Fliers & Mailers
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Preflight checklist for your flier
Follow these steps and improve the vitality of your fliers and mailers.
Is it possible to design a low-budget flier that really sells a product? Yes, if you can keep all eyes on the product.
Imagine walking into a furniture showroom and spotting something you really love. Does your mind immediately turn to thoughts of rentals? What else the company sells? The store’s phone number?
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Of course not. You want to know more about the prize you just discovered. What is it made of? Will it be practical for me? How can I get it?
That’s what your flier must do—show something desirable, tell people why they want it and how they can get it.
The original flier does not do its job well. What’s for sale here? A gazebo? Furniture? The item for sale is actually lost in the clutter. The retailer scrupulously avoided hype and carefully provided his store’s location, phone number and even a map, but forgot that the product must come first!
Let’s see how a simple flier can be turned into a powerful sales team member.
1 Start by setting the stage
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2 Place your product front and center
Place your product on a page in the same way that you’d show it off to your friends at a backyard barbeque: Set it smack on the patio where it can be seen and touched.
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3 Add a headline...
Elucidate! Once your product is on stage, add words to reveal detail and nuance and direct the reader to virtues or uses of the product that are not evident just by looking at it.
Shoppers enjoy seeing and experiencing new products. (We like to be thrilled, basically.) You’ll write your best headlines if you think of your readers as eager listeners.
Think: What is the first thing I would tell my best friends about this product? Begin with the feature you find most exciting. In this case, it’s that although the furniture looks like wicker, it is actually made of durable fiberglass. If your product is more ordinary—a screwdriver, perhaps, or a set of white bath towels—think: What do I like most about this product? Why would I buy it? Explain that.
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4 ...Then your text
As you write your text, bear in mind that a shopper will read it if—but only if—the product and its headline have interested him sufficiently. As you compose it, therefore, have confidence that this reader is interested. Keep your eye on the product. Enrich his knowledge. Add detail. Remind him of benefits. Suggest cool uses. Close with a call for action.
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What typestyles?
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5 Add your logo
Present yourself last—and small. Two reasons: You are the last link in the sale (remember, we shop for products, not stores), and small says confident.
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How to make a text-only logo
In a hurry? Here’s a way to make a quick logo:
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Can they find you?
A map is an underused asset. Especially thoughtful of shoppers are maps of labyrinthine parking garages, one-way streets, off-the-beaten-path entryways, things like that. In this case, just finding this small store calls for a sensible map:
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