You might think flyers are outdated, but don’t underestimate the power of posting something on a physical community pin board. It may not be a TV ad, but for the cost (FREE other than printing) it makes sense to give it a shot.

Places that have these are often recreation centres, libraries, coffee shops, or other community buildings. But look specifically for places that your ideal clients and attendants are going to hang out.

So what do you put on your flyer?

This article won’t touch the visual design or headline aspect because those are other very large topics.

However, by understanding the 4 main principles of your communication will let you know how to be as effective as possible.

“Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler” – Albert Einstein

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1. Who is it for?

One of the first questions someone asks when reading a flyer or communication of any kind is… is this for me?

If yes, they can keep reading, if not, they don’t want to waste their time. It’s as simple as that. Making it clearly obvious who you’re targeting is not only beneficial for you, it’s for the reader as well. People it’s not for will be relieved that they didn’t have to spend an extra 25 seconds of their life reading your advertisement. Win win for everyone.

This can be done with one sentence in an obvious place like, “New moms who are looking to exercise again!” Your subject, new moms, is written on there, in plain English (or your chosen language of course).

2. What does it help them do?

This is the BIG benefit, not just the obvious “learn how to start juicing”. Go beyond that.

“Get more energy, feel happier, and have better sex by juicing your produce!” Now that’s descriptive, beneficial, and intriguing. It doesn’t just tell them what they’ll do, it tells them what they get out of it. It addresses the question, what’s in it for me? If you can’t clearly answer this, go back to the drawing board. Until you can, no one will want to know about what you’re doing.

3. How can they learn more?

You need to make sure to include basic information and instructions. This includes the address, date, and time. So, where and when. However, your reader will likely want more information before making the decision to commit to coming to your workshop. So I strongly encourage you to have a page on your website with more detailed information (and registration if you want to get fancy). And instruct your flyer reader that it exists.

4. Inspire them to take action

This might be a little harder to pin down, and it’s often the hardest part of any marketing communication. You might say it’s easy to have a call to action at the bottom like “Call this number to register your spot today”. And by all means, do this at the very least.

But, if you want results, it needs to be inspiring.

Not just your call to action, the entire flyer or communication needs to be inspiring. You want to create some mystery and intrigue, but give enough information so they know what’s going on. You’ll also get more excitement in your flyer from describing the big benefits we talked about in point number 2.

It can also help to bring a social aspect into the reader’s mind by saying, “join 50 other young moms as we discuss…” or something similar. This puts the idea that there are other people out there with the same issue just like them.

And lastly, encouragement through scarcity also helps tremendously. Give them a sense of urgency that they should sign up or look into it quickly. This can be done by statements like, “seats are filling up fast”, or if you’ve already registered some people use that info by saying, “over half the tickets are gone already”. And feel free to get creative, use some humour if that’s part of your style.

Another way to involve urgency is with a specific deadline and incentives. If you register before this date, you get in for half price, or you get a free booklet, guide, download, or whatever. Give them an incentive to make the decision quickly.

Wrap-up

If you haven’t gathered by now, what we really covered goes back to elementary school. The Who, What, Where, When, and Why of whatever you are promoting. Make it clear. Make it direct. Say what you need to say, and say nothing more.

Have you seen success with flyers or communications you’ve done in the past? Or maybe no success? I’d love to hear your experiences, please share in the comments section below!