Designing a leaflet, poster or any other marketing collateral design for that matter can be a minefield.
There are so many elements to consider to design a leaflet or flyer, and let’s face it you want to get it right. You want the marketing piece to get recognised and to drive and motivate a reaction from the reader. Hopefully, generating some leads. This isn’t just about your leaflet, poster, or flyer ‘looking pretty’. There is a science and an art to creating print marketing that catches the eye, grabs attention, communicates key messages, and drives action.
Here we have created 5 steps we would recommend you follow when creating your marketing piece.
Step 1: Consider its purpose
Before you start to even look at your poster, brochure, flyer, or even leaflet design template, it’s first of all important to consider its overall purpose.
The target audience
Who are you trying to attract?
- New prospects who have just shown an interest in your products or services?
- A prospect you have spoken to a few times but needs further evidence to make a buying decision?
- Or perhaps an existing or past customer you would like to educate about a new or existing product or service they may be interested in?
By defining your audience and what action you want them to take, you can begin to determine the level of detail you will need to include in your marketing material and the most appropriate design to go for.
For new prospects you have never been in contact with before, your aim should be to provide them with a snapshot of your products or services, enticing them to contact you to find out more information. You certainly do not want to bombard them with too much detail, causing them to lose interest and look elsewhere. This is just the start of your relationship with them, so you can’t give or expect too much from them straight away.
For new prospects, you have spoken to before, and who need further evidence, this group however can cope with a bit more content and may require something like a corporate brochure design they can flick through. Whilst allowing you to showcase your offering, show your professionalism, and expertise and share customer reviews to build trust in your business. Design a leaflet here with the aim of nurturing this audience and strengthening the relationship you have with them.
Existing customers will, however, know your business, they trust your service and therefore may only require a simple design to spike their interest, and remind them of the benefits and outcomes of using/working with you.
By working with a marketing agency, they will be able to point you in the right direction in which design would work best to meet your goals.
The location
Where are you planning on displaying this piece of marketing material?
As an example, if you attend a lot of events and are looking to attract new prospects, and provide them with a snapshot of your business, going for something that is light and easy to carry would be wise. An A5 leaflet design or even a trifold leaflet design could be a great option here.
Design a leaflet with a strong and clear message
Once you have determined its purpose, the next step is to consider the overall message you are trying to share.
At Growth by Design, when creating pamphlets, leaflets, brochures, posters, etc., we always ask these four questions:
- What message are we trying to communicate in the first 3 seconds to spark interest?
- What subheadline should be included to entice and encourage them to continue reading?
- What are the key points that should be included to inspire, motivate and encourage a reaction to respond in the way we intend?
- What are the calls to action (as an example do we direct them to our website, a specific link, our telephone number, or email address), and do we do this in a direct or indirect way?
By answering these questions, you will have begun to consider the overall message you’re trying to put across.
Step 2: What to include
Now it’s time to consider what it is you would like to include. Remember, the key intent whether that be to promote your products, service, event, etc., should be the main focus. But what else should you include?
To build trust with new prospects, a great way to do this is to include reviews from your customers, some awards your business has won and any relevant certificates your business has passed.
To demonstrate expertise, including details such as the number of years established, as well as awards and certificates won, is a great way to achieve this.
Step 3: Decide on the type of marketing collateral
Now you have mapped out what to include, it’s time to decide on the type of marketing collateral that would be the most appropriate. This could include a flyer, pamphlets, leaflets, posters, and brochures being designed.
Step 4: Create your content and imagery
Before choosing the design and software to go for, we would recommend writing your content in a word document. By doing this you will be able to check for any spelling or grammatical mistakes.
To ensure your marketing material is easy to read and digest, it would be recommended to create clear headlines. This will break up the text and allow readers to find the information they are most interested in. It is also recommended (if appropriate) to put some of your content in bullet points or list form. This is another great way to present information in a clear and concise way.
When adding imagery to your collateral, ensure you select stock images that are royalty-free. Or alternatively, you can use your own imagery if it is high-resolution imagery. You can image libraries such as Shutterstock, Pixabay to gather your stock imagery.
Step 5: Print ready
You are now at the stage of compiling your leaflet.
We would highly recommend you work with a marketing agency that will be able to work with you, advise and even complete all the previous steps ensuring reach your intended goal. There are lots of potential pitfalls, and for the sake of saving a few pounds on the upfront cost, will come across in the return you get from your leaflet design.
If however, you would prefer to create this yourself, please follow the below checklist:
- Ask someone else to proofread your content – you cannot always see your own mistakes
- Ensure your images are all high resolution
- If you have used software to create and design your leaflet, ensure you have used a colour palette and font that is representative of your business, with the appropriate logo, etc.
- If you have brand guidelines, please adhere to these
- Ensure you ask the printing company to email you a copy of the marketing material before they print it so you can make any last-minute changes and check it displays exactly as intended.
About Growth by Design
At Growth by Design, we have a team of designers, copywriters as well as those with business sales skills to provide their valuable input.
We also work with our clients to fully understand the intent and purpose of the marketing material they would like created. Based on this, we will create a design that will encourage the reader to take the desired action and respond.
To find out more information about our posters, leaflets, and flyers design and printing services, please click here.
Alternatively, here is our contact information. Please call us on 01444 810530 or email us at connect@growth-by-design.co.uk.
We look forward to hearing from you!
