Understanding the Purpose of a Leaflet

When creating a leaflet, it’s important to have a clear purpose decided before design & printing. Setting out the ‘why’ will help you shape your design, imagery, messaging and more.

 The purpose of a leaflet can vary depending on the goals of the campaign – however, two things should always be considered: your target audience and your objectives.

Identifying the target audience

Your target audience is the group of people that you’re trying to communicate your message to. Before beginning any advertising, especially leaflet design & printing, it’s vital that you identify your audience. 

To identify your target audience, you can use demographic information such as age, gender, income, education level, and occupation. You can also use psychographic information such as values, attitudes, interests, and lifestyle. In fact, we recommend knowing as much as you can about your audience to make sure that your designs have the biggest impact! 

Defining Clear Objectives

The objective of your leaflet campaigns can vary depending what it is that you want to achieve. However, in most instances a business will want to advertise products or services, promote an offer or discount, or raise awareness of their brand. Each of these purposes will require a different design, tone, message and more – which is why it’s crucial to define this first and foremost.

When you’re setting objectives it’s important that they’re specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, if the objective of your leaflet is to promote a new product, your objective could be to increase sales by 10% within the next three months.

Having these clear objectives will make it much easier for you to measure how successful your campaigns are.

 

How to make an impact with your leaflet design

Choose the right layout and size

Before you begin designing a leaflet, you need to first select the right layout and size. These are two of the most important design elements to capture your audience’s attention!

Leaflets are commonly printed in a variety of sizes, and the size that you want to pick depends on the message that you want to convey. For example, if you want an eye-catching leaflet that is going to showcase high quality product imagery then a bigger size will be preferred. 

Once you’ve selected the perfect size, then you need to think about the layout. This means you need to decide where you will have text and where you will have images. To do this well, think about what the commercial objective is; if you want to catch the eye of your audience from a distance e.g. outdoors then use catchy headings and images over too much text.

Use high-quality images and graphics

Many advertising leaflets are used to catch the eye of the audience and promote products, services and offers. An effective leaflet will incorporate high-quality images and graphics that help to convey the message in a visual way.

There are two things to consider when selecting images for your next leaflet:

  • Make sure that the images are relevant to the overall message of your leaflet. If you’re running a seasonal offer then the images used have to reflect the seasonal products (or they should reflect the seasonal holiday as commonly seen with Christmas, Halloween and Valentines Day leaflets – to name a few!)
  • Make sure that the images you use have the correct resolution for the size of your leaflet. If you are choosing a larger size then you need to be sure that your images can be scaled in size and keep their quality & resolution. Your leaflet printers will help you check the quality of your images before printing.

Pick colours and fonts that reflect your brand identity

Your leaflets will most often be distributed away from your company’s premises, either on a high street, in a shopping center or direct to your audience through leaflet drops. It’s for this reason that our number one piece of advice is make sure that your leaflet clearly reflects your brand.

You want to select colours that are associated with your brand; and so make sure to include any brand colours early in the design process.

When it comes to fonts, you want to choose ones that are easy to read and that will help your readers recognise your brand. Using a striking font and making your typography big and bold can really add a lot of impact to your design. Not only should you think about the type of typography you will use, but also the message which you want to put across. If you have brand fonts that are used on your website or in other marketing materials, make sure to include these.

 

Make sure that your leaflet design is engaging!

Creating a good leaflet is not just about having an attractive design, but also about engaging your target audience. Here are some effective engagement strategies to consider:

Use compelling offers

One of the most effective ways to engage your audience is by offering them something of value. This could be a discount, a free trial, or a special offer. Make sure your offer is clear and easy to understand. Use bold and eye-catching fonts to draw attention. If you’re offering a reduced price on a product or service then make sure that the original price is clearly visible so that your readers can see the cost saving!

Add a strong call to action

A call to action (CTA) is a statement that encourages the reader to take a specific action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. A strong CTA is essential for converting your leaflet readers into customers. Use persuasive language and make sure your CTA is clear and concise. Consider using bold or italic fonts to draw attention to your CTA. If you have a website or social media page, include the URL or handle in your CTA to make it easy for readers to find you online.

Remember, your leaflet is a marketing tool, intended to raise awareness of your brand, product, or event. By creating compelling offers and adding a strong call to action, you can maximise the effectiveness of your leaflet campaign and engage your target audience.

Examples of an effective call to action are:

  • Call us today!
  • Shop now!
  • Save 20% on your next order!
  • Sign-up now!

 

Now that you know what makes a good leaflet and how to create a design that will capture your audience’s interest, the next step is to partner with an established leaflet printing company like Smart Inc! Speak to our team today to find out how we can help with your next project.