​It’s old-school and still popular with specific business sectors, but does leaflet distribution work in 2024?

Print marketing was supposed to die a death with the arrival of its digital counterpart. However, in many instances, good old-fashioned flyers, leaflets, and brochures are as effective (if not even more so) as online campaigns.
Who knew? With that said, it doesn’t work for all businesses. Having worked with clients here in Nottingham and Mansfield over the last ten years, only certain sectors will benefit.
Here’s the rundown of the folks that use it the most. If you’re on the list, it could be time to start ramping up your print game. If you’re not, think carefully before spending large chunks of your budget.
Who does leaflet distribution work for?
Firstly, let’s examine the clients we regularly work with. This will give you a good idea of the sectors in which leaflet distribution works.

• Political parties
• Local and parish councils
• Nurseries
• Schools
• Dentists
• Local events
• Tourism services
• Recruitment campaigns
• Gyms and health clubs
• Takeaways and restaurants
• Estate agents
• Planning permission companies
• Pharmacies
• Taxi companies
• Supermarkets

As you can see, it’s a relatively small list. These are the companies and organisations that repeatedly use leaflet printing and distribution campaigns.
So, in answer to the question, does leaflet distribution work in 2024? Hell yeah! But not for everyone.
In addition to the above list, a few basic principles must also be in place for a successful leaflet distribution campaign.
Different types of print advertising have unique advantages and can cater to specific target audiences.
Ingredients for success Design – Firstly, the design and artwork of your leaflet should always be considered. The initial impression of your flyer is everything.
Print – 170gsm is the absolute minimum paper thickness to print on for a leaflet distribution campaign. Avoid choosing the cheapest option because they will be too thin and become crumpled in the letterboxes.
A deal or offer – Most successful print campaigns include an offer with the flyer. This increases your response rate and can be as simple as 20% when you mention this leaflet.
Reliable distribution – To ensure your important marketing material is delivered properly, you either need to do it yourself or hire a reliable company. Do plenty of research.
Measure and repeat – Make sure you have a way to measure your responses. Furthermore, repeat drops are standard best practices.
Does leaflet distribution work?
For the right businesses and organisations, leaflet distribution campaigns remain vital to their marketing mix.
It’s less crowded than the online space and can therefore make it easier to communicate your message.
In 2024, residential distribution will still be a highly viable form of new customer generation, but only when done correctly.

Does receiving a leaflet/letter through my door increase my chances of getting COVID-19?Information about getting post during the COVID-19 pandemicGiven that the coronavirus is a new virus there is still much that we do not know. One aspect that has been unclear is how long the coronavirus can survive outside the human body. Research to date suggests that the length of time which the virus can live on surfaces is largely dependent on the material it comes into contact with and the environmental conditions. One study found that COVID-19 was likely to remain on materials such as plastic and stainless steel for up to 72 hours compared to cardboard which could be up to 24hrs. This is why you often hear advice being given for people to wash their hands and disinfect touched surfaces frequently. However despite this, it is worth noting that touching a surface or object with the virus and then touching one's own face is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.  
We recognise that in some instances, people might not have access to the internet and therefore leaflets are an important way to communicate key information and advice to the public. Whilst this method of communication is not risk free, it is likely that the risk of infection from receiving a letter or leaflet through the post is minimal and the need to get important messages out to the most vulnerable far outweighs this risk. To further minimise the risk of infection, we recommend that volunteers who help to deliver vital information using leaflets, should be in good health (eg not showing symptoms of COVID-19), practice good hand hygiene and main social distancing at all times.

​The question of what is the response rate from leaflet distribution, has to be one of the most commonly asked questions we receive from potential and existing customers. To put this question into context, it's like asking a asking a gym instructor, 'how much weight will I lose by joining the gym?'. There are many factors which determine how much weight you may lose, and the same is true for your response rate from a door to door distribution. The next few paragraphs will help illustrate how you can maximise your response rate.
What do the stats say?
The Direct Marketing Association has carried out extensive research in an attempt to give you a good idea of what to expect from your flyer distribution campaign: "A key finding is that 89% of consumers remember receiving a door drop mailing - more than any other marketing channel. And it has a powerful place in people's lives, with 45% keeping leaflets on a pinboard or in the kitchen drawer". This is great news! However, the average response rate is around 1%. So the question is why aren't people responding, and more importantly, how can we encourage people to respond?
Which industries benefit most from leaflet distribution?
According to a DMA article, the retail sector has most success with 9 in 10 people happy to receive retail based unaddressed mail. This was closely followed by FMCG brands, then restaurants and local services. In our experience, our biggest bulk of clients which repeat very regularly with us due to high ROI are Estate Agents, Gyms and Garages (car sales showrooms such as Perrys Mazda).
New business vs established brand, who wins?
Imagine that two businesses in the same industry decide to invest in a door to door distribution; who will receive the higher response? Consider, if you receive a flyer for DFS Sofas and another from Mr Sofas, they both say 50% off Boxing Day sale, and both have images of nice sofas from just £399, which would you more likely respond to? Even if Mr Sofas had a better offer and better starting prices, you would still go to DFS over Mr Sofas because you know and trust the brand, where as you have never heard of Mr Sofas (probably because I made them up!).
How many people will respond to your flyer?
For this let's stick with the sofa example. If you receive a flyer from DFS, a well established brand, and receive a Dominos Pizza flyer, again a well established brand, the response rate would be equal right? No! How many times do you buy a pizza compared with a sofa?! The point here is not to dwell on the percentage response rate, but on the potential value of each converted lead. Dominos need to sell a lot more pizzas than DFS do sofas in order to see a return from their distribution.
But I'm not an established brand, is leaflet distribution a waste for me?
Absolutely not, and there are a number of reasons why. If you have a local business looking for local custom then I can't think of a better solution to advertise locally than flyer distribution. So, why will people respond if they haven't heard of you? They won't necessarily on first view, but going back to the joining the gym analogy, leaflet distribution is not a one hit wonder event, just as going to the gym doesn't work if you only turn up once. Leaflet distribution works most effectively when treated as a long term campaign, which goes out to the same people over and over with a professionally planned strategy. This is the same whether you are an established brand, a new business, or a small business looking to expand.
What is the campaign based approach?
This is the essential ingredient to ensuring you will see a return on your investment. People don't tend to respond to something on first view, they need to see it over and over, which is known as drip effect marketing. You need to plan a long term campaign, tailored around your budget, which enables your flyer to target the right audience on a regular basis with actionable flyers.
How much impact does the design of the flyer have?
A huge amount! For example, if you have an estate agents and send out a flyer with a boring image of your office on, and it says something like 'we are an estate agents, we sell and rent houses', you will likely receive no response even if you send 100,000 on a regular basis to the same audience. However, if you simply have a headline such as 'Thinking of selling this summer?' Followed by a sub headline, 'we are offering free valuations in your area this week', with a call to action, 'Call us today on...and book your free valuation', and an image of an exciting house with a happy family embracing it, your response rate will rate will be completely different. Why is this? Because instead of talking about your boring business, you need make your business relevant to the receiver, and give them a strong reason to respond. Actionable design is vital.

We live in a highly digitised marketing world and a lot of marketing spend now goes on online marketing channels such as websites, web-banners, Pay-per-click advertising on google etc, social media, email, the list goes on….
Leaflets can be considered a more traditional form of marketing, and perhaps by some a less important form of marketing – however that is definitely not the case, and leaflets or flyers should still play a very important part of the marketing mix to promote your business or service, and below are 5 reasons why leaflets are still very important in marketing and should not be neglected:


#1 Digital marketing is a saturated market place. We are all constantly bombarded online with ads and in email & social media with adverts trying to get our attention. Many of us now just switch off and learn to ignore these digital marketing messages and with digital marketing spend increasing year on year – there is more and more stuff trying to get our attention online and we switch off. But due to many businesses spending more on digital and less, or even none on traditional print that leaves less competition in the physical real world beyond the digital realm, so leaflets can appeal to those people who have learned to switch off to marketing messages when online. In essence it’s harder to switch off to a leaflet that has been posted through your door, that it is just just delete an email or click to leave a web-page.

#2 You can’t beat a physical, tangible thing that you can hold and keep!If designed well and effectively to appeal to your target audience, a leaflet can be a thing of beauty and interest, which compels a potential customer to pick it up and read. We like physical objects, and as well as the design, the print, paper choice and finish can further convey a touch of quality and professionalism. Digital forms of communication just don’t have this tangible quality. What’s more if your leaflet really appeals to your audience then it is much easier for them to keep the leaflet as a reminder to actually follow up on it and either call, email or visit a website. Its a constant physical reminder to do something about the leaflet.
If designed well with effective content then a good leaflet is hard to ignore for your target audience.


#3 Leaflets contain a powerful message because leaflets are a relatively small piece of paper, often only single or double-sided, then by their very nature they force you to condense and distill your marketing message, get to the point and summarise the key benefits of your business or service in a nut shell. In our time poor world where potential customer attention spans are minimal, then a leaflet with a clear and concise message is likely to really appeal to someone as a first point of contact to someone who has not come across your business or service before and inturn this powerful message can lead to greater leads and increased enquiries.


#4 Leaflets are easy to distribute because of their small size and weight. Leaflets can be really easy to distribute and display. There are multiple ways of getting your message out their through your leaflet, and this can take the form of displaying your leaflet in places where lots of people will see them, such as receptions, display dispensers, delivered with magazines & newspapers, delivered door to door. It all depends on who you are targeting, so when you have identified your key audience then you can choose the best way to reach this audience with your leaflet.
A leaflet that is distributed in the right place to the right audience is hard to ignore for potential customers.

#5 Leaflets are relatively cheap to produce In terms of printing marketing materials, leaflets can offer the biggest bang for your marketing buck, as they can cost from as little as 4p a leaflet (eg. For an expert design service including print and delivery I charge £200 for 5000 leaflets) So a potential new customer for only an initial 4p spend is an excellent return on investment really. You might think you can really cut costs by choosing the cheapest design service out there, or worse do it yourself, but if you don’t understand how to create the most effective leaflets then this money would be a wasted investment (and may even cause damage to peoples perception of your business). So choose very wisely when you to decide who to get to design and print your leaflets.


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Designing a leaflet is just as important and integral in the success of its campaign as the actual printing of it. A good design means good business. If you get the design right, it attracts your target audience and makes people sit up and take notice. It will convey the message you are wanting to make in just one design. At Affordable Leaflets, Bolton, we have a team of talented designers with years of experience in unique and innovative design. They can help create the best leaflets for your business.
Alternatively, we welcome any ideas and designs from your company as ultimately it's your company and you know exactly the direction you are aiming for with it!


Leaflets, leaflet design, leaflet printing

Presentation. When people first see your leaflets, the first thing to attract them will be the overall presentation. It creates the first impression, so it is imperative to get it right. After all, how many leaflets do you receive in the post and just put them straight in the bin?
Content. Content is another important factor in leaflets. If your content is difficult and boring to read, you're going to lose people's attention pretty quickly. Keep it concise and brief. Leave the reader wanting to know more about your company, but give enough information to initially get their interest.
Images & graphics. Images on a leaflet are self explanatory. If they're colourful and striking, you're more likely to capture your audience's attention.
Creativity. People enjoy new ideas. If your leaflets look just like everyone else's, then why should people bother to entertain it?
Paper. This may sound silly, but if people receive your leaflet printed on cheap paper, they probably won't take much interest in your business. After all, will you cut corners with other aspects of your company if you aren't prepared to spend on the advertising? 

As a reliable leaflet distribution company who uses GPS tracking we also do not post to junk mail letter boxes unless asked to do so by the customer we make sure our distributors follow the rules to reduce complaints and comebacks on the customer who is having the leaflet delivered.

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We never leave leaflets or business cards hanging out of letterboxes and there are some very good reasons for this:
1.If it rains the leaflet or business card will be ruined and the customer receiving it wont get to see the product or services,plus its one ruined leaflet for the customer who is having it delivered.

2.More importantly leaving anything hanging out of the letter box not only looks bad but also advertises that the person who lives there may not be at home,a great advertisement for a potential burglar.
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With the rise of online marketing it can be easy to forget how effective offline marketing can be. However, leaflets and flyers are still some of the most effective forms of getting your message out to a large number of potential customers. We’ve even spoken about leaflets being marketing’s stealthy ninja in the past.
As we now offer litho leaflet and flyer printing options, we thought what better way to celebrate than with a handy guide to all the things you can do with these marketing must-haves?
1. Packaging leaflets
If your business is predominately online then it can be difficult to see why you may need to invest in leaflets and/or flyers. However, you could be missing a trick! Why not send out a leaflet detailing some of your offers and other products you sell, when shipping out a package? 
Including leaflets inside packaging is an excellent way to upsell to customers who may not know the full range of products and services you offer. Invest in a snazzy leaflet design template and simply add in new products and offers when you need to. 
 2. Menus and price lists
This type of leaflet is vital when it comes to businesses like restaurants, takeaway restaurants, beauty salons and hairdressers, to name a few. Don’t rely on customers finding out what you offer and your prices by calling up or looking online—ensure that they have something they can keep and refer back to. Litho leaflet and flyer printing is perfect for menus and price lists that can be handed out to potential and existing customers.

3. Marketing events
Leaflets are still some of the best ways to market all types of events, from charity auctions to club nights. The key to effective offline event marketing is in the leaflet design. You’re going to need to create something eye-catching that also includes all of the relevant details. 
If design isn’t your forte, consider investing in a graphic designer who can do the job for you. It’s also a good idea to consider the paper and finishes for this kind of litho leaflet and flyer printing; you’re not going to need luxury paper for a club night leaflet, for example.

4. Newsletters
​We love the idea of using leaflets and flyers as mini newsletters that can keep existing customers in the loop about your business, whilst also enticing new customers. A monthly or quarterly newsletter doesn’t have to break the bank and is a far more personal form of marketing. With the number of email newsletters ending up in spam folders every day, why not step outside of the norm and send a printed newsletter instead? 

5. Door to door
Door to door is still one of the most effective forms of offline marketing as long as you get it right. The key to dropping through doors is incredible leaflet design. Most of us will throw away junk mail that looks boring, but every now and then something will catch our eye. It may be an incredible graphic, a well-shot photograph, a bright colour or even the typography. Get an inspiring and unique leaflet or flyer designed and door to door marketing has the power to work wonders.

There’s no denying that leaflets and flyers are still great marketing tools, as long as you know what to do with them. Invest in a great design and some high quality printing, then watch what this offline marketing method can do for your business.

"On average, 5 times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent 80p out of your pound." - David Ogilvy

With the digital world pervading our lives more than ever, it's not uncommon to think that leaflet distribution is a thing of the past. However, knowing the ins and outs of this industry - leaflets are very much proving still to be a viable approach to gaining customers and brand awareness.

You may have had a failed door drop campaign yourself, or feel irritated by flyers altogether. This would likely put you off the idea of using a door drop service, and who can blame you if it's cost you time and money. What people fail to consider though is that it may not be the method that is failing you, but rather the message.

As with any form of marketing, prior research is necessary for your campaign to be successful. Design is not just making something look nice, it's researching and problem solving in order to communicate your message as best you can. With our industry knowledge here at Bristol Leaflet Delivery we can help guide you through the factors you need to consider in order to drive results.

To help start you off, we have put together 10 things to consider about the message your leaflet design is giving.

1. Title/headline - this is one of the most important aspects of your leaflet and it should stand out above the rest of your text. Your audience will be initially drawn to read your title and they will decide within seconds whether they want to read the rest of the leaflet. Make it eye catching, attention grabbing and leave them wanting more info.

2. Include an offer - People are far more likely to keep your flyer if you can include an offer/discount of some sort.

3. Benefit - what problem are you solving / how are you different / what service/product are you offering. Make it clear in short and snappy sentences what you are about.

4. Keep content brief - Don't include too much information, people don't read it. It they know what you're offering and they want to know more they will act on it.

5. Usability - Think about what action you want people to take from reading your leaflet i.e. to call you, to visit your website, keep it on their fridge etc. Design with this in mind and be creative.

6. Call to Action - Following from no.4, make it clear on your design how you can be contacted by clearly providing your number, website or other contact info.

7. Visuals - Make it visually appealing. Get a graphic designer who can help you with finding clear fonts, good layout, allignment, striking imagery etc.

8. Use Exciting words - As you are keeping your text to a minimum, use power words which excite people/ something you do differently to competitors.

9. Double sided - Something commonly overlooked is that people think they are saving money by printing on just one side of the paper. The reality is that its a difference of a few pounds to print thousands of leaflets double sided. Upon doing a leaflet drop you can't always predict which way it will land so you need to be sure your message is seen.

10. Paper quality - if your leaflet is wafer thin it could be crumpled simply upon delivery. A thicker flyer not only feels more professional but looks it, and delivers well. This can help your audience to trust your business more.

5 things to remember when designing a leaflet
Whether you are a business to business (B2B) or business to consumer (B2C) organisation (you may even be a mix of both), getting the right information to your customer base will continue to be a key challenge in your marketing objectives. Direct marketing can continue to play a big role in meeting these objectives and keeping your brand and your name fresh in the mind of customers.
Direct mail makes up a big part of how many people view direct marketing. The term “direct mail” has been around for over 140 years, since Montgomery Ward produced the first mail order catalogue in 1872. One way to do this is by using leaflets and flyers to provide information on a product or service or perhaps just information on your company in general.
Getting a leaflet right is not always easy and the challenge is to try and make it stand out for the reader and provide the necessary information to drive sales and enquiries. A professional design can often go a long way to creating the perfect first impression with your leaflet. There are a number of steps we would suggest following to help create a great leaflet.
1. Space:
The old adage of ‘less is more’ is certainly the case when it comes to designing a leaflet. No one wants to read through a leaflet that is simply full of text. It takes too long and doesn’t look good. Clutter is never a good thing, so be sure to remember space when designing your leaflet. It is also important to remember to use the whole area of your leaflet and don’t simply concentrate on one corner or the centre.
2. Imagery:
While ‘less is more’ can work well with leaflets, including images always work well. It is important to ensure the photo being used is high quality and ready for a printed leaflet. Images are also important if your leaflet includes products and product prices, as you will want to showcase the quality of the product in the best possible way on the leaflet.
3. Readable:
It is important that your audience can clearly read and understand the message you are trying to get across in your leaflet. Try to avoid using light colours like white and yellow for text as they can often be hard to read unless applied to a dark background. Short, snappy sentences work well and try to get a clear, simple title that will grab the reader’s attention. Something like “Sale Now On – Up To 50% OFF!” works well. Try to avoid using text that is less than 10 point as some readers may struggle to make it out.
4. Quality:
For us, quality comes in a number of ways including the quality of the content and the print quality. The quality of the content really comes down to the message you are trying to get across to your audience but remember to keep it short and to the point. The quality of print is also important as unlike a newspaper or TV clip which will generally be the same quality, a leaflet is something that is physically lifted and can take a lot of abuse. The better the quality of the leaflet, the better the impression you will leave with your customer. Most leaflets will range in thickness from 100gsm with finishes including matt, silk and luxury papers. It is also important to remember when designing for printing leaflets that you save your file in CMYK format as RGB is used for computer screens.
5. Call to Action:
Finally, it is important that your leaflet has a clear call to action. A call to action is what you will be using to encourage further action from your customer. So whether you have delivered leaflets via a door-to-door mail drop, trade show or through your own business premises, it is important that there is a clear call to action that will help you measure the success of your leaflet. This call to action can take place in many formats including:

• • Link to website
• • Social profiles – Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• • Contact phone number
• • Email contact
• • QR code
• • Price (especially if a special offer is being promoted)

Before you get ready to open up Paint (you know who you are) or Photoshop to start designing your next great leaflet that is going to have the customers knocking your door down just remember these five tips and check if your leaflet includes them.