10 Tips for Writing Effective Flyers from A1 to A5
The flyer is an important promotional tool, one used by many businesses from start-ups to global corporations. With the right content presented well, it can be the tool that really makes your business, product or service stand out.
Or, it can sink without trace, barely being noticed by your target audience.
Writing an effective flyer takes practice, as well as an appreciation of some of the finer skills in presenting information in a way that is eye-catching…
#1 Keep it brief (and then briefer still!)
Texts, short video clips and so on have contributed to a shorter attention span thus, your target audience will accord your flyer only a brief amount of time to make an impression.
If it doesn’t hit the right notes as soon as possible, attention has been lost.
When it comes to written content, it needs to not only be presented well but written in a way that is snappy and attention grabbing.
Whether the flyer is a delightful 59cm by 84 cm (A1) or a compact 15cm by 21cm (A5), stay away from long sentences – “Call today to find out everything about all of our products” – and stick with short, snappier sentences – “Call now for more information!”.
A note on exclamation points – use too many and your message becomes insincere. Use sparingly, if at all.
#2 Organise it
When people self-design flyers, they seem to forget how we read. In the Western world, we read from left to right, usually starting at the top and working our way down.
Stick with this tried and tested formula and organise your information in a logical fashion. This means bullet points, shorter sentences (try to keep sentences to a 14-word limit) and graphics should explain or support the points you are making.
#3 Catchy headline
10% off today only
Buy 1, Get 1 Free!
Want to make money?
Try this and never look back
All these headings have one thing in common – they are snappy and enticing. Asking a question is one way of inviting people to look for the answer, or maybe you just want to hit them with why they need this leaflet.
#4 Make the benefits VERY obvious
The purchase decision is deceptively simple. People buy something, a product or a service, because they need it; in other words, there is a benefit to buying it. This can be taking the stress out of washing your kid’s hair in the bath, to a personal shopper and delivery service giving a customer back hours every week they would spend walking up and down supermarket aisles.
#5 Proofread, check and proofread again – and get someone else to check as well
When we write something, we are so close to it, we sometimes cannot see the mistakes, no matter how big they are. Small mistakes are easily missed and things that are obvious when the final leaflets are printed, were invisible when your proofread it.
Using an independent person is also great for getting feedback on your leaflet. Is it saying the right things? Is it attractive?
#6 Call to action
Even if you consider your leaflet to be information-giving rather than selling, including a call to action is a must. It can be anything from ‘log on now’ to your website, or ‘call us today’.
An effective call to action tells a customer what they should do and how to do it.
#7 Know your audience
Before you start creating fancy designs or hiring a designer, consider who your leaflet is aimed at. The tone needs to fit with your intended audience, as does the design and the colours.
In fact, at this point, you may want to ask yourself is a flyer the right promotional tool to use? Would another brilliant product from Colour Graphics be better?
#8 Relevant information
Customers don’t need the life story of the product or the event. They want relevant information. So, if the craft fair starts at 2pm on Sunday, 28th August 2016 then tell people that – and do so clearly.
#9 Contact information at the bottom of the flyer
It is a logical sequence that when someone has finished reading flyers and leaflets that if they want to know more, or who you are, that this information is at the bottom of the flyer.
Depending on what you are offering, you may need to include your full contact details for legal reasons.
#10 Legible font
And finally, all the hard work, hours of research, creating words and putting them in the right order will be lost if the fonts you choose are illegible.
Edwardian Script may be your favourite font but frankly, if your audience can’t read it, the leaflet is useless.
Now you have your leaflets and flyers, how will you distribute them?