How to write copy for a promotional flyer – 7 proven steps

How to write copy for a promotional flyer – 7 proven steps

Why should you use a promotional flyer? Because they work. Simple!

Why do they work?

They WILL be seen

An email might not be opened, but a well written promotional flyer will GUARANTEE that your prospect will, at least, scan your message.

Because there’s no ‘open rate’ with a flyer, every single person you’re sending the flyer to will at the very least glance at it. With the right design and headline, you’ve got a fantastic chance to draw them in.

They’re cost-effective

With a flyer, you get a lot of the benefits of a direct mail piece but at a lower price.

You will have to pay to print them and a little to distribute them (if you don’t want to do it yourself) but that’s all you’ll need to pay for.

In comparison to television, radio or Google ads, the cost of sending out a flyer really is a drop in the ocean.

They’re trackable

Flyers are one of the easiest forms of marketing to track and measure their success rate.

All you need to do is include a promotional code, a tracking number or a custom URL on the flyer, and then you can measure your precise return on investment.

They have a massive reach

Okay, a lot of the world is online, but that doesn’t mean that your target audience is spending ALL their waking hours browsing the web.

A flyer gets to your prospect regardless of whether they’ve been online that day. And having the power to get your message right into your prospect’s hand really is a good thing.

How to write the perfect promotional flyer

You should already have an idea of what you want your flyer to include, what you’re offer is going to be. But it’s important you craft this message in the most effective way possible. The message is what makes or breaks a flyer.

• 1. Be brief

Promotional flyers aren’t that big. They’re often only A5 size. So you have limited space when it comes to getting your message across.

It’s therefore really important that you keep your copy brief.

You want to focus on short, snappy sentences and not lengthy paragraphs.

Much like this little section. Keep it brief.

• 2. Your headline

First impressions count and your headline will typically be the single biggest thing that determines whether someone decides to read your flyer, or not.

A headline can make the copy. Get it right and it will create enough excitement or intrigue to force people to read the rest of your flyer.

It’s important that your Headline:

• appeals to your reader’s natural self-interest
• explains what the biggest benefit in your copy is
• and tells them exactly what that benefit means for them.

3. Bullets and Lists

One of the best ways to write your message for a flyer is through bullet points and lists.

They’ll help your flyer:

• Look Better
• Read Better
• Be More Easily Understood

Most people are pushed for time these days, so don’t think that they’re going to put everything on hold for a few minutes while they read every word of your flyer.

The truth is, your readers are much more likely to scan your copy rather than read it word for word.

Bullet Point Basics

• Keep bullets points short. The goal is to summarise your most important benefits.
• Only communicate one idea per bullet point. Avoid long-winded bullets.
• Keep your bullets a consistent length. Don’t have some longer than others.
• Don’t get into a confusing jumble of bullets, and sub-bullets. Bullets should add clarity.

How To Order Your Bullet Points

Unless you’ve got very committed readers, they may not make it to the bottom of your bulleted list (the longer your list is, the less chance there is of them making it to the bottom).

So, prioritise your bullet points, put the most important and attention-grabbing bullet right at the top.  Don’t bury your main selling points at the bottom of your list, as there’s less chance of them getting read and they’ll seem less important than the points at the top of the list.

How To Structure Your Bullet Points

A list of bullet points should have a similar structure.  It just makes it easier for your reader. Start each of your bullets in the same way, like this…

Verve Creative shows Business Owners:

• How to make the most of their time
• How to maximise their profits
• How to spend more time ’on’ their business
• How to market their business effectively

This makes bullet points easier to scan and understand quickly.  It helps your list to flow better, and it makes it easier for your readers to absorb your main points.

Don’t Get Carried Away

Keep your bulleted list fairly short, somewhere around 3-5 bullets.  It’s more likely to get read this way, and it avoids the problem of trivialising all of your points because there are so many of them.

4. Benefits and Features

It doesn’t matter what you’re selling and how obvious the benefits might be to you, they may not be obvious to some of your readers.  Making the benefits of your product or service 100% clear is a really important thing to do.

Too many people think that features are the same as benefits.

THEY’RE NOT!

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying;

“People don’t want to buy a 10 tog duvet, they want to be warm and cosy and sleep well at night”

That’s a great example of how to explain the difference between ‘Features’ and ‘Benefits’.

Here are some examples of the differences between Features and Benefits:

Features / Benefits

8GB of memory / Stores thousands of your favourite songs.

Digital FM tuner / A wide choice of crystal clear radio stations.

Impact-resistant case and armband / Worry-free workouts. Listen to your music at the gym without damaging your MP3 player.

Uses 1 rechargeable AA battery / Listen up to 15 hours on a single charge, and never buy another battery again!

The best way to communicate your benefits will often be in bullet form, it makes them easier to read and digest than tied up in long paragraphs.  You should be able to distil each of your most important benefits to a sentence or so to make sure that your reader understands exactly what your product or service can do for them.

Benefits Basics

Don’t hint or imply a benefit, never leave anything to be worked out by your reader.  And make sure that you list everything you’ve got; don’t leave benefits out, you’ll never know if the one benefit don’t include is the one that would have convinced that reader.

The best way to work out ALL the benefits of your product or service is to draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper, write all your features on the left and all the benefits on the right. I guarantee that whatever you’re selling will have benefits that people wouldn’t normally think of – it’s your job to tell people about them.

For more help with benefits we covered it all here

• 5. Your Credibility

Who are you and why should I listen to you?

That’s what everyone who picks up your flyer is going to be thinking to themselves (even if it’s on a subconscious level!)

The less that your reader knows about you, the more important establishing your credibility in their mind becomes.

If your flyer is going to recent customers of yours, your credibility can take more of a back seat, although you’ll still need to underline to them the credibility of whatever new product or service you’re selling.

If your recipient is a new prospect, who may know little or nothing about you, then assuring them of your credibility becomes a key aspect of your flyer.

There are two key ways to build credibility in your flyer:

Testimonials

Include at least one really great testimonial on your flyer. They don’t need to be long. But they need to talk about the benefits of your offering.

Accomplishments

If you’ve won awards, been featured in publications, are a member of a prestigious society or group then those logos and badges should DEFINITELY be featured on your flyer.

These are instant credibility boosters.

• 6. Call to Action

You’d be surprised how many flyers I get through my door which DON’T have a call to action on them!

The Call to Action is where you tell the reader what you want them to do, and how they can do it.

This is a really important part of your flyer, because you have to tell people exactly what you want them to do… or they can’t do it!

So if you want people to visit your website, or give you a call… whatever it is – make sure it’s big bold and clear on the flyer.

If the reader has to LOOK for the call to action, it isn’t clear enough – and it’ll cost you sales.

Be sure to include all the relevant contact information that they’ll need as well. I saw a flyer the other day asking me to call them… but there was NO NUMBER on the flyer!!

Don’t make that mistake!

7. 7. Proofread!

Before you start designing your flyer make sure you’ve proofread the copy thoroughly.

Nothing says unprofessional like a typo!

Chances are if you’ve written the copy, your brain will read what should be there and not what’s actually there… so get someone else to read your words carefully.

We use a free tool called Grammarly (https://www.grammarly.com) to check all of our writing for errors and it works a treat – check it out!

Give us a call!

If you want some help in writing an effective promotional flyer – we are really good at that!