A few days ago we looked at CPR or Cost Per Response, and explained its meaning. I have just done a little research and found an example that I thought was quite interesting.

 Firstly, What would you pay for a single response ? 

Secondly, What would you expect to pay for a response ? 

Thirdly, What do you think I found that the company in question paid ?

I will go straight to the example I found and leave you to think about the first two questions.

The example in question was a Regional Tourist Board in the UK, and I took data from 4 distributions, I think you will find the CPR costs quite surprising, the 4 costs were between approximately £8 and £10.50 per response.

Is this close to what you had thought ?

One of the key points with Leaflet Distribution is organisation and efficiency, I would guess very similar to any business, so keeping things well oiled and smooth running is of a prime concern. Now leaflets are very funny little things, we have met enough in our time to get a very close working relationship with them, now one of their biggest faults is that some of them are very slippery little characters, always trying to escape, and fly through the nearest letterbox. If you have ever met a bundle of glossy leaflets, and held a bundle in your hand, you will understand that it can be like holding a hand full of water, rather difficult on occasions.

Containing these leaflets, and keeping them under control, until they are released to give their marketing message is very important. All leaflets should be boxed in strong standard size boxes, and in turn these boxes should be well taped shut, it is often  surprising how often printers send stock directly to us with about 20cm of packing tape on the bottom of the box, expecting  that small amount to hold in around 15-18 kg of glossy leaflets, I am sure you can guess what a nightmare we can face sometimes, if those glossy leaflets see a chance of escaping they certainly will.

The reuse of supermarket carrier bags I realise is an environmentally sound concept, as did a Client a while back, but to be very honest, not a concept we would ever wish to see again !  Remember this stock is valuable, if it does not get to us safely you are risking the success of your campaign.

A few weeks ago we discussed how important it was to always maintain the advertising on any business, the advertising being the medium which pumps life into the business. We revisited the little local pub over the weekend  and once again the tables were not full, and to a quite large degree. The sun was out, the weather lovely and warm, the perfect time for couples and families to be eating out. The pub itself has a great location, and also has lovely gardens, so has the capacity to really pack the punters in and make the most when the times are good.

As normal, we had a great meal, as the pub was so quiet we had chance to have another chat to the Landlord, we thought we would have a light hearted conversation on the topic of advertising, as we had a few weeks previously. This time his mood was much deeper. The pub had been quiet since we had last spoken, and available cash was running very low. I suggested again about getting an ongoing advertising campaign up and running, but as things had fallen to such a low level, the available finances can only stretch to a short term campaign.

This is such a prime example of how every business needs to advertise on a permanent basis, once the advertising stops, every business is at risk of loosing trade and the financial slippery slope appearing. Once this happens, the advertising revenue is hard to find, and the situation just gets worse.

Right to the nitty gritty of all advertising, CPR or Cost Per Response.

This is an area that can cause a large amount of confusion, and surprise. The large companies will have very good ideas of what this level will be and will be prepared to pay at that level, and will certainly understand whilst they may not like paying such figures it is an absolute necessity. All advertising is good, very good, but to the less experienced it may produce results and returns in a different way to that was expected.

Cost Per Response is how much it costs per response in any campaign. The key word here is response, not sale. A response as we have discussed is perhaps a phone call, or probably more common now, the first contact may well be the viewing of a website, this is still a response, but perhaps not as some people would think. Once someone is on a website they can then make their own decision whether they like what they see and enquire further.

We would all assume that each client that undertakes a leaflet distribution would hope for the maximum success from their leaflet, and with this in mind the design and content of each leaflet is paramount. It is vital to ensure that your leaflet looks like it has come from a reputable company or organisation,  you must make a connection with the reader straight away and give them confidence in you.

Many householders and the general public at large are very aware of offers that are too good to be true, when you don’t receive quite what you thought you were going to, or in the extreme cases when it was blatantly a scam, and your chances of receiving anything are very low indeed, or indeed a scam so severe that it is just a method to obtain credit card or bank details.

Make an offer, add extra value, but as always make it realistic.

Pictures are worth a thousand words.

When thinking about your Leaflet design, it is vital to include images into your leaflet.

Images themselves if chosen carefully will instantly portray the message you are trying to give, without the need for lots of text that can look too busy, and also take up valuable space that is far better being used to carefully show your marketing message. The images will make any leaflet design look far more professional, and by just adding a background image to a plain text design will totally transform it, into something appealing and eye catching.

The FA Cup final is fast approaching and how many of you have thought about targeting this lucrative market, a large percentage of the UK population will make the effort to watch the game, and probably organise some special event around the game.

Just think of all the possibilities, they are probably endless. All the major supermarkets will have offers on alcohol, trying to tap into the market of the home football watching party, along with the drink, BBQ foods will be right at the forefront along with any kind of party food and utility items, such as disposable tableware. Any pub, club or restaurant that has large screen television must surely wish to jump on the bandwagon, and make the whole day a party day, trying to attract clients early and keep them for the rest of the day, maximising the total spend from each person.

Get you thinking caps on and think of ways that you can promote your business with Leaflet Distribution.

The new yearly budgets have been set for County and District Councils, communications managers are now looking to source their distribution needs for the coming year. Council publications are normally delivered on a quarterly basis and are the method in which they keep the public informed of the latest news and issues that affect them. Distribution companies should be ready to give informed and accurate quotations in order to secure this growing market.

When it comes to choosing a type of media for your own Leaflet Distribution there is a very wide and interesting selection to choose from, some good and some not so good, and there are a few that I would suggest would be best left well alone.

Without doubt the most popular is still the good old paper flyer, very cost effective to produce, and efficient on space and weight, which will certainly be a benefit when it comes down to a Distribution quote. It is also very easy for any viewer to see and deliver its vital message.

The other options are very wide ranging and are often dependant on your own industry sector, but all fall into another group, most of these are supplying a product, or some kind of interactive medium, such as a DVD or CD.

 Product sampling is a very widely used medium for launching new brands, or for gaining mass market awareness to company or product types are are already in the market place. The sampling process normally involves the distribution of small samples of the product, along with a voucher that has a call to action on it, normally offering a special price or another example of added value.

The media type that  I personally think is best to avoid is the use of DVD and CD type marketing aids. Whilst they do have a wow factor when seen on the doormat, and can offer a huge amount of total information to the viewer, they have very real draw backs in the fact that the viewer firstly has to have a method of viewing easily available, the time to do so, but I believe the biggest concern is the potential harm to any machine that it is used in. I would guess that most people would certainly think twice about running a form of media in their own computers, fearing the risk of virus infection.

This should certainly get your minds working, and we will discuss this further on another blog.

Many people have the misconception that Leaflet Distribution is just used by small business, the one man band type trades that everyone has in their home towns. This could not be further from the truth.

Every week of the year we are carrying out distributions for councils, the very large supermarkets that we all have in our own areas, the very large construction companies, the list goes on. These organisations understand the benefits of getting the message right into the heart of peoples homes, giving the media the greatest chance of being read, and the message registering in peoples minds. If these huge Public Limited Companies use and understand the Leaflet Distribution concept, and realise the benefits that can be had from the process,  it must have a proven track record, and as such must be a great Direct Marketing tool for any business or organisation the the UK.