In today’s digital age leaflets may be considered old hat in terms of marketing your business, but a well-designed leaflet, which is visually appealing and packed with useful information, can be a cost-effective promotional tool.
Leaflets can be a much more cost effective way of reaching your target audience than paying for online ad campaigns, especially if you are marketing to a local audience where delivering through doors, inserting in a local newspaper or handing out in the streets are good ways of getting your message directly to the people who may be interested in what you have to offer.
Where leaflets can also be superior to many digital advertising packages is in terms of the amount of information you can include. With many online advertising platforms, you are restricted to a limited number of words to get your message across, whereas there is no hard and fast word count limits on leaflets.
Saying that, just because you could get thousands of words into a leaflet, doesn’t mean you should…
Leaflets need a clear Call to Action
A leaflet needs to be visually appealing to draw a potential customer in, with a clear message and call to action directing your reader what step they should take next, eg visit your website or call you.
Big blocks of text can be off-putting and may well lead to your leaflet ending up in the bin, so it’s well worth making sure you have a clear message you wish your leaflet to carry and be as concise as possible in your wording.
Use headers and bullet points
How your leaflet looks at first glance may well be the deciding factor on whether your reader takes the time to read what it has to say or whether they just discard it – effectively wasting your time and money, not to mention the opportunity to gain a new customer.
As well as ensuring the text is well laid out and easy to read by making use of headings and bullet points, you also need to think about the images you include in your leaflet.
There’s nothing to say you have to spend hundreds of pounds having a professional photographer take all your images, but if you are using photos you have taken yourself, make sure they are in focus and of sufficient quality to reproduce well in print.
As well as the layout of your text, you also need to ensure the text itself is legible, so consider the font you use in your leaflet.
There are hundreds of beautiful and fancy fonts out there, but that certainly doesn’t mean you should throw them all at your leaflet – not if you expect it to look good.
Use an easy to read typeface
Stick to a classic font such as Arial for the body text and perhaps consider a contrast font for headings. It’s best to stick to just one or two different fonts maximum.
Your whole design will depend on the format of your leaflet, with many printers offering a wide variety, from the single sheet A5 flyer to folded, gate-folded, z-fold and accordian fold leaflets, not to mention all kinds of presentation folders with loose leaf inserts.
The format, as well as the paper weight and finish (see sidebar), may well be things you need to consider depending on the way you intend to distribute your leaflet. For example, you may choose a lighter weight paper to keep costs down if you are sending it through the post, while some formats such as concertina may not be suitable for insertion in local newspapers.
These are important things to consider when deciding to produce a leaflet as they can have a huge effect on the quality of the finished product.
Leaflet Design & Distribution
If you need help to create a stunning leaflet which does your business justice – and get it out to your potential customers – we can help.
Through Red Shoes Media and Marketing and Chris’ Local Leaflet Distribution we can offer a full design, print and distribution service.
All about the finish…
Paper weight is measured in gsm (grams per square metre of paper). The lower the gsm, the lighter and thinner the paper. For example, typical office printer paper is just 80-100gms, while luxury business cards can be up to 450gsm.
When it comes to leaflets you should probably consider a minimum of 120/130gsm, with 150 or 170gsm being a good option for a real quality feel to your product.
If you are considering a zigzag or concertina style leaflet, a paper weight of 250gsm may be advisable as this will still crease and fold without too much springing open.
Many printers also offer different finishes for the paper used for your leaflet, including uncoated, silk or gloss.
Uncoated can give a softer feel to the finished leaflet, while silk give a more muted and classic impression than gloss.
Author: Tracey Sweetland
Founder of The Business Connection and owner of Red Shoes Media and Marketing, supporting small business owners and helping small business to grow.