Flyers and stickers are tried and true forms of advertising. Even in 2016, they are still around because they work. Despite social media, viral campaigns and online advertising, you can use flyers and stickers to effectively advertise your business. They are a very affordable marketing measure available to everyone with a possible high impact among your target audience. Learn how to harness that cost-effective power now!
In the following, we have summarized for you how flyers and stickers are very effective marketing measures for your small and medium-sized enterprise. We will also outline what information your design should include in order to maximize impact, and how you should approach distribution of your promotional material.
Flyers and Stickers are Effective Advertising for Your Business
They are cost-effective
When compared to any other form of advertising, flyers and stickers are extremely cost-effective. Online printing offers great quality at affordable prices, so they become an economic option for maximizing your return on investment. Flyers and stickers are a better use of your marketing budget than newspaper, TV, radio, or billboard ads, and they will most likely reach a larger audience.
They are simple
Everyone knows how stickers work, and people understand flyers as informational material. Once you have produced your flyers and stickers, you only need to figure out an effective distribution strategy. The act itself is as simple as handing out your printed items, yet you actually have full control over how and where you distribute your flyers or use your stickers. This allows you specifically target potential customer groups in a straightforward way. No segmented emails and no Adwords campaign required!
People use them
Think beyond the bumper: with an appealing design, stickers become a great giveaway that transforms your customers into advocates of your business. They’ll display brand loyalty by personalizing their possessions with your sticker, from lunchboxes to guitar cases to laptops and other gear important to their daily life, thus spreading the word. Likewise, people tend to save flyers for when they either have an actual need or want to tell a friend about your business. Flyers have a great potential for future conversion.
They are easy to create
Stickers are simple, that’s why they’re so effective. A well-designed logo or catchy tagline is often all it takes. In a similar way, simplification is key when it comes to flyer design. You want to catch the attention of your audience, but don’t overwhelm them. You only need to include essential information and contact details. Below, we’ll also give you important tips on effective design for your flyers and stickers. If you absolutely cannot create your own, prepare as best as you can and hire a designer.
How To Use Stickers Effectively For Advertising Your Business
Stickers are used to get politicians elected, build businesses, raise brand awareness and increase exposure. They are long-lasting and offer a great return on your investment through low cost per impression. You can use them cost-effectively to advertise your business in ways other mediums cannot. Make them interesting and think of stickers as a chance to relate to your audience. That way you can elevate them from a promotional item to a gift or reward you can hand out – people should want to put them on their property.
- Stickers are a physical “like” for your brand, company, or enterprise.
- They have a testimonial effect: Studies show that people still trust personal recommendations. A sticker is exactly that, an offline seal of approval, proclaiming “I associate myself with this.”
- Stickers are powerful because once they appear on personal items, they are no longer perceived as advertising. Instead, they become endorsements that others trust.
- You can use stickers as “swag” – include a sticker with orders or communication you mail out, and hand them out to paying customers. A quality sticker is more perceived as a gift than a business card, for example. If you treat them as something special, you can engage your customers as they will follow your example. They will actively think about how to make good use of your sticker.
- Stickers are not just for giving away. Use them to cost-effectively brand your product, packaging or communication. Spread your message and brand!
To make stickers work for you, tie them in with your other marketing efforts, such as your corporate identity, website, flyers, business cards and your location (your store or office). When designing your stickers, ask yourself who you want to target, where you will find your audience, how you can engage them, what your unique values are and how you can communicate them. Sticker advertising is about a relationship with your customers. You can use stickers in different ways to connect and communicate with your audience and encourage them to advertise for you.
How To Use Flyers Effectively For Advertising Your Business
Before creating your flyer, focus on your goal. Who do you want to reach, and what do you want to achieve? This will inform the content and design of your flyer. You want to draw the attention of your audience and provide them with solid information, a solution or an opportunity – in other words, relevant content. Make smart and intentional choices. The following are possibilities of what to include in your flyer in order to be effective (but depending on your project, by no means do you necessarily need to include all of these):
- Contact Information: People need to know how to reach you. Include your business name, address, phone number, and website. Include social media profiles and pages if you have them.
- A headline: Your headline should communicate what your business is all about. This is the first chance to draw the reader in, so make it good!
- Visual elements: Use great photography or informative illustration to get your point across and show what you can offer. Images should be appealing and outline a positive element or create a positive emotion.
- Branding: Don’t forget to include your corporate identity. Your customers need to recognize your business by your logo.
- Layout and composition: Structure all information in a way that makes your flyer easy to read and skim. Use a subtle and unified theme for your design. Organize information with bullet points and sub-headlines. Use images to break up text and illustrate ideas, and include empty space to provide clarity and rest for the eye.
- Key facts: What are the most important points you want to communicate?
- Offers: Are you using a discount or special deal to promote your business? Let customers know if they can take advantage of a special opportunity.
- Values: Tell readers how your business is unique. You can use value propositions, testimonials, awards or media coverage to let people know you’re doing a great job and they should choose you.
- Call to action: You need to end on a strong call to action so readers of your flyer will know what to do: act now, register today, call now, take advantage of the limited offer. Use active language and instill a slight sense of urgency if possible.
With these elements, you can create a flyer that fits your goals and the personality of your business. Remember, only include what is necessary for your communication!
Effective Distribution Of Your Flyers And Stickers
Once your stickers and flyers are created and printed in high quality, you need to distribute them creatively. Handing them out indiscriminately can literally equal throwing away your money, so put some effort into planning out your distribution. Customers always want to know how they will benefit, so you need to engage them in ways that they can see what’s in it for them.
You better not use your stickers to paste them all over town. Instead, as we’ve outlined above, you can brand your product or packaging with them in tasteful moderation. Treat them as something special and create a perceived rarity. Your customers will accept them as gifts of value. Include them in orders you mail out and hand them out with purchase in your store.
Flyers are more straightforward advertising, and depending on the size of your print run and the volume of your campaign, you will need to hire someone to distribute them. In any case, you can scout the best areas for doing so.
- You can pay a distributor to put your flyers in mailboxes, stick them in doors and under windshield wipers. This is a scattershot approach where you will see more return the higher your volume is. You should at least narrow this effort to areas where your target audience can be found.
- Try to engage your customers where they are. Many local businesses have boxes or boards for flyers. From the yoga studio to the coffee shop, book store, carwash or hardware store, pick the locations which are frequented by your target demographic.
- Depending on your business, you can hand out flyers at public events such as presentations, shows, and fairs.
- You can send a bunch of flyers to choice clients, asking them to circulate them in return for a reward, such as a discount, free service or upgrade.
- In the neighborhood of your store or business, you can do a special promotion: purchase some cheap door hanger bags, stuff them with a flyer, business card and a sticker and hang them on doors in your neighboring community. You’d be surprised how many people live close to your business and don’t know yet it exists.
- Ask your business associates to hand out your flyers for you for a fee.
- Use a digital version of your flyer to promote your business on social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or LinkedIn. Remember not to spam anyone. Done the right way, you can get shares and likes this way.
- Print your flyer in poster size to display it outside your business on the sidewalk, if possible, or hang it in the window of your shops and in other locations.
- Get an outdoor flyer dispenser tray so people can still take a flyer from your business even when you’re closed or they are just passing by.
- Hand out a flyer at the point of purchase. This works best if your flyer offers some kind of discount or incentive for a future purchase.
- Attend suitable neighborhood and community events and distribute flyers there.
Use flyers and stickers to effectively advertise your business now and get a quote for high quality stickers and flyers. How are you using these two items to market your small or medium-sized enterprise? Let us know in the comments!