Wise advice for getting your printed flyers out there
What is a printed flyer?
Some good information to get your flyers printed. The Oxford dictionary defines a flyer as a small handbill advertising an event or product and is often also referred to as a pamphlet or leaflet. It is usually handed out near the business, at the traffic intersection or popped into your letter box. They vary in size from A4 down to A6 and DL with A5 and A6 portrait being the most popular choices. Size depends on how much information you want to include, the desired layout and what your printing budget allows.
A short history of the printed flyer
These are handy little marketing machines that have been around for a lot longer than you would have thought. Back in the days before the printing press merchants would pass on handwritten notes about the wares they were selling. (I am talking about a long time ago as Gutenberg only got his machine up and running in circa 1445). “What about the wooden stamp made in China that came into existence about 600 years earlier”? I hear you ask. It’s certainly a scholarly question however it is thought that due to the complexity of the written language it was not something that got made quickly so we can rule out flyers on that one. There is one record of them being used in 1765 to win support for the stamp Act in America. As the printing press evolved it became easier and quicker to get flyers printed with the real burst in use from the late ’90s when more people had access to computer printers on their desks. In the past, your decision to have a price special on that range of patio furniture you want to move would not have been an overnight thing.
Why do I need a flyer to advertise?
The advertising flyer is still considered to be one of your most effective ways to get the word out. It allows you to target your potential client base very accurately. For example, if you have opened a coffee shop in a shopping mall you can arrange to have them handed out. Good places are at the main entrances for the incoming flow and on cars’ windscreens as a reminder to the outgoing flow. Most home-based services such as plumbing, house painting or gardening have a good success rate. You can target a suburb of your choice and by having them dropped in the letterbox it is going straight to your potential clients. They are also being delivered at the address where this potential business will originate from!
Things to consider when designing.
Clear as day. Your flyer has to attract attention so think about how clear it needs to be to the reader, you might have some fantastic design ideas but they may not come across very well. Make sure that you have all the important information before worrying about layout and colour. Much like you will dress as neatly as possible for that job interview you will want your flyer to create a very professional and clean appearance.
The information that you intend to include must be short and sweet and easily understood with a generously sized typeface. You will want it set so that as a person glances at the flyer they can immediately realise it is of interest to them and that they would like to know more. If you are going to have a picture of a product you are selling it is best to have as clean and clear a picture as possible. A picture that has distorted colour or is not of a high resolution helps to create the impression that your company is not possibly that professional, too many pictures can also have a negative effect. So now you have created an eye-catching heading and content but do not neglect your contact information and make sure that it is very clear. If you have an easy-to-remember website address then make that bolder or stronger colour.
Loud doesn’t always work. Take some time to understand how your design should reflect the industry you are in or the service you provide. Bright yellows and greens might be great if you are a kid’s party service but will not go down well for a funeral parlour which would benefit from muted tones and very clear text. Don’t be too hesitant to be clever with colour though, one suggestion to consider would be muted tones and then one very strong solid colour to make it pop for a professional corporate look.
Small flyer woes. If you are having to place quite a lot of information on your flyer one way to prevent it from looking a bit jumbled and too busy is to break your design up into sections, for example, have the left side of the flyer as a complete column from top to bottom and then have the right side of the flyer as two smaller columns one above the other. This way you have three clearly defined areas which will go a long way to making it more attractive to the eye. Don’t restrict yourself to just square or rectangular areas a clever placement of a half circle would also look appealing.
To colour or not to colour? Three or so colours on a flyer are great but there is a cost implication to consider depending on your budget and the number of flyers you require. (Check with your printer as there may be little to no cost difference between full colour or 1 colour printing). Now that we have access to full-colour digital printing you can get your hands on very professionally printed flyers on decent gloss art paper with the catch being that it starts to become quite expensive once the volumes go up. If you need to get quite a large volume of flyers printed on a very tight budget then consider a one-colour litho printed flyer on a bond paper just don’t choose a colour that is too light and difficult to read. Speak to your printer about getting your flyers printed and see what the best combination of price, paper, colours and printing process will suit you.
Putting the word on the street
Congratulations, you have your pride and joy of your flyers printed and sitting on your desk but that’s not going to get business, the final step is to have them distributed. Many companies in South Africa will be able to help you get the message out there. Some of the well-known ones to consider are;
As well as several other smaller distributors listed on Tuugo.
One good thing about a flyer compared to advertising in a newspaper, on the radio / TV or in the digital world is that if there is something at home that needs to be repaired or upgraded and is not time-sensitive but has to happen in the near future that homeowner will often keep that flyer to discuss whereas with the other forms of advertising is usually a case of gone and forgotten.
Remember, running a business without advertising is like winking in the dark. You know what you are doing but nobody else does. Keep that in mind and then ask one of our strategists to get the ball rolling on your next flyer print run.
