[Mike Halliday]

adverts have to be even better than leaflets as they are fighting for attention with everything else on the same page, they need a strong headline or photo to grab the reader who might be just scanning the page.

leaflets have  no competition for the readers eye.... its in their hand in front of their face

[Nick Attwood]

I like to think I’m quite good a leaflet / flyer design but what shocks me is the lack of anyone willing to share there designs in the UK!!!

[Mike Halliday]

my file is too big i'll try and resize it, until then here's some American example

[Mike Halliday]

my leaflet not the greatest in the world but it does the job

[bennymon]

The van looks amazing mike. I know it's miles away but I thought I saw you when i was on holiday in Devon last week .

[benny d]

No that was the van from Monkey World...

[wayne zabel]

Is it wise to make wide ranging comments and promises on leafltets.

Those American ones above say "No stain/spot we cant handle" and "pet stain specialists"


If you get there and cant get it out arent you making yourself look unprofessional.

[benny d]

I never promise anything, except to do as good a job as possible.

[Carpet Dawg]

Is it wise to make wide ranging comments and promises on leafltets.

Those American ones above say "No stain/spot we cant handle" and "pet stain specialists"


If you get there and cant get it out arent you making yourself look unprofessional.

The majority carpets in American homes are 100% synthetic.

[Nick Attwood]

Is it wise to make wide ranging comments and promises on leafltets.

Those American ones above say "No stain/spot we cant handle" and "pet stain specialists"


If you get there and cant get it out arent you making yourself look unprofessional.

The majority carpets in American homes are 100% synthetic.

That surprises me! I was under the impression that there was more wool carpet in the states than anything else!!

[ian harper]

No Offer
No Exp Date

So No Reason To Buy

[wayne zabel]

Is it always needed to have an offer?I have adverts in A5 magazines put through the door.I have no offers and exp dates on them,but get lots of work from them.

People call because they need/want a carpet cleaner surely.

[V_Purcell]

Yes no offer, or call to action on the leaflet/flyer or ad

[Mike Halliday]

No Offer
No Exp Date

So No Reason To Buy

The sad thing is in a few months time someone will regurgitate that statement when marketing is mentioned not because they have tried and tested various marketing ideas but because they just read it on CIU. I have seen the same thing on a bigger scale when I listened to Joe Polish say exactly the same thing then he quoted the statement made in a book by another famous marketeer as proof..... it's all secondhand, pass-me-down information

And that the problem with sound bite marketing, its just opinion posted and said so often it starts to be seen as the truth.

before you take notice of statements like that you need to ask is it applicable to my marketing campaign.

[Craigp]

No Offer
No Exp Date

So No Reason To Buy

I don't do any offers, and don't even mention price in advertising, not even 'competitive prices' (because they're not) yet I'm busy.

[garry22]

The sad thing is in a few months time someone will regurgitate that statement when marketing is mentioned not because they have tried and tested various marketing ideas but because they just read it on CIU. I have seen the same thing on a bigger scale when I listened to Joe Polish say exactly the same thing then he quoted the statement made in a book by another famous marketeer as proof..... it's all secondhand, pass-me-down information

And that the problem with sound bite marketing, its just opinion posted and said so often it starts to be seen as the truth.

before you take notice of statements like that you need to ask is it applicable to my marketing campaign.

I had a conversation with Joe a few years ago.

I was amazed at the depth of testing he did; even down to the colour of the paper (yes, that's why the "big" leaflets are pink). If he makes a statement, he usually has some facts and figures to back it up.

I've also been lucky enough to spend some time with (allegedly) the highest paid copywriter in the UK. He introduced me to split testing, especially with websites and adwords.

If I sent him a piece for review without an offer or a time limit it would get sent straight back. Why? Because his test figures show that including them gets a higher conversion rate.

In fairness, there will be slight differences in approach when dealing with "cold" marketing as opposed to contacting existing clients but I presume this discussion is about looking for new business.

To the people above who are knocking Ian's statement, I would say this. If you have tested both approaches (with or without offers etc) and found "without" pulls better then great, well done. If you have not tested, then may I respectfully suggest that you may be getting less return than you could be for the same expenditure.

[wynne jones]

How many leaflets do you have to bung out a months now Mike?

[Mike Halliday]

Wynne we now have our own guy  working 4hrs a day.normally he get out about 3.5k a week but for the last month he has only been spending half his time leafleting and rest working on jobs with us as we are so busy.

my  son & I also do about 1500 a week betreen jobs

The thing about  quoting marketing information is its not universal, if someone gave me a leaflet and said "we are going to put out 20k"   the  first thing I would ask is "after the first 20k will you do a second drop" if they no we are only doing the 1 leaflet campaign then I would say "put on a special offer and  expirey date, you need to maximise the response."

If they said they were going to do an ongoing campaign then they need to alter how the leaflet comes across you don't want to be seen as the DFS  of the carpet cleaning world...... who has a never-ending,.... ' just this weekend' special offer.

Most direct marketing is a single shot at the customer it needs a response from that hit as the next day it's in the bin, so you need a call to action and specail offer, but if you are in for the long game then you don't need them to call this month let them call when they are ready

I don't disagree with special offers ( I use one myself) or time limits but its not a black and white situation.

Ians answer above falls into same category as when some one asks "what's the best prespray"..... And someone answers   2 words....... " power burst" as though  the question was so simple it required no further elaboration.
......................

Would this be ok?....

Special offer 2 week only..... Half price coffins..... Call NOW TO RESERVE YOURS......Great if you are planning on dying this week

[wynne jones]

The thing is Mike you have it nailed and the big factor is not how efficient your leaflet is it's your capacity for consistent volume at a reasonable cost of time and money. The factors people rarely talk about are distribution SYSTEMS, cost AND frequency.

What I do believe in, like Garry is proper testing so that you KNOW what is the best leaflet for you, but no one I know does it in a way that makes sense. Most people will at best get 10k in one design and 10k in another and the better one wins.

The problem is you don't really know why one did better than the other. Was it the day you sent them out, the street you delivered them to, the title of the leaflet or the picture or what?

You have to put them out with 1 change, perhaps the title say and put one in one door and the other in their neighbors and get them all out that day. Only then can you know one is better than the other and why.

Nobody does it because its a PITA and takes time and that goes against human nature but its the only surefire way to improve effectiveness .   

[Craigp]

If you are doing this split testing Wayne or Gary, you must have the super evolved leaflet by now that works gang buster, can we see it please? save us doing all the work, pmsl

But really it would be interesting to see what 'that' leaflet looks like.