We have all seen people with a bundle of flyers in their arms standing on the sidewalk or in the middle of the busiest portion of a mall handing out those handbills. Many people’s reaction would be to politely take the flyer then dump it into a trash can a few steps ahead. This totally defeats the purpose of flyer distribution. There are ways to do this marketing strategy effectively, while not letting the sacrifice of the trees in the rain forests go to waste.
1. Print a large quantity of flyers.
It can be so irritating to see a person giving flyers to anybody who walks past him, and see lots of those flyers scattered all around, most likely unread. The person or company who seeks to market a product or service with the use of flyers can do marketing more effectively if he prints several thousand.
Flyer marketing will also be more effective if the flyers are given directly to the potential customers, the real target market, as you focus on only a small number of people. This will create a very positive impression as it appears very personal. This gives you the opportunity to deal with people face to face, and they will be able to ask questions about what you are offering.
2. Choose your area of distribution well.
Knowing where to give flyers away is half the battle won. Areas where large numbers of people gather like malls, parks, outside school gates, outside churches, markets, entrance/exit of sports arenas and concert halls are good places to distribute flyers. Direct sales and flyer advertising are ideal as they afford you immediate contact with your market. In giving away flyers, it saves you time and money if only you could know who among the people are interested and give the flyers only to those persons. So instead of giving every person who gets near you a flyer, you could place the flyers in an open box on top of a bench or you could hold the box and wait for people to pick one. Not only do you save on paper, you are assured that only the interested ones read the flyer.
3. Do not violate local laws or ordinances regarding flyers.
One of the things that turn people off regarding flyers is the way they add garbage to the environment. Another thing about flyers that ticks people off is the way these are stuffed in mailboxes or inserted into windshield wipers, or given to the uninterested, in effect littering the area. It is only a small matter of etiquette. Besides, by being careful not to upset potential customers is good marketing and in the case of flyering mailboxes – it is a violation of the law. The United States Postal Service has laws against flyering mailboxes. Most towns and cities also have their own laws and ordinances to regulate the distribution of flyers.
4. Get a good design for your flyers.
A big part of marketing involves visuals. If your flyers are not visually appealing, not many would want to get one or they could just as quickly throw it away after you give them one. There are plenty of good design studios that do not charge much for designing flyers. The tone and design of your flyer should leap out of the paper to make it effective. You could either choose to make it appear humorous, absurd, or irreverent for maximum effect. In-your-face type of marketing/advertising has a stronger chance of memory retention and excitement, creating more interest with the reader of the flyer on the product or service being promoted.
5. Hire someone else to distribute your flyers.
If you do not have the time or the personnel to do the distribution of flyers, hire a flyer delivery service. This could cost you as much as having your flyers designed and printed, or you should be so lucky to find a company whose rates are not high, or one that is just starting out and charges a minimal rate to compete with older companies, and to advertise their services. The company you hire could do either one of these services or all of them combined: hand to hand, door to door, and store to store, maximizing the potential to reach a wider audience. Flyer delivery will mean more expenses for you, but it pays to cover a bigger zone.
