National Clothesline

A cleaner from Ohio called last week to ask me what the cheapest, most effective means of advertising his business through the slow summer months might be.

I answered, without hesitation, that an effective flyer or handout would probably get the biggest results for the smallest cost in the shortest amount of time.

The simple flyer or circular is one of the cheapest, fastest and most versatile forms of advertising there is. It is frequently used for limited-time information because of the speed with which it can be produced.

Usually, the format is an 8 1é2 x 11-inch paper with printing on one side only. Since that’s the standard paper size, using it is the cheapest approach — if your message fits. Sometimes you can save money by printing two, three or four of your flyers to a page and then cutting them.

The average flyer contains about half the sales space of a brochure at less than one-tenth the cost. By comparison, a small display ad in a newspaper offers much less space at far greater cost than a flyer.

Nowadays, with the ready availability of computers, printers and copy machines, flyers have become so cheap to produce that they are virtually free. The only real significant expense is the distribution — getting your piece into the hands of your prospects, or at least in front of their eyes.

Currently, an offer stapled to an outgoing order is the most common use of a flyer by drycleaners.

One of the most overlooked uses of a flyer, however, is to cheaply and quickly test headlines and copy before going to other more expensive forms of marketing such as brochures, Yellow Pages, direct mail and display ads. This takes the mechanics of producing a flyer to another level.

In order to be an effective sales tool, a flyer must:

• Draw attention.

• Create interest.

• Develop desire.

• Generate action.

The headline

Headlines are used to draw attention and for this reason it’s mandatory that no flyer be without one. A good headline will do one of three things (either separately or in combination). It will provide a benefit. It will offer a solution. Or it will arouse curiosity. That’s the test.

You must always make a clear offer, something that gives your prospect a real reason to respond to your flyer. The offer should be in larger type or bold type and normally near the bottom of the page. This is where you “close the sale,” so make sure the reader doesn’t miss it. A discount coupon is a good way to attract new business to your store. If you use a coupon, place it in the lower corner of the flyer so that it’s easy to cut out. Make sure, too, that it looks like a coupon.

Your flyer should be filled with benefits using short words, short sentences and short paragraphs. It’s important to use simple language for clarity. Don’t be afraid to write at an eight-year old level. Nobody’s judging your work for a Pulitzer Prize. Put full contact information (cleaner name, address, phone number, fax, etc.) at the bottom of the flyer. If you use coupons, be sure this information is included on every coupon as well.

If you use photos or artwork, don’t overdo it. Also, make sure that they make sense and that they add to, not detract from, your message. Bullets are a type of graphic and are often an effective way to present lots of material in a pleasing format.

Always include a call to action. This is where you tell the prospect exactly what to do to get your offer. For example, “Bring this flyer with your drycleaning order of at least five items or more…” Let’s face it, if you’re not sure what you want your prospects to do, how can you expect them to figure it out and do it? It’s likely they won’t bother.

If you’ve never written a flyer before, do a little research first. Gather as many flyers as you can from inside and outside the drycleaning industry. Pick a good one to use as a template then decide what you want your offer to be.

List the benefits of your service in the order of their importance to the prospect. Devote some time to this. Writing down all of the benefits you have to offer your customers is a very good exercise and quite often a learning experience.

Next, make an outline of your key points then write a rough draft and pencil in any graphic elements you intend to include. Once this is done you’ll be able to determine the size of your flyer based on the amount of information to be placed.

Now you’re ready to edit for clarity and finalize the copy before going to print.

As I mentioned at the start of this article, producing a flyer is virtually free. The only significant expense is getting it into the hands of your prospects. While stapling flyers to outgoing orders is a free way to reach your customers at no expense, reaching new prospects requires some degree of cost.

To reach prospects efficiently and cost effectively, hire some door-to-door distributors to deliver your piece to the front door of every home in your prime target area.

There are delivery services in almost every city that actually do this as a business, however, if you have the right connections, these messengers could simply be local neighborhood kids with time on their hands who are eager to earn a reasonable hourly wage.

Have the pieces delivered on Friday between noon and 5 p.m. and then get prepared for an immediate response at your front counter on Saturday morning.

It would be wise to schedule an extra counter person or two because if you’ve made a good offer, the orders will begin pouring over your counter by 10 a.m. and you’ll want to make certain that every customer receives excellent service.