Knock, knock door hangers
BY CHUCK GREEN “Distributing flyers door-to-door? Chuck, you gotta be kidding! Why,” you say, “would a forward-thinking, twenty-first-century kind of operation like mine, stoop to the stoop?” My sentiments exactly. When I first considered this idea, I thought the same thing. But once I did a little “jolt” thinking—the how, what, and why of doing things—I changed my mind.
If you think about it, distributing literature door-to-door has some major advantages over other forms of marketing—first, it can be a very inexpensive way to advertise. And, the cost of the flyers I'm proposing shouldn't be much more than you would pay for a few hundred business cards.
Plus, this form of marketing allows you to pinpoint your audience. If, for example, you sell garage door openers, you can deliver your message just to homes with garages. Or if you sell renter’s insurance, you can target just apartment complexes. And, you can limit your selling to generate only the volume of work you can handle. Not convinced? Stick with me for another page.
Open closed doors
A door hanger, quite obviously, is designed to be hung from a doorknob. The most economical approach is to print your artwork on the precut, ready-to-print hangers available through any commercial printer. You can even buy blanks to use with your laser printer from Paper Direct (www.paperdirect.com).
The process is much like conventional door-to-door sales. In the first moments of a face-to-face sale—the time it takes to greet a prospect, shake their hand and speak a few words—they have already begun to form a reaction. They are either receptive or skeptical and their interest is on the increase or the decline. Print materials face the same challenge—they represent, on paper, your style, your resolve and your talent for selling your idea.
No matter where the doors are—in an office building, a hotel, or the house down the street, door hangers are a marketing strategy that may present a significant opportunity. Your effort can be as simple as a black and white imprint on colored paper or as elaborate as a full-color presentation packaged with a premium.
The frugal hanger: You design a hanger as you would any other presentation—with the opening, the presentation and the close (figure 2). The opening comes in the form of a headline that speaks to your prospect in the context in which it will be seen—on the way up the steps or as they unlock their office in the morning. The body of the presentation provides the basic benefits of using your product, service or idea—benefits the reader can relate to. And like the close you would make face-to-face, your hanger should ask for the sale with a request to call, to visit or to respond in some other specific way.
In the bag: The more elaborate approach is to print your message conventionally and deliver it with one or more other items in a bag designed for just this purpose (figure 3). Chiswick, a packaging supplier, has literature bags in a several different sizes (800-225-8708 for a catalog).
Your opening line: Which do you think is more effective—to tell or to ask (figure 4)? This headline, “List the five home projects you hate to even think about,” is designed to get the reader involved. Instead of listing the types of services the Home Co-op provides, I’m inviting the reader to tell me what they hope those services will be. No mystery here, when you have the opportunity it’s better to ask your prospect what they want to buy than to tell them what you have to sell.
Telegraph you message visually: The illustration doesn’t have to be elaborate (figure 5). In this case, the house artwork does its job by providing a simple visual queue to the subject matter.
Keep it brief: Be realistic about your expectations. Don’t assume your prospect will drop what they’re doing to decipher a complicated message. store.gif (784 bytes)Keep your copy brief and to the point. Instead of using a bulleted checklist of features, create a benefits-oriented paragraph that plays off your headline and packs lots of information into a small amount of space.
Ask for action: Don’t just present your product, service, or idea and expect your prospect to decide what to do next. In this case, I’m asking the reader to take action by prompting them to create a list and providing them with a big, bold phone number to call.
Include a reminder: Because I’m asking the prospect to create a list, an inexpensive pen imprinted with the company name is a natural premium (figure 6). It not only makes filling in the list convenient, it offers a tangible reminder of the contact. You might include some other inexpensive imprinted item, a sample of your product, a product or service-oriented how-to booklet, and/or your business card.
Door hanger etiquette: There is always the possibility that someone will view your efforts as an intrusion. An unsolicited approach on some else’s turf must be handled with great sensitivity. Always ask for permission to distribute marketing materials on private property. Check local ordinances about door-to-door sales. Don’t be defensive if someone rebuffs you. And be sure your materials are used in situations where they cannot blow away—litter is bad public relations.
Who might use it?
Security
Landscaping
Real estate
Religious
Food delivery
Repair
Schools
Trades
Maintenance
Local retail
Political campaigns
Where to use it?
Hotels
Office buildings
Apartments
Houses
Automobiles
Toolbox: Door photograph: PhotoSpin, www.powerphoto.com; HANGER: Swirl: Design Elements, Ultimate Symbol; Lock illustration Just Tools, PhotoDisc, www.gettyimages.com; Headline font: Impact, Agfa/Monotype, www.agfahome.com/agfatype; Text font: Minion, Adobe Systems, www.adobe.com; Precut, ready-to-print hangers are available through any commercial printer; BAG HANGER: House illustration: Task Force Clip Art, NVTech, www.nvtech.com; Headline font: Myriad, Adobe Systems; Text font: Minion, Adobe Systems; Pen: Ink Vu Retracta-Stick pen, Logo Dynamics, www.logomd.com; Bags: similar literature bags available through Chiswick, www.chiswick.com