Leaflet Distribution – What is it and why should we pay any attention to it?

Leaflet distributions, leaflet campaigns, flyers – odds are you will have had some marketing material land on your doormat in the form of a leaflet. 89% of respondents remember receiving a flyer.. this is more than any other form of advertising!
Chances are that in your lifetime you will have also engaged with and interacted with a leaflet through your door, with 64% of leaflets looked at immediately upon arrival.
We’re about to take you through a whistle-stop tour of all you need to know about leaflet campaigns – so hold on to your seatbelts!
(It’s not as boring as it sounds – promise!) The humble leaflet has a pretty cool history. It helped kick-start revolutions and brought people together against injustice. TV wasn’t around when the leaflet began, so it was the source of all gossip and entertainment – spreading tales to the masses! It was the main form of advertising back in “the old days” and helped sell a lot of goods to consumers.. so let’s take a look at the history of the leaflet in all it’s glory.

The History
“Hear ye, hear ye.. leaflet distributions are mint!” – The Town Crier – 1420.. (or words to that effect)
Taking a trip back in time, if you had an announcement to make you would go down to the village and start shouting like a town crier, but Chinese whispers are dangerous, and messages would often get lost in translation as they passed through the streets. It soon became knowledge (thanks to the Italians!) that if information was important – you needed to write it on paper – and that’s what they did –handed out handwritten newsletters detailing the latest important news.
In 1450, printing press was invented in Germany, written word was more often than not replaced with printing and became a quick, easy and powerful way for groups to get their message out on mass. During the British civil wars in fact both sides used printed leaflets to rally their troops and spread gossip about their enemies!
The movement to abolish slave trade, the women’s rights movement, and propaganda for the second world war where all printed and distributed as leaflets!
Then in 1950, after the war, printing evolved and became sleeker, selling goods to consumers – everything from fridges, to cards, to holidays.. and the rest is history so they say!

The power of the leaflet
So now to today.. leaflet distribution, also known as leaflet delivery, flyer distribution, door drops or letterbox marketing, is still an extremely effective medium used to promote businesses and events around the UK. According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) 80% of top advertisers in the UK use Leaflet Distribution to advertise their businesses, with the market in the UK now worth over £1 billion.
Why is it so effective? Even in today’s digital age, leaflet distribution campaigns have stood the test of time and produce impactful ROI’s for companies all over. The reason for this? The world is showing signs of digital fatigue. Email marketing, adverts popping up whilst were scrolling.. it’s endless.
Leaflets however, are unblockable, unskippable.. they’re your marketing material straight into your consumers home and into their hand. In today’s society, more people are in their homes now than ever before, (thanks to remote working!) and getting your business marketed, on a refreshing, eye-catching leaflet, straight into your consumers home, is worth its weight in gold.
Research by the Royal Mail shows that leaflets are kept in the home for an average of 38 days – what other marketing medium gives you this window of opportunity? An email message is quickly deleted, a advert pop-up is quickly closed down.. a leaflet however is not so easy to ignore.
Leaflet campaigns are also known to be effective in helping to strengthen your brand awareness, with it being estimated that 70% of people who receive printed leaflets, spending more than 1 minute reading it. Repeated leaflet distribution campaigns have an excellent way of keeping your businesses at the forefront of your customers mind, with increased brand awareness leading to increased brand engagement.
If your leaflet is eye-catching, printed well, with a clear call-to-action then the chances of a response being evoked are high – 30 times higher in fact than your digital marketing receiving a response!
However, we shouldn’t competitively compare leaflet marketing with digital marketing as in fact for the perfect marketing mix – they work really well together! Leaflet campaigns can drive traffic to your website or create engagements on your social media if you place call to actions on there to do so!

Planning your leaflet distribution campaign.
So now your mind is mind up that you want to do some leaflet marketing – it’s time to plan your leaflet distribution campaign. We’ve touched on some of these things above, however there’s some important elements to consider within your planning!
1. Design – You need something that will attract the attention of your audience. Eye-catching, colourful, relevant. The calls to action need to be clear. Perhaps you want to enhance your call to action with a special offer, a free sample? This all needs to be considered. The team here at LDM can help you with this if advice is required – we’ve been doing this for years, we know what works and what doesn’t and we’re happy to help you get you the best ROI possible.

2. Printing – Where are you going to get your flyer printed? On what type of paper? What size? These are all things to consider – and there’s no right or wrong answer, it’s completely dependent on you, your business and your product. LDM are happy to help you source the best prices for your printing – we’ve built up brilliant relationships in the printing world and have access to great deals – everyone loves a bargain!

3. Distribution – Now you need to decide how you will distribute your leaflet, who to and when! Leaflet marketing is now more targeted than ever before, meaning you can pick your exact target audience to market to. We have targeting tools available to help you do this. Do you want your flyer to be delivered with other marketing material or would you rather it be delivered alone for maximum exposure? Again – here at LDM we offer both of these options, and we are more than happy to discuss these with you. When do you want your leaflet distributed? Is it time dependent due to an upcoming event? Is it needed quickly to help boost your sales? One of the brilliant things about using LDM to distribute your leaflet campaign is that are turn-around times are quick. In fact, we can go from stock received to doormat – the very next day!

4. Choosing your supplier – Once you’ve decided more details about the distribution of your campaign, it’s now time to choose a supplier. The main two options for this are using the Royal Mail leaflet drop or an independent company (like LDM!) that uses its own Teams. There’s pros and cons to both as you can read HERE and often it depends on what your looking for, how quick you want your material delivering and of course – price!

Obviously, we would love to be your supplier of choice for the distribution of your leaflet campaign so here’s a few quick reasons why you should choose LDM.
1. We’re experts and were trusted – we believe in a high-quality service and this is reflected by the fact that we are the top rated leaflet distribution company in the North West on google. We work with local and national brands all over the UK.
2. We offer a high-quality service at the best prices.
3. Our turn-around times are quick! As mentioned, we can go from stock received to doormat – the very next day!
4. We offer GPS tracking and post-completion reports of your campaign to give you that added reassurance that your campaign is on-track.
5. We assign you a dedicated account manager to support you with your campaign from start to finish – we make the process as hassle-free for you as possible!

So, all in all, leaflets are powerful. The right design, with a strong call to action, delivered to your targeted audience, by a trusted supplier, leads to cost-effective, undeniable results.