How To Create An Effective Flyer Marketing Strategy

Today’s go-to solution for marketing has shifted to the online space. Digital ads, personal websites, and social media are now the main ways we communicate with each other, and they’re definitely here to stay. But that’s not to say that it’s completely made print media irrelevant. No, we’re here to argue that it’s simply the digital analog to a lot of traditional, physical marketing materials. 

When it comes to that area, the most commonly used material was the flyer, and it’s far from outdated. In fact, free online flyer makers and other similar tools have made it even easier to create and make use of them, and great marketing strategies should take advantage of that fact. 

There are actually a lot of reasons as to why flyers should be integrated into modern marketing.

Why Promotional Advertising with Flyers Still Works

A common misconception among people is that flyers come from an older time, therefore, they’re not as effective as modern tools are. And while it may be true that digital equivalents have long overtaken print in terms of accessibility, the latter’s value should never be discounted. 

Print advertising statistics prove that print still has value, because they actually give better returns when it comes to brand recognition and engagement. 

For example, nearly 80% of consumers acted on direct print mail ads versus only 45% who acted on digital ads (Potochny, 2017). 

Or take the fact that print ads produced 20% more of a motivation response, especially when it engaged more than just touch (R.C. Brayshaw, 2020).

Although it’s true that they’re not as necessary as they used to be, the impact print has on consumers is still valuable, and should be used if a multi-channel approach is the goal for your marketing strategy. You can try marketing platform.

Why a Flyer Marketing Strategy is Still Viable

Efficacy isn’t the only reason to keep flyers as an option.

Another one of its strengths is that, much like digital advertising, it’s very cost-effective. That is, cheap to create and has relatively massive returns. All you need to do is design it once, release it, then it will work for you indefinitely. You can either hand out multiple copies or post them in places where traffic is high and it will naturally, over time, draw people in. 

What’s more is that it has an appeal to not only the eyes but also to the sense of touch, which is definitely a perk digital ads can never reach. People naturally gravitate towards things they can feel. They can engage with it on a deeper level, and because of that, remember it better too. 

That aspect of it also heightens the sense that flyers feel like a more personal approach overall. 

Make Your Own Flyer Easily

But how do you design your own flyer, you may ask? Well, the good news is it’s plenty similar to how we design for online ads too. Professional designers may use programs such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw to create the initial images, but for folks who don’t have that artistic flair in them, there are a lot of other alternatives. 

Venngage, Canva, Snappa, or Befunky are the most common options. Which one of these tools you’ll use depends entirely on what kind of flyer you want to create.

All of them function similarly: they’re websites created to make design easy. While each has its own differentiating nuances and target audiences, the main thing they share is that, as design tools, they have pre-made assets or templates that you can customize without having to worry about starting from scratch. But they also don’t limit what you can do with your images, so it’s all a matter of finding and then modifying the template of your choice to your taste.

Then it’s on to printing. You may choose to stick with the common single-page design, or perhaps add certain flairs to make your flyer stand out. Examples of that would be multi-page spreads, interesting cuts, integrating origami, having interactive elements, or even using cardstock and having exceptional print quality.  

How to Integrate Flyers into a Modern Campaign

Digital campaigns today largely function off of data, so it would be best to keep that in mind when integrating flyers into the mix. One of the best ways you can keep track of flyer usage is to use them as a resource you can quantify. 

You can have them act as a coupon voucher or a space for a QR code, which can then feed into your analytics or be counted manually. Tracking them is optional though, and they are just as viable an option when it comes to simply raising awareness as its digital counterpart, especially when there is a physical event going on with a group of like-minded people already all in one place. 

At the end of the day though, how you really use your flyers is up to you and what the goal of your marketing strategy is. But as long as you have a clear message and eye-catching design, and clear print, then you can’t go wrong with flyers at all.