5 Bloopers That Will Kill Your Leaflet Distribution Response Rate

Five common mistakes to avoid if you want to ramp up your leaflet distribution response rate. How do I significantly increase my leads, and how many enquiries should I expect, anyway? It’s all right here…

This list derives from ten years of residential (door-to-door) distribution campaigns here in Nottingham, Leicester and Derby.

I’ve seen first-hand what works and, more importantly, what doesn’t. Furthermore, by the time we usually spot a blooper or three, it’s too late.

The company will occasionally already have its flyers designed and printed by the time they come to us. Overall, it’s a good idea to have your ideas and artwork reviewed by a professional before instructing the print job to proceed.

Leaflet Distribution Response Rate – Info & Bloopers

Five simple and actionable steps to follow. Check off as many as you can to ensure you’re steering clear of the zero-response club. It happens!

But what should you be expecting in terms of leads and enquiries, anyway?

How to Kill Your Leaflet Distribution Response Rate

Okay. Let’s get into it. In addition to the below steps, first, consider whether your business will benefit from leaflet distribution. Not all do.

It’s important to realise that it’s only worthwhile for a small number of sectors. So, who does leaflet distribution work for?

Some of the most common business types are listed here for you: Does leaflet distribution work in 2024?

1. No Website or Online Presence

Undoubtedly, the number one mistake we see here at Leaflet Lion is the business having no website or online presence. This is surprisingly common with property developers, but here’s why this won’t work.

Leaflet distribution needs to be backed up by your search results when someone Googles you. A point often overlooked is that the recipient of your flyer may look you up online before contacting you.

No website or local SEO strategy (usually paired with no proper email address) won’t demonstrate any trust or authority.

Whenever you launch a new marketing campaign, you should test whether the cost of the project is helping or hurting your company. To determine something’s profitability, many marketers look at ROI – or return on investment.

Hubspot

2. Dodgy Artwork

Tools like Canva make it super-easy these days to create your own flyer or leaflet artwork. With that said, there are several key ingredients that should always be included. These will, of course, contribute to a much healthier leaflet distribution response rate.

• A decent logo
• Consistent branding
• Your website address
• A professional email address
• A phone number (landline if possible)
• A striking healine
• Highly visual images
• A strong call to action
• A deal or offer (see step 4)

In addition to the above list, try to avoid cramming too much text onto your flyer design. The more there is, the less chance of it being read.

Whenever possible, run your artwork by a professional graphic designer or even your print and distribution partner to get a second opinion.

Related: Flyer design tips.

3. Printing on Cheap, Thin Paper

Door drop campaigns require a minimum paper thickness to make sure they don’t end up a crumpled mess as they’re posted.

I always recommend 170gsm as the absolute lowest option. This is a budget-friendly stock with enough sturdiness to withstand most letterboxes.

Top tip: 170gsm silk is used on the majority of print and distribution campaigns we work on here at Leaflet Lion.

If, however, the budget allows, upgrading to 250gsm silk is always a solid option.

Related: The best paper for printing leaflets.

4. No Way of Tracking The Flyer’s Response Rate

Do you want to spend a load of cash and not know if it resulted in new leads or customers? Of course not.

Always, always, always include a deal, offer or anything that prompts the recipient to mention your flyer.

By the same token, it’s common for a business to include a QR code that links the flyer straight to a landing page on their website. This can then be tracked via your website anylitics.

With either of the above options, you can easily tally up the total number of enquiries from your leaflet distribution campaign.

5. Trusting Your Campaign With a Cheap, Unreliable Company

Lastly, carefully choosing who you partner with will have a detrimental effect on your leaflet distribution response rate.

It’s not uncommon in this industry for companies to take your money and then not deliver your leaflets.

Always conduct plenty of research and ask your network for recommendations. Furthermore, I always bang on about this, but leaflet distribution is an extremely time-consuming task.

Because of this, it should, therefore, be priced accordingly. If it’s not, either the staff aren’t getting paid anywhere near the minimum wage, or corners are being cut elsewhere.

To further improve your response rates, print and distribute close to the average campaign total (currently 7.4k).

Related: Three reasons cheap leaflet distribution doesn’t work.

Conclusion – Optimising Your Leaflet Distribution Response Rate

To conclude, your leaflet distribution rate can easily be optimised by avoiding the following bloopers:

• No website or online presence
• Dodgy artwork
• Printing on cheap, thin paper
• No way of tracking the response
• Using cheap, unreliable distribution companies

Because a hefty investement is usually on the line, it’s important to do everything you can to give your campaign the best possible chance of success.

For certain industries, flyer and leaflet distribution still brings in a crazy amount of new leads or customers. When it works (and it’s done right), it works!