Response to leaflets

[graemepirie]

My business depends on leaflet delivery for my customers. Although I deliver over 40K every month, I'm wondering if I'm getting as good a response as I could.

As a sort of mini survey I'd be very interested in the response rates that anyone else using leaflets gets, along with the type of business they're in.

 

[CKG]

When I did a leaflet drop for new central heating systems & boilers the response rate consistantly came in at 0.02%

Remember this is a once in a decade or more purchase.

 

[RobertB]

We have used leaflets to promote our window blind company, lots of hard work if you delivery yourself, expensive to have delivered (typically £35/K)and with an average responce of 0.025% not a great ROI.

I have found that leaflets work best by leaving them with customers for them to give to friends with a personal recommendation

 

[Call Tracker]

A normal response to un-targetted consumer mailing is about 1.5%. We carry out B2B mailings on a regular basis and the response has dropped off a little lately. The only way to measure your success is to get a clear picture of exactly how much it costs you per lead. Try allocating a specific call to action on each piece and test it in smaller quantities to guage what offers are working.

If you feel this method isn't working anymore, change the offer or try something new. The only way to do this though is to track what calls and responses you have had then you can re-allocate the spend elsewhere once you find out if it's no longer a successfull route to market.

 

[Mark Pocock]

"We have used leaflets to promote our window blind company, lots of hard work if you delivery yourself, expensive to have delivered (typically £35/K)and with an average responce of 0.025% not a great ROI."

AND

"When I did a leaflet drop for new central heating systems & boilers the response rate consistantly came in at 0.02%"


So why the heck don't you two guys
write a Special Report on your respective
promotions and advertise the report?

You then market to those people who request
your report. You're not interested in everyone. Only
your target market.

cheers Mark

 

[Kev Jaques]

My business depends on leaflet delivery for my customers. Although I deliver over 40K every month, I'm wondering if I'm getting as good a response as I could.

As a sort of mini survey I'd be very interested in the response rates that anyone else using leaflets gets, along with the type of business they're in.

Are you split testing these leaflets?
40k of the same leaflet is poor testing. Depending on the leaflet most people pick them up and head straight for the recycle bin (well if they're green )
What message does the leaflet give? Could it be better?

At your current ROI, I would say there is room for improvement and testing, for a reasonable hourly rate I'm sure I could improve upon your leaflets, you have nothing to lose.

 

[BootCamp]

Soo what your saying is, for me to reach my target of 30 people per class, working on the 1.5% ROI on average of leafleting, I need to dish out 2000?

Seems reasonable to me, design and priting cost of that, about £75, deliver £80, total outlay = £155.

Return = £5 x 30 people = £150. Minus instructor costs = £100.

2 sessions sees me in profit from that.

Cool

 

[stugster]

Computer support with call to action and 10% discount voucher: 4% response rate.


Insecure wireless network - targeted to the house - outlining the fact they could get humped by hackers - 10% response rate.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Best response we've had from a clients leaflet campaign so far is (with a rough estimation based on previous months sales) 6%.

I've said this before and I'll say it a million times again. What you write on that leaflet can mean the difference between hundreds of new sales, and absolutely none. It's the words you put on there and their layout which makes a massive difference.

Writing benefit driven sales copy is not easy and it's an art in itself so if you haven't studied marketing and haven't studied sales psychology it's very likely that the copy on the leaflet is poor at converting readers into sales. Telling a reader what your business is, what you do and what your number is isn't sales copy, doesn't SELL your service and doesn't convince them.

 

[Fuel]

Writing benefit driven sales copy is not easy and it's an art in itself so if you haven't studied marketing and haven't studied sales psychology it's very likely that the copy on the leaflet is poor at converting readers into sales. Telling a reader what your business is, what you do and what your number is isn't sales copy, doesn't SELL your service and doesn't convince them.

I must admit, your contribution does show you to have good copywriting skills.

 

[CKG]

One thing to remember whan tlking about response rates is that whilst 0.02% may sound crap.

But you can only know what a good response is by understanding the maths behind your market.

If my 10,000 boiler flyers could achive a 1% response rate - I'd get very rich very quickly.

But I know my market fairly well and know that with the best copy writing in the world I could never get a 1% response as the market just isn't big enough.

I'd be very happy for someone to prove me wrong though. (There's £10K in used 20s + future royalties waiting for someone that can produce me a 1% response rate flyer!)

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

CKG if you send me the an image of your leaflet over I'll be happy to tell you how much better the response rate could be. Depends on how good your copy is already.

 

[Fuel]

Flyer-success should also depend on the product/service being offered. Pizzas would look as if they satisfy a more frequent need than boilers do. Pizza flyers should thus do way better, albeit at a smaller return per item sold.

I work for a locksmith company, and we have stayed away from flyers, for fear they might bore the recipients stiff, should they currently not need a locksmith.

Scott-SCD, I somehow think you'll say now, that we are all wrong with this

 

[graemepirie]

Interesting replies thanks. My business is domestic cleaning. My response is anywhere between 0.05% and 0.25% depending on the area. The average is around 0.1%.

I've now put out almost 2 million leaflets and do find there is definitly a brand awareness after 2 or 3 drops in the same area.

This seems to be roughly comparable to the rest of you.

Any comments on improving the leaflets are more than welcome!!! I use 300gm gloss paper & they're A6 size.

http://www.maid2clean.org.uk/flyer.pdf

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Flyer-success should also depend on the product/service being offered. Pizzas would look as if they satisfy a more frequent need than boilers do. Pizza flyers should thus do way better, albeit at a smaller return per item sold.

I work for a locksmith company, and we have stayed away from flyers, for fear they might bore the recipients stiff, should they currently not need a locksmith.

Scott-SCD, I somehow think you'll say now, that we are all wrong with this

It's true to a degree. Response rates will usually go down in relation to cost, so it's best to measure by ROI (or conversion rate in relation to your product/service). For a large quantity of smaller profit items you should be looking at increasing the sales conversion rate by whole percentages.

However when it comes to selling something like cars you'll be tweaking the conversion rate by anything as low as 0.001% at a time. However this still equates to thousands of pounds of extra profit.

As for the locksmith company it depends on which angle you use. You can introduce fear in the lack of security a person has for their home, then offer a solution in making their house secure so they never get burgled if they buy what you're offering.

You can also design the leaflet so it should be kept for when it is required. If you add a discount code on it which never expires and use the right copy, you can persuade the reader to keep the leaflet for when they eventually need a locksmith.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Interesting replies thanks. My business is domestic cleaning. My response is anywhere between 0.05% and 0.25% depending on the area. The average is around 0.1%.

I've now put out almost 2 million leaflets and do find there is definitly a brand awareness after 2 or 3 drops in the same area.

This seems to be roughly comparable to the rest of you.

Any comments on improving the leaflets are more than welcome!!! I use 300gm gloss paper & they're A6 size.

http://www.maid2clean.org.uk/flyer.pdf

Ouch, it could do with HUGE improvement. The design for a start could be modernized and the readability of the copy could be greatly improved.

Then you need copy which SELLS. There's a small amount of it but your leaflet basically tells the reader the features, it isn't benefit focused. There's two headlines and neither of them will really grab someones attention, it also scatters the readers focus in too many directions.

Your copy should tell the reader that they want a maid and why they want a maid. It should also tell them why they should chose you and also dispel any negative issues the reader would have. This then gets the highest number of people giving you a call or visiting your website so you can continue the sales process from there.

 

[graemepirie]

Ouch, it could do with HUGE improvement. The design for a start could be modernized and the readability of the copy could be greatly improved.

Then you need copy which SELLS. There's a small amount of it but your leaflet basically tells the reader the features, it isn't benefit focused. There's two headlines and neither of them will really grab someones attention, it also scatters the readers focus in too many directions.

Your copy should tell the reader that they want a maid and why they want a maid. It should also tell them why they should chose you and also dispel any negative issues the reader would have. This then gets the highest number of people giving you a call or visiting your website so you can continue the sales process from there.

We've tried a few different versions over time & none seem to give a better result - but I do agree it's very outdated. That was really my motivation for raising the subject in the first place, whilst I'd always say "if it ain't broke don't fix it", if I could double the response that would make a big difference.

Go on then - PM me a quote!

 

[jjinlondon]

Flyer-success should also depend on the product/service being offered. Pizzas would look as if they satisfy a more frequent need than boilers do. Pizza flyers should thus do way better, albeit at a smaller return per item sold.-)

Depends on the Pizza company - got a leaflet through today that spelled the following:-

callection, tursday, plusse.

Hmm guess where that leaflet went?

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

We've tried a few different versions over time & none seem to give a better result - but I do agree it's very outdated. That was really my motivation for raising the subject in the first place, whilst I'd always say "if it ain't broke don't fix it", if I could double the response that would make a big difference.

Go on then - PM me a quote!

It can definitely be increased that's for sure. The great thing about copywriting and marketing improvement like this is that it's a small cost to improve the ratio of sales. So you would end up making thousands of pounds of extra profit over many months or years, same goes for anyone.

I shall send one over!

 

[CKG]

Another thing is..

Say I punt out 10,000 leaflets and get a response of 0.02%, marketing man works his magic and upps my responses to 0.04%.

He gets bragging rights to increasing my sales through a flyer campaign by 100% by simply using a different shade of red - or some other miniscule change.

The problem is the % increases at this distribution and response level are so small you can never be sure what is causing them.

It could be a run of luck, time of the month, a special offer on loans at a bank or simply because the sun is shining.

So to my mind I really need to be dropping hundreds of thousands of flyers in one go to be able to test and measure responses accurately.

what do you think?

 

[stugster]

My opinion is if your response rates are so low, and you're going to have to send out so many flyers, then perhaps flyering isn't the right marketing avenue for your business?

 

[graemepirie]

Another thing is..

Say I punt out 10,000 leaflets and get a response of 0.02%, marketing man works his magic and upps my responses to 0.04%.

He gets bragging rights to increasing my sales through a flyer campaign by 100% by simply using a different shade of red - or some other miniscule change.

The problem is the % increases at this distribution and response level are so small you can never be sure what is causing them.

It could be a run of luck, time of the month, a special offer on loans at a bank or simply because the sun is shining.

So to my mind I really need to be dropping hundreds of thousands of flyers in one go to be able to test and measure responses accurately.

what do you think?

If a simple colour change does generate more leads then the marketing man does deserve the credit for the change.

I agree a high volume needs to be done to prove the change works - particularly if the response rate is as low as that.

 

[Fuel]

At this juncture, leafletting with 1/10 % return does not feel all that profitable.

With quite some guesswork, I'd calculate this as follows:

10K leaflets, including design, print and distribution = £1000

1/10% = 10 leads result from the leaflet drop.

Convert half of them into a sale = 5 sales

Say you have 100% mark-up on your product.

Conclusion: Each sale has to bring in £400 to be breakeven.

I guess, my calculation is wrong somewhere. But where?

 

[graemepirie]

10K leaflets will cost around £300 for delivery (printing is negligible).
In my case I convert a lot more than 50% - giving a cost per client of around £25.

My service is a recurring one so effectively the first months revenue from each client pays for the leafleting.

 

[Kev Jaques]

I would say you need to split test, try doing half with a change of picture on the front and a different headline, something along the lines of a man or woman sitting in a comfy chair with a headline saying would you like to do this? we take the hard work out of running your home so your free to enjoy it. that's pretty rough around the edges but it has shifted the mindset of the receiver into a benefit in 2 easy hits.

 

[vgbear]

Hi

These figures are way over.

I know someone who is charging £99.00 for 10,000 A5 leaflets printed, and we only charge £18.00 per thousand so £180.00 to deliver them.The whole lot would only cost £279.00 rather than a £1000.00.

Also I have noticed that no one mentions that people also put details away to use in the future so although you may not get a high take up straight away, you may get people in a couple of weeks or months after who may use you.

Im terrible for keeping leaflets just in case and when I needed my bolier doing I used details I had put to one side, and I keep every take away menu I get.I think this is partcularly true of things you only use occasionally such as things for parties, gardening, services etc.

At this juncture, leafletting with 1/10 % return does not feel all that profitable.

With quite some guesswork, I'd calculate this as follows:

10K leaflets, including design, print and distribution = £1000

1/10% = 10 leads result from the leaflet drop.

Convert half of them into a sale = 5 sales

Say you have 100% mark-up on your product.

Conclusion: Each sale has to bring in £400 to be breakeven.

I guess, my calculation is wrong somewhere. But where?

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

At this juncture, leafletting with 1/10 % return does not feel all that profitable.

With quite some guesswork, I'd calculate this as follows:

10K leaflets, including design, print and distribution = £1000

1/10% = 10 leads result from the leaflet drop.

Convert half of them into a sale = 5 sales

Say you have 100% mark-up on your product.

Conclusion: Each sale has to bring in £400 to be breakeven.

I guess, my calculation is wrong somewhere. But where?

Well check out our prices for design, print and leaflet distribution packages http://www.flyerservices.co.uk/prices.html.

 

[Fuel]

Scott-SCD, in terms of distribution, you naturally miss out on the great London market. But perhaps you could export some of your copy-writing skills down south?

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Scott-SCD, in terms of distribution, you naturally miss out on the great London market. But perhaps you could export some of your copy-writing skills down south?

Yep I provide copywriting services via SCD Marketing all over the UK and anywhere in the world if someone from another country would like to work with me.

Ahh the powers of the internet

 

[aqua-chris]

we tend to get anywhere between .25 and 1% which isnt great. For the same amount of money spent on e-shots done correctly we got a much higher ROI

 

[BootCamp]

we tend to get anywhere between .25 and 1% which isnt great. For the same amount of money spent on e-shots done correctly we got a much higher ROI

E-Shots??

Talk to me! What are they?

 

[mattlast005]

You are probably going to get people recommending e-mail marketing to you and more than likely this is going to be better for you. But I can understand if you want to monitor the effectiveness of your leaflet campaign to know your actual ROI. For this I would recommend you having a look at this software www.leadbeast.co.uk.

There is not another solution out there in the market like LeadBeats that can track your online and offline marketing. Sure there are a lot of analytics software packages that do this but what seperates LeadBeast is the fact it integrates with NGN's.

Hope this helps and hope you start getting in the business.

 

[BusinessIdeas]

I have just read the entirety of this thread, and I must say that I think that it is one of the most informative and reasoned that I have seen in quite a while on a forum. - Gina

 

[stugster]

Congratulations. You've resurrected a thread over 1 year old with mindless waffle about your services. As a result, you've probably guaranteed that nobody on UKBF will choose to use your services should they see this.

 

[A1Leafletdistribution]

Congratulations. You've resurrected a thread over 1 year old with mindless waffle about your services. As a result, you've probably guaranteed that nobody on UKBF will choose to use your services should they see this.

My bad, I apologise I am new to this forum, and it seems to me that ever page I look at somone is plugging something.. I take your point and will watch my step... Forgive me.

I am in the process of writing a very long and relevant thread now, no pluggin included.

 

[Mike W]

I have just read the entirety of this thread, and I must say that I think that it is one of the most informative and reasoned that I have seen in quite a while on a forum. - Gina

I've just read the entirety of this thread ....and then realised it's 18 months old!