The power of offline marketing

Flyer drops

Nowadays we do most of our marketing online but don't be too quick to dismiss marketing activities offline. Getting flyers and leaflets into the right hands can be a great way of promoting your business but only if they end up in the right hands and not in the bin! There is a right way and a wrong to go about flyer dropping.

Don't:

Don't pound the streets dropping flyers through doors. Not only will a large proportion of your flyers end up in the bin but this takes time...a lot of time...a lot of wasted time. And when you run your own business you can't be wasting your time. How do you know who lives behind each door? Are they your ideal customer? If they are then this is by pure luck only. I could drop my jewellery flyer through the door of an all male student house / through the door of an elderly retired couple / through the door of a young couple on a tight budget  - all of whom are totally the wrong audience for me and so my flyers will end up in the bin.

Do:

Instead you want to get bundles of flyers out there or get your flyers onto noticeboards. If I'm in a cafe and I see flyers displayed that I can help myself to, then I will pick out only the flyers that are of interest to me. So for example I won't pick up the flyer advertising baby & mother swim classes because my children are no longer babies - I have no need for these classes and no need to take the flyer. If this flyer is posted through my door then I will bin it but because I have the choice, I won't pick up the flyer and therefore won't waste the flyer. It will remain there until the right person picks it up. 

If a cafe (as an example) doesn't have a set space for bundles of flyers then they may well have a noticeboard. This is ideal because you will only have to use up 1 flyer to reach many. Your flyer will likely be photographed by those interested in your products or services.

Brainstorm places where your ideal customer could potentially be: cafes; restaurants; bistros; gyms; soft play; doctor/dentist surgeries; libraries; church; garages; golf clubs; tennis clubs; etc. Choose a location and pop into each cafe etc and just ask! They can say no but what if they say yes...just do it! Once you've asked in a few places you will get over any nerves that you may have had and will start to take it in your stride. 

You will notice that increased traffic to your website as a result of this flyer drop will be steady and overtime rather than immediate and in one go. You can then re-visit places where you left your flyers to top up or choose a new location. Take notes and make observations for future reference.

One last tip? Pick a dry day and enjoy the exercise or do it as a family day out and discover somewhere new!