General Info & Design Tips for Creating Your Advertising Flyer:
Here’s the facts. Most businesses struggle to effectively advertise in today’s
economy. With the growth and expansion of technologies, marketing is more and
more difficult. Just think about some of the traditional styles of advertising and the
changing environment:
• TV advertising is going by the wayside. With the invention of TIVO, a large
portion of TV viewers never see the light of a television commercial.
• Radio advertising is also going, going and close to gone. With the advent of
Satellite Radio (offering advertisement free radio), businesses struggle to get there
word out via the airwaves.
• Newspaper advertising has not produced results either. Most people these
days get their news online, while at work. The majority of people are going
paperless these days. This is great for the environment, but terrible for business
This is a brief overview of consumers' use of shopping information sources and retail preprints extracted from Major Market Retail Report (MMRR), a study conducted annually by Kubas Consultants (www.kubas.com). Results are based on 1,300 consumer surveys conducted in February 2005 in Canada's six largest markets (Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal), which represents almost half of retail trade in the country.
Consumer Information Sources
General Information *
Consumers more or less need two types of shopping information, one on the types is the products that are to be found in the marketplace, and the second is where to actually make a purchase. The following shows how consumers rate various information sources on the first task, obtaining general product information.
For general product information:
· Flyers and (preprints) are the top choice, along with the internet and catalogues;
· The internet gets the single highest "Excellent" rating, from about 25% of consumers
Shopping Information *
For information on where to shop, results are somewhat different, as shown below.
In this case,
· Flyers are still the top choice, and by a wider margin…
· Flyers also get the highest "Excellent" rating.
There are differences in how information sources are used between the two tasks…however, Flyers are #1 in both cases, but are stronger as a source of local shopping information.
* Provided and printed with permission by Ed Strapagiel of Kubas Consultants (www.kubas.com) of Toronto, Ontario.
Points to keep in mind for designing an effective ad:
1. The purpose of a flyer is to sell. Remember that your message needs to have a purpose and that’s not just to announce your name to the public. You need to make sure you communicate the benefits of your product or service to the public, not just facts about your company. People want to know what you or your product can do for them. What’s your benefit? Why should they choose you over your competition?
2. Include a discount or incentive. People like to save money and if you include a discount that’s only available for a limited time, you create urgency. Urgency gets people out of their houses and into your store.
3. Include a call to action. A call to action is what you want the reader to do after they’ve read your flyer. You can tell them to visit your Web site for more information or to “Call now.” Combining a call to action with a discount works well. For instance, “Call us before Memorial Day to receive 10% off your purchase!”
4. Add testimonials. Use comments from past satisfied customers. Be sure to use comments that are specific to the product, not just “I love this product!” Include a full name, location and a photo if the customer allows. A lot of ads include false testimonials from “Joe S” or other common names that anyone could make up. Testimonials don’t work if they look or sound fake.