet distribution.

You must be sure leaflet distribution would suit your marketing plan: which area am I targeting, how am I going to introduce my services and offers on the leaflets, minding the correct design, thinking the right paper quality...
Otherwise it would just end up straight away to the bin

 

[mayank89]

But some times i think that instead of Leaflet distribution if one company will focus on PPC campaign than it will be much suited for those who have website.

 

[Leaflet Distri Experts]

Well it depends: you can order a leaflet distribution to promote your website and thus increase the traffic instead of using a Price Per Click strategy.

However you are absolutely right when you say that in some cases, leaflet distribution is not the most suitable marketing tool.

I would recommend to strike a balance between an offline marketing strategy and an online marketing strategy. Using both can sometimes provide very good results.

 

[Carl Mintern]

We did a leaflet drop last month to the DT2 postcode, approx 12,000 households. Costs were ~£1500, including decent quality printing of 4 sided a5 flyer (1 sheet a4 folded)

It generated a fair bit of immediate revenue and is still having residual effects.

Like anything else, this only tells half the story. If you have something everyone wants, and it's free, you will sell an infinite number, if you have something no-one wants and it's expensive, you won't sell any. No amount of marketing will effect this.

 

[MBPH]

Memorise a script, memorise responses to the most common objections in your industry and go knock on doors be enthusiastic and properly qualify people for your service/product and you will sell. post a flyer to the people who don't answer.

 

[Shay]

Combine a leaflet drop with door knocking. What better way than to have a conversation with a decision maker whilst leaving them some of your literature? Yes they may not be in the market right now however are more likely to remember the owner of that leaflet/flyer that is pinned to the wall than one that sneaked through the letterbox.

 

[MBPH]

Absolutely Shay! I day of door knocking done right would do wonders for any service buisness!

 

[Shay]

Absolutely Shay! I day of door knocking done right would do wonders for any service buisness!

Indeed. A face to a name works wonders and unless you have a face for radio or are just plain rude there is a good chance you will be remembered over and above the competitors leaflets shoved through the door. Of course knocking on 10k isn't always possible though.

 

[Gemma5686]

The best leaflet distribution company i have used was called CLD cheap - leaflet - distribution .co .uk. Royal mail did not work very well for us as they do not deliver solus and the leaflets ended up being delivered among a lot of other peoples leaflets so the response was really low. We used solus leaflet distribution with CLD and the response was a lot more than we expected, lots of new clients so very happy indeed. Cheap - leaflet - distribution .co .uk uses a very clever bespoke targeting system so leaflet waste is down to a minimum and response rates are as high as they can be. Hope this helps.

 

[bigsie]

The key to successful leaflet drops is high numbers, and repeating the same area's on a regular basis. We are getting around 10k a month delivered, and getting some good work from it.
The hardest part is getting a reliable person to deliver them, we put an advert in gumtree, and had to try a few people before we got the right person. If you looking for good quality flyers, we use double sided 400gsm from peanut print, Think it works out at about £160 per 10k.