Are printed flyers a relevant marketing tool in the internet age?

If you are like me, you’ll have noticed that number of flyers that dropped in to your post box every week is a fraction of what it was even five years ago. These days, business seem to be content with spending their time sending out emails or throwing up things on to their website and Facebook page. Doing everything digitally is quick, simple, and almost cost free. So when you have that why spend time and money having flyers shoved into mail boxes. Because printed flyers can do things that no email or social media post can do.

If you are like me, you’ll have noticed that number of flyers that dropped in to your post box every week is a fraction of what it was even five years ago. These days, business seem to be content with spending their time sending out emails or throwing up things on to their website and Facebook page. Doing everything digitally is quick, simple, and almost cost free. So when you have that why spend time and money having flyers shoved into mail boxes. Because printed flyers can do things that no email or social media post can do.

But how do you reach people you’ve never met? Now you can buy email list from various providers. These providers have lists of upto millions of email address supplied to them from the many websites you sign up for (unless you opt out of being added to such a database.) They are fairly cheap and depending on the provider may have the options to narrow down the data to generalised regions so you only contact the people who could realistically be your customers. So for a few dollars you can include these new names in your next mail out and question why so few or any of the new people respond to it.

It’s because you’ve sent out spam. The simple fact is that because the email systems are so abused by the spammers, most email services have tools to flag and filter email that sent unrequested to their customers. A lot of people also have software on their systems to act as a second level of filter for mail from unknown sources. Finally for most people unless it’s something personal, or relevant to their needs at that moment, most email gets deleted without even being opened.

At this point you are now thinking ‘now that they have run down email marketing, they will make printing flyers look great, because they are printing company.’ We’re the first to admit this bias, we want people print with us, it’s what keeps our business operational. But we are also here to help you get the best value from every marketing dollar, so we know what printed flyers are good for and not so good for. Based on both reading up on marketing trends and from seeing our own customers using flyers we have a pretty good understanding on why flyers make great introduction devices.

It’s not considered as invasive when it’s part of a mailbox drop, and more so when it’s picked up from a stand on a counter. Most digital marketing has to be big, bright, and brief to avoid being deleted right away, while on a flyer you have the space to go in to more detail about you or your products/services. Physical flyers are also a lot easier to read and comprehend than the digital form because the technology doesn’t have the detail that print can have. You have a higher chance of retention with a flyer (especially if you have an offer that isn’t time limited), but who looks at emails that is a couple of weeks old? There’s also the tactile impact of a physical flyer, something that will never be matched by a email on a smartphone.

So the question is where to use flyers to benefit your business? Firstly unless you’re a big business, doing mass mailbox drops is expensive and won’t produce huge results. (That being said, if you are thinking about doing mass mail outs or mailbox drops, we can organise that for you.) A better solution is to use them in a small but targeted fashion. If you’re business that works onsite, trades and real estate being a good examples, then dropping off a flyer in the mailboxes of the neighbouring houses up and down the street is a good way to get attention. If you have a working relationship with various businesses, then ask if you can have a few of your flyers on their counter. If you’re mailing or dropping off an invoice to someone, why not have a couple ‘for a friend discount’ flyers in with it. I’ve seen them put under car windscreen wiper blades, tacked to notice boards, even just standing at the wellington railway station and handing them out to passers by. The only limit is how imaginative you are in getting them out there.

This isn’t the be all and end all of how to use flyers in the internet age. With smart planning not only can you use them to get people’s attention but to also get them to sign up for your Facebook pages, visit your website, and dozen of other nifty ideas that blend the digital with the physical. If you want to know more, just book a time with us at Copy Express and we can help you find the right solution to fit your needs.