Being a small business owner, you’re constantly looking for ways to promote your small business.
There are lots of marketing guides out there which discuss all aspects of digital marketing, from email marketing to video marketing. But how about going back to the basics?
Flyers are a great example of traditional marketing that works. Here are 6 ideas which will convince you and help you design the perfect flyers.
1. Flyers get your message across for cheap
While other forms of marketing, like hiring a marketing team or professional, building a fast website, paying for guest blogs, or renting advertising space, can really drain your budget, the same is not true for flyers.
You can mass-print a lot of flyers for extremely cheap and cut costs further by designing them yourself. To avoid the hassle and cost of hiring a designer, you can scroll through the large collection of fully customizable small business flyer templates at PosterMyWall.
As a small business, your budget is likely tight, and creating your own flyers further reduces the cost of an already cheap promotional option.
2. They’re perfect for advertising special events
Whether you’re announcing a special discount for loyal customers or holding a seasonal sale, flyers are a great form of advertising.
This is because there are so many ways you can advertise a variety of special events on a flyer.
- You can vary layouts according to the event. For example, a clothing sale could use a more text-heavy layout. However, if you run a bakery or cafe, you could incorporate pictures of the food into your flyers, making that the focus. (Learn more about this in Tip #4.)
- You can even distribute the finished product in a number of ways. There are good old-fashioned print flyers, which you can put up around the neighborhood and in community centers. But the good thing about flyers is that you can even use soft copies in your social media marketing.
3. Use flyers to do effective targeted marketing
Flyers, which are a tangible form of advertising that you can touch and hold in your hand, can be used to appeal to specific demographics as a form of targeted advertising.
Generally, you would put flyers up on bulletin boards, slip them under doors, place them in newspapers, or put them on car windshields. This is a form of marketing that appeals specifically to older citizens who aren’t that familiar with technology.
There’s also another specific demographic you can target using flyers: housewives. Many housewives who stay at home receive and look at print flyers that they receive in the mail with the newspaper, or on their car’s windshield while they are out running errands. Therefore, you can target this demographic effectively using flyers.
4. Pay attention to flyer design
Since you will likely be designing your own flyers to save costs as a small business, it is integral that you understand what goes into a flyer.
The most important aims of a flyer you must keep in mind are for it to be 1) eye-catching, and 2) easy to read. It follows then, that you should use a variety of ways to create an eye-catching yet easy to read flyer.
Some basics are:
- Use visual/typographic hierarchy to your advantage. This refers to ordering elements on a page according to how you want readers to view them. Use bold, colorful fonts at the top or center of the page for the most important information you want to convey, such as the announcement of a sale. The same goes for pictures, if your design is more image-centric.
- Use colors and fonts that correspond to your brand. This will inculcate a sense of familiarity within the reader while improving brand awareness. Include your logo in the flyer to further aid you in this.
- Don’t clutter your design by adding too much text or too many irrelevant images and graphics. Make use of headings and varying font sizes and styles to keep attention engaged. Use graphics in conjunction with text in a way that both complement each other.
5. Use QR codes
QR codes on flyers are a great way to use print marketing to link to other forms of promotion for your small business, such as websites, social media pages, et cetera. They add an extra element of interaction with the flyer.
You can even use QR codes to link to products themselves. Some restaurants, such as Nando’s, even use QR codes on flyers to link diners to their menu.
So, how do you put a QR code on your flyer?
Use a QR code generator to generate it according to your specifications (static or dynamic, what information you want to link to, etc.). Download it and add it to your flyer in an appropriate manner.
This includes giving it a catchy title, description, and a compelling CTA (Call to Action). Additionally, make sure to put the QR code at the top of the page or somewhere else where there’s no chance of it being missed by the reader.
6. Include complete contact information
Now that you have attracted customers using a variety of design choices and interactive elements like QR codes, don’t forget to leave your complete details on the flyer, so people can actually reach you to buy your product or service!
For a sale flyer, the venue and date is essential information. Apart from this, as a general rule, include your location, phone number, email address, and other social media information on each flyer.
For flyers that you mean to post on social media or your website, use followable links or buttons to your email and other social media contact information.
Conclusion
After reading this article, you probably see the value of such a small and easily overlooked marketing tool: the flyer.
These are just some of the ways in which using flyers for promoting your small business is a genius decision. But we’re sure they’re enough to convince you to give it a try!
