Leaflet dropping and e:advertising

So here I am, 40 years old next month and like many i have a reasonable knowledge of electronic media and its potential power. As a relatively new maintenance and landscaping business, the need to reach out to the local customer base is all important in the initial stages, before word of mouth recommendation will oil the wheels as i progress.

Consequently, i have considered, listened and acted on what i feel is best for my business at this particular time. I have my web page up and running, additionally i have a Facebook page which i like as it can directly engage with customers. How else can i let potential customers know of my existence and what i offer?

Well, I recently designed and ordered 10,000 A6 gloss leaflets which i have started delivering this week - i have impressed even myself (which to be honest doesn't take much!) and have dropped 2,000 in two days. I could have given them to a delivery company and put my feet up but i was very keen to do this myself as if i saw anyone who wanted to discuss my business, i would be there to do so. Bit early to determine success as i have another 8 days of delivering ahead and as its still a chilly mid Feb, many may not yet be considering their gardens yet. Also, due to the weather, the streets have been largely quiet. I hope that a lot of these leaflets may be put on kitchen noticeboards, fridges and in top drawers (that draw) which may be recalled later in the year.

Whilst i lay on my sofa this evening, and caught up with the Facebook gossip of friends as you do, i realised that I could place an ad on FB and target it at a specific audience (of under 5,000) who lived within a 20 mile radius of me, who were interested in gardening, landscsaping and horticulture - my kind of people! At under £1.50 per day, this advert will cross the bows of these target people. And in the 4 or so years that i have been dallying on FB, i did not know that I could do this. As annoying as a Jimmy Carr laugh.

So there we have it, I know what most 40 year olds know about e media - I can send email, use the net, even build my own web site - But i have no idea why the font has changed here - its not that i have accidentally clicked the italics button - ive checked that - its a mystery. So i also know now that to advertise accurately and discriminantly to a specific target audience requires a sharper brain, less years or the skills of a 22 year old child in a wide awake suit called Dale. Let's see how this puppy flies - or whatever the kids are saying.

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Comments

colin richardson February 17, 2012 at 5:24pm

Hi Andy

I myself have done few leaflet drops in the past 6 months to try and drive custom...

I found that i received calls from potential clients from the leaflets dropped in the evenings, but none from the daytime drops!!

i've come to the conclusion that when people come home from work early evenings, walk through their front doors and pick up the mail...they sort through and discard any what they may call junk mail.

Later on in the evening when they hear something come through their letter box, they tend to take more time to look at my leaflet.

So maybe give it a go in the eves and see if it works the same for you.

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