Hey there everybody. I am working on a new flyer design that I plan on printing 5k-10k of. I want to see what everyone thinks of the basic design before I move ahead. This isn’t the final version, there will be some drop shadows and other effects to make the text and images pop off the page, but before I go ahead with those I want to make sure this design is decent. (I am most uncertain about the section on damaged siding.) I also haven’t yet done any spellchecking yet. Lol. Let me know what you guys think! Thanks!
Way too much info! Keep the text to a minimum. Careful with the arms crossed on chest gesture its universal and is decoded with the same defensive or negative meaning almost everywhere. Body language would be EXTREMLY important on something like this, DO some research on what you convey with it!
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I Agree w @dperez , Too much info (TMI) just get the basics listed, then you can explain all you want once they contact you. Most people’s attention span is only seconds, unfortunately.
I put my business name, phone #, website and basic services offered in an aesthetically pleasing postcard. Been using QR codes for past couple years to get them straight to my website or to leave a review.
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Interesting! I hadn’t thought of that possibility. Now I want to try to find examples of body language used in marketing materials like this.
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It did seem a bit wordy to me. I would like to make it a full page flyer… what do I do with the empty space? More photos? Leave it empty?
WAY to much info…no one will read it. I agree full sized, card stock if you’re mailing. When it comes to pics, potential clients don’t really care to see you or your equipment. Lots of pics of houses, that clearly define all of your major services. Choose your pics from your wheelhouse jobs, don’t post just because it’s the most impressive B&A, or it was the most expensive property you’ve ever worked on. This will also match up with the type of homes you’re mailing to…you want them to look at it and picture themselves/their house. If this represents the neighborhoods you’ll be mailing to, great! If you’re going to mail to an area filled with 3500sf colonials, then that’s what you need on the flyer.
B&A pics sell, if you want to include yourself or crew make it of you/them working (that’s what they’re assuming they’re hiring you to do)…where’s your logo? I assume blue w/orange is your branding, but people pick up on visuals way faster than words or names. If you’re going to use mailers to grow your business, hammer that out and keep it consistent. Don’t send one massive mailing and flood a huge market, do a seasonal mailing and hit your ideal clients (and no I don’t mean all those making a million annually, unless that fits your ideal existing client, mail to those places where you’ve done the most good work). Send to those people every couple weeks (or months as budget dictates). No one remembers you the first time they see your stuff.
For marketing to gain traction, you need consistency. You need consistency of colors/logos across all marketing (flyers, shirts, trucks…), and you need to consistently have it seen by that target. Alot of guys mail to areas they want to break into…mail instead to where people will also see you working, hear about you, and start to ID who you are when they do. Flyers will not move the needle on their own.
Last thing (can you tell we do analytics? 
), figure out what day works best in your area to drop them off so you can dictate what day they hit the mailboxes (so it’s in their hand say, Saturday). All of these things can drastically alter results. Last year we changed it up to outsource more of it. We had to cut the size and weight to balance the budget, and we lost control of the delivery day…it was a disaster. I laugh because I am getting constant emails and postcards from that company touting the great ROI they can get you on mailers…their “amazing” rate of return is barely half of the rate we get (which is great by most mailer standards, but I don’t find massively impressive from a budgeting/CAC perspective). Test it and see what returns best for you, in your market though. Don’t spend all of the effort on the design and neglect the other points, or you’ll assume your design was the issue…
EDIT: See, I’m an expert on “WAY too much info”
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Wow, thank you for this huge contribution! So you’d lean away from the personal photo entirely, eh? I did it because I thought it might make it more trustworthy than a faceless flyer. That’s interesting.
I didn’t realize handing them out on a certain day would be more effective either. Tons of good stuff to learn from here.
I’m going to come up with a less wordy design today.
I like flyers with faces on them, personally.
Don’t be afraid to smile. Also avoid taking a pic where the sun is so bright it makes you squint.
Howdy from VT! (Yes, I know my neighbor needs to let me power wash his place. Lol)
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I think the point was, we all like to see our shiny fancy equipment on things, and maybe even our face…but statistically those things don’t convert to sales/action.
Are you sure about that? I’m seeing a lot of articles claiming the opposite (at least when it comes to faces. I agree with you on the equipment; nobody cares about that.)
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Come to my house and wash my 5000sf home for $250. You need to but exception in the coupon on the bottom. Some like up to so many sf.
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I’m sure there’s conflicting research, there is on everything. I’m all about personalizing the experience, I even agree with most of those points in that article (small pic ILO a generic icon, creating a connection, etc.). On the art thing, a lot people buy art bc of the artist, not bc they like the painting, so that makes sense. The biggest point is, especially in the service business, the focus needs to be on the client, not on you/the company. People buy things bc of what they think about themselves, or how they want to be seen…not bc someone looks trustworthy (in our business trustworthy is gained by referrals and reviews). Putting yourself (or equipment) on there makes it more about you than about them. If you wanted to, I’d put one on there of you washing, I think it sends the same message a little more subtly. Those people are going to go to your website/Google before they call you, so you can create those feelings there. The flyer is more of an “info piece” usually.
For the offer, definitely put some fine print on it. You can always choose to “make an exception” for them and give it to everyone…then they feel special, and if someone calls with a 9000sf house, you can say “sorry, that one doesn’t apply to your home.” I’d also suggest a “$ off” coupon. In most cases they convert better than a % off or flat rate deal.
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Couple things: 1) Not one person is reading all of that. Make it short and simple. Just put what you do (Pressure Washing/House Wash/Etc), your contact info, and some pictures. The paragraphs are pointless. 2) Are you going to come wash my 12,000 sqft house for $250? Not likely. You’re better off doing something like “$50 off” than putting a price or percentage off. 3) Don’t expect to get any work from these (and that’s not a bad thing). This should be a piece to your marketing puzzle, not something you’re relying on for business.
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Good point at the end there, and something that took me a while to realize about flyers. You don’t pass them out with the intention of getting work directly from them (although with numbers you will) you pass them out as a means to build brand awareness.
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I’d say both are true…if you’re not directly getting ROI from them, then you’re probably doing them wrong in one way or another.
Great info here. To your point about ‘see what works’ I’d be hesitant to print too many flyers until they’ve proven themselves. To me, it’s a wiser investment to start with a smaller batch and see how they convert.
If you need to make any changes, it’s easier to just order another small batch. I realize it’s more expensive for a smaller batch, but if you end up with a couple of versions you can do some A/B testing to see which works better before committing to a huge order.
Yeah, my point was more that you shouldn’t expect to get a ton of biz every time you send out a flyer. It’s a piece to the puzzle.
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Definitely all part of the brand awareness. We stuck with our radio deals way too long while getting zero out of them though, so not all $$$s spent are good ones either. Did some people hear that and then call us off Google? Probably, but not 1 person ever said “we heard you on the radio”. We spent per year on radio almost what we spend on our annual partnership at the minor league stadium, and we get 8 season tix and a ton of contacts/exposure from that
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