Leaflets are effective marketing tools but they can be quite unforgiving for those who cannot execute and deliver properly. On the other hand, if done well, they are simple, cheap and they can most certainly do the job.
Keep in mind though that regardless of what materials you use or how much effort you put into creating your leaflets, it will definitely cost you a certain amount of money and there is no point in spending on something that gets ignored or dumped straight in the bin.
Despite common but false public perception, leaflets don’t always get ignored or immediately consigned to the recycle bin. In other cases, people do keep the leaflets.
The question is, how do I ensure my leaflet is noticed and retained by the recipient?
You would ideally want them kept long enough for them to be used to purchase your product or service or perhaps to refer it to their friends and family. Here are some of the ways you can make sure that your leaflets will have a longer shelf life than usual:
Get Noticed
Advertise regularly and target carefully! Let people know about your product or service.
One rule of advertising is to be consistent and persistent. Statistics show consumers register a brand or a product in their mind after seeing a particular advert at least three times. Aid your leaflets with other forms of advertising to help reinforce your brand. In that way, they won’t be a stranger to your product once they receive your leaflet and the likelihood of them keeping your leaflet for future reference increases exponentially.
Incentives
Offer discount vouchers or other types of promos with your leaflets. This technique will definitely get people to keep your leaflet longer – until when they intend to use it.
Not only that, they could also share it with family and friends whom they think would be interested in redeeming your discount or promotion.
Keep the expiry dates for an amount of time that is not so long they forget about your offer. Make sure that you keep your customers interested, create hype around the product and the discounts or promotion you are offering. This is a good way of reminding them about the leaflet and increases the likelihood of them availing themselves of your product or service.
Repurpose
Make leaflets that can be repurposed. Perhaps this is the best way to ensure a long shelf life for your leaflet.
This requires a certain amount of creativity on your part. A great example would be to distribute leaflets that can be used as bookmarks as well. This may cost a little bit more than the regular run-of-the-mill design but if a longer shelf life is what you are after, the extra cost will pay for itself from new businesses through your bookmark leaflets.
You also can keep them small, say credit card size but listing all your contact information in a clean, precise manner.
By using this technique people will keep your leaflet as a contact reference much like a calling card, safely in their purse or wallet sometimes for weeks on end. No other advertising can do this.
