LeafletNetwork - The Leaflet Network

Uncategorised21 November 202321 November 2023byLeafletNetwork

The history of Leaflet Distribution

Back in the 1400’s it would have been common practise to go into the streets and cry out at the top of your voice if you had information to share to the locals. This would, however, work out to be rather ineffective and messages passed on in this way would change and twist as it was relayed on among people of the area.

People with an important message soon realised that if they wanted to get it out to people of the area, then they would need to write their message down and pass it on. Handwritten newsletters were handed out to relay important news of the area.

In 1450, Germany invented the printing press, and the handwritten newsletters soon became printed newspapers, and it was obvious to see that this had a far more reaching effect than your typical handwritten note. In the British civil war, printed leaflets were used to pass important information among troops and even spread bad information about the enemy.

The movement to abolish the slave trade, the women’s rights movement, and propaganda for the second world war were all printed and distributed as leaflets!

In 1950, after the war, printing evolved and became much more visual, selling goods to consumers – everything from fridges, to cards, to holidays.

In recent years leaflet distribution is still an extremely effective form of marketing, despite the invention of social media and pay per click advertising. This is because there is no other form of marketing that can advertise direct to the consumer. Online adverts have quickly become something to expect when scrolling through your news feed of Facebook or making a Google search, and you simply pass them, as if they were not even there.

Leaflets have a much more personal touch, including more information about the business. At the very least, an uninterested resident will not want to throw it out as it looks and feels important and will often put it on the side table with other letters where, someone of that household who may use it, comes across the flyer. Therefore, no matter how technology progresses, leaflet distribution, will always remain one of the best ways to advertise.

If your marketing campaign is completed correctly, then digital advertising as well as leaflet distribution can work well together. Having an effective website for a potential customer to go to following receipt of your flyer, can work out to be extremely useful. Therefore, it is important to get all aspects of your marketing campaign thought of when arranging a leaflet drop.

Leaflet Distribution21 November 202321 November 2023byLeafletNetwork

What is leaflet distribution?

Leaflet Distribution, also known as Leaflet delivery, Flyer Distribution, Flyer Delivery, Letterbox Marketing or Door Drop Marketing has become an effective marketing option in which to promote businesses and events.

Leaflet distribution is the process of delivering printed products and materials through the letterboxes of households in selected operating areas.

Leaflet distribution companies are used by businesses, government departments, councils, and agencies to oversee and manage their marketing campaign. A full-service leaflet distribution company will start by planning the campaign for their client, taking into consideration what exactly the aim of the marketing campaign is. For example, if a company was looking to gain more customers following the distribution, the leaflet delivery team would choose to target a demographic of whom was most likely to buy the products or use the services.

The campaign would then be planned in the most effective timescale possible and aim to have all printed materials delivered by the date of the event or the chosen time by the client. This would include completing areas within the benchmarks.

The stock of marketing materials would then be supplied to the correct teams, and they would be due to deliver these to households in the selected areas by the selected timescales. Teams are often comprised of up to 5 members with one being a team leader. The team leader is responsible for the team completing the amount in time and is also often in charge of completing backchecks following the distribution.

Following distribution of the marketing materials, an effective delivery team would then provide all paperwork to the client as proof of delivery. This can include coloured maps indicating where exactly was delivered, GPS tracking which matches the maps and lists of missed properties within the coloured areas to show which houses were undeliverable and why.

Leaflet distribution is used by large corporations and small businesses to advertise their services and products. The most successful advertisers across the country use leaflet distribution as it is the simplest form of direct marketing with the highest return on investment (ROI). On average you should expect between 0.1% to 10% return rate, meaning for every 1,000 flyers delivered, you could receive up to 100 leads for your business.

The most common forms of marketing materials include A5 and A4 flyers which seem to perform the best. Furthermore, companies deliver booklets and magazines to households which perform very well due to residents feeling less obliged to put them straight into the bin. Magazines and Booklets, however, can be rather costly to design and print, so for the best ROI, double sided flyers tend to work best.

There are two types of leaflet distribution methods when delivering door to door. These are Solus and Shared Distribution.

Solus Distribution is when your leaflet is delivered on its own through letterboxes and does not include other flyers or marketing materials from other companies. This will be more expensive than shared distribution as you are essentially paying a team to deliver just your advertisements. This means paying for up to 5 peoples wages for a day, travel to the area and administration work for office staff planning the campaign.

Solus Leaflet Distribution can be far more effective than shared as this will be the only advertisement on the door mat of a resident when they come to looking at their mail. A solus drop also enables you to pick and choose when you want it delivered and the item that’s put through the letterbox. You’ll have no constraints on what you can or can’t do with a solus leaflet drop.

Shared Leaflet Distribution on the other hand is when you add your flyer to a current leaflet drop due to be going. This means your leaflet will be pushed through residents’ letterboxes with up to 3 other flyers. This can influence your response rates due to your advert being mixed in among others.

Shared Distribution is still far more cost effective as this can bring your leaflet distribution rate per 1,000 down dramatically. The cheaper you could get this means your return on investment may be far higher.

Whether you need shared or solus distribution should be considered when planning your marketing campaign. If you are selling a product for £5,000, for example, you can afford to go solus, as you would realistically only need one sale back from your campaign to cover the cost of it.

When considering cost, however, no one in the leaflet distribution business would ever suggest using a company who believes they can deliver 1,000 leaflets for just £20. It would take an experienced leaflet deliverer, depending on area, a full day to deliver 1,000 leaflets, meaning anything less than a full day’s wage for 1,000 is likely not going to get you a proper job.

Unfortunately, in the leaflet distribution industry, there are many companies who take a client’s money with no intent of ever delivering the leaflets or the amount they have agreed, at least. This is where the leaflet network comes in handy. We work with only the most reliable teams around the UK ensuring you have the trust and confidence to proceed with, what should be a very effective marketing campaign.