Sheryl Roush, an experienced graphic designer and speaker, asked me to share the following with you:
Marketing Your Services in Print:
3 Stages for Designing an Effective Flyer
You are talented, have great expertise, and offer a valuable service to others. How do you get their attention and generate a response?
When creating any promotion, begin by placing yourself in your potential BUYER’S shoes, think like THEY think. Become your buyer. A big mistake in most promotional pieces is that they are designed from the SELLER’S point-of-view. What is their “pain” and how is your service the “solution?”
There are three stages of rapport required in any promotion: 1) Relevance; 2) Confirmation; and 3) Action. These stages must be done in order for your promotion to be effective.
Stage 1. In the first 1-7 seconds the buyer is looking for the relevance of your service, the benefits, or “WIIFM?” Placed in the top one-third of your layout, the reader browses short body copy, graphics, images, and color. Name their pain in the form of a question to compel them to read further. Since 70-80% of readers are “skimmers” and quick decision makers, use subheads and bullets for this group.
Stage 2 is up to 90 seconds, where your reader is still trying to decide whether this is a “match” for them, or not. Avid readers continue reading the piece and require longer body text plus all the facts and details to make a well-informed decision. Consider adding testimonials from satisfied buyers. This stage utilizes the middle portion of the layout and toward the bottom of the layout.
Stage 3 is vital in your promotion. Based on how engaged your buyer is and how well you have addressed their needs in the first two stages, the reader will naturally “flow” into this bottom one-third of the layout. This is the Call to Action stage, where you instruct the reader how to respond affirmatively to what they have read. This is the best place for your logo, email, toll free phone number, website. Create a “sense of urgency” using bold italics (i.e., Call today for your free 15-minute consultation!).
After you finish your draft, show it to others, ideally in your target market. How easily do they follow it? Is it compelling enough for them to take action? What is missing? What can be removed? Is it buyer-centered? Minimize the use of “we” and “our” and maximize “your” and “you” in the copy and headlines.
To generate higher response, use all three stages in any promotion you create!
Sheryl Roush, International Trainer on Marketing Design
Author of Solid Gold Newsletter Design
www.SparklePresentations.com
Best wishes,
Marilyn McLeod