Flyers… Writing Flyers
What exactly is a flyer?
Some people have their own take on what a flyer is and some will say it’s the same as a leaflet. My view is that a flyer is a one-page cheap and cheerful ad that is used mainly to promote an event or offer. For example, a flyer might be created to promote a local fete or school open day, a bingo hall or a nightclub. Generally, a flyer will have poor graphics and border on an amateurish print job.
They are generally handed out in public places or posted door to door. In contrast, a leaflet can be better designed and usually has much more information. The print might be glossy and include some good quality graphics, plus a leaflet will quite often be a tri-fold product.
A flyer is usually a full A4 or A3 size piece of cheap and sometimes coloured paper.
That’s about the difference between the two in both design and print.
Flyers are quite useful for promoting a business’s special offers and products but obviously has a very short lifespan, with many destined for the nearest bin. And it’s because of this short lifespan that it really does need to create a big impact almost immediately. An example might be a fruit and veg shop, which has to clear it’s surplus fruit very quickly, so the flyer might be worded something like, “Special Offer Today Only – Bananas Only 50p A Pound!”.
Whatever the offer it has to be short-lived because the flyer will certainly be, and the offer will soon be forgotten if not acted on very quickly. Some taxi firms hand out flyers but this is really a waste of time and effort. Everyone will want or need a taxi at some point and they are not likely to carry a load of flyers around with them. A well-made business card would be a better bet for taxi firms.
The village fete almost always needs a flyer to put into the local shop windows and to hand out around the village or local area. And the car boot sales would benefit also from the flyer’s short and sharp message.
There will always be a place for flyers because it is a good means of announcing something, which might be of interest within a short period of time, but does it really need a copywriter to write one? No, not really unless you want to shift a lot of quality goods fast, in which case the copywriter will work his magic on the words and clear your surplus stock in no time at all.
The trick to making a flyer work is to make it look like a news bulletin, an announcement with a bold headline and simple bullet points. Coloured paper will always make them look cheap so unless it’s a jamboree or garden fete, white paper with black or red print will work well. It needs to be eye-catching, easy to read and straight to the point. Nuff said!
If you need a flyer to help promote your local business, your products or your services… contact me.
