Flyer Design

Creating Actionable Flyers

This page will show you how to create actionable flyer designs. The keyword here is 'actionable'. Why? Actionable flyer design is the most critical factor that will determine your return on investment.

If you have just landed on this page and are not sure who Mr Flyer are, well we are a print marketing agency. We have been around since 2011 with the mission to help build your business and build your brand. We do this through printed marketing - be it artwork, print, leaflet distribution, direct mail, hybrid mail, and even by hand assembling printed point of display items.

Over the years we have come across thousands of flyer designs - some good, some great, and some terrible! For the first few years, we tolerated putting out terrible flyers, but eventually, we got fed up of taking the wrap for our customers' low response rates! Enough is enough we thought, and that's when we started to educate our customers on the importance of actionable flyer design, and we recruited an in-house graphic designer. Since then, surprise surprise, response rates for clients have soared! Read on to learn how yours can too.

Flyer Design Case Study

We once had a prestigious solicitors firm ask to do a distribution with us and to use artwork they had already created themselves. Baring in mind solicitors charge about four times our hourly rate for artwork, it doesn't seem logical to use your time doing something you have no skill set in, and what takes you away from receiving your hourly rate, however, that's what they did. The design was terrible. The text size needed a magnifying glass to read. The testimonial covered a third of the page. The image was a low-quality photo of themselves against their signage. The headline was self-serving. It was not remotely clear what the purpose of the flyer was, and there was no call to action. 

We (politely) gave constructive feedback stating we believed changes should take place; otherwise, we feared they wouldn't see a return on their investment. The response was blunt - no, we have discussed it with our board, we like the flyer, we want to proceed. We reluctantly did as they asked. They claimed to have had no response (bearing in mind there was nothing to respond to) and that leaflet distribution as a service must not be effective, so they didn't want to do anything further. They may be good solicitors, but they had no clue about marketing and so broke every rule possible, giving themselves the best possible chance of failure!

Flyer Design Mistakes

Typically the mistakes fall into a few key areas. So here is a brief list of what to avoid doing:

1. No call to action. Starting with the most critical - if you don't ask the receiver to take any action, they won't!

2. Too much content. Less is certainly more when it comes to content. Don't try to sell or explain everything. It's overwhelming and unclear. 

3. No/boring images. Usually, a picture of the outside of your premises has no relevance on the benefit you provide to the receiver, so why show it. 

4. Poor quality. No matter how good your business may be, if your flyer looks like a DIY job, it will be detrimental to business rather than beneficial. 

5. Talking about your business. No one cares about you, your life story, etc. 

Flyer Design Success Secrets

I hope the story (rant!) and five points above will help you avoid their costly mistake (from memory they distributed 10,000 on very premium paper). Unsurprisingly, to benefit from leaflet distribution, direct mail, or any other kind of marketing, you reverse the five points above. Here's how this looks:

1. Clear call to action (CTA). This gives the receiver something to respond to and a possible way to track ROI. A CTA can be a discount, an invitation, a voucher, or a free quote.

2. Concise content. Focus on one subject. Have this as your headline, sub-headline and in your CTA. Back this up with bullet point format on the reverse.

3. Quality, engaging image(s). Ideally stick to one image on the front, and one on the reverse. Show your benefit; for instance, a car dealership can show a happy family driving on a beautiful day (rather than their showroom).

4. High quality. Use a professional and experienced marketing-savvy graphic designer. Many graphic designers can make a flyer look nice, but if they don't understand marketing, then it's not beneficial. We drilled marketing principles into our in-house designer before he touched any client artwork. 

5. Talk about the benefits/problem solved for the receiver. Sticking with the car showroom example, the focus could be on treating your wife to a safer car for your family this mothers day. 

Actionable Flyer Design Implementation

We could write a book on the intricacies of flyer design, and we do have many blogs available on our website on the subject if you would like to learn more. Otherwise, if you would like all the benefits of actionable flyer design without all the birth pain, you can get in touch with us today, and our in-house team would love to help you and your business.