Pamphlets have been a traditional marketing strategy for many decades, and they remain popular for a variety of reasons. But do they have a good return on investment (ROI)?
In case you aren’t familiar, ROI is one of the most important metrics to measure in the marketing world. It’s a measure of how much value you’re getting from marketing investment, compared to how much you spent on it.
For example, if you spend $10,000 on a new marketing campaign and it generates $15,000 in new business for you, the ROI is $5,000, or 50 percent.
High ROI strategies are ideal; it means you’ll get more value from less of an initial investment.
Do pamphlets meet these criteria?
Pamphlet Costs
Let’s start by looking at the costs of printing pamphlets.
- Writing and design. Everything starts with your writing and design. It’s possible to write and design a pamphlet entirely on your own, even if you don’t have much experience, but that’s not going to get you the best product. Ideally, you’ll be working with a professional copywriter and/or a professional graphic designer; these experts will have the experience necessary to put together a pamphlet capable of achieving the best possible results. This might cost you a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.
- Printing. Next, you’ll need to think about how you’re printing your pamphlets. These days, you can find an inexpensive online printer that can handle almost any conceivable quantity of pamphlets. Generally speaking, the price per piece a pamphlet printing is going to decrease with the number of pamphlets you order; because of this, you’re incentivized to buy as many pamphlets as possible in a single order. If you do this, you might end up paying mere pennies per piece, instantly making your ROI equation more favorable.
- Distribution. You’ll also need to think about distribution costs, if applicable. You might be distributing pamphlets by hand to all the customers who physically visit your business, but you may also be mailing these to a list of existing customers or people in a specific neighborhood.
Pamphlet Value
Once you’ve determined the cost of your pamphlet strategy, you’ll need to calculate the approximate value of that strategy. This can be difficult since you won’t know exactly how effective your pamphlet is until you start actively distributing it. Additionally, some pamphlets will be highly valuable, communicating with target audiences effectively and motivating them to take action, while others will fall flat because of issues with wording or design.
Still, pamphlets have several advantages over other marketing and advertising strategies:
- Brand visibility. Any marketer can tell you how important brand visibility is, and pamphlets are excellent for promoting brand visibility. Even if people don’t read your pamphlets all the way through, they’ll at least begin to associate your brand with specific ideas or specific images. Because of this, it’s sometimes hard to measure the effectiveness of your pamphlets; some people will be motivated to take action far in the future, making it nearly impossible to quantify the full value your pamphlets bring.
- Information. Pamphlets are one of the best marketing mediums for informing a general population. In a relatively small amount of space, you can include tons of written and visual information for your readers to digest. If you have many different offerings, or if you have a somewhat complex business model, this can work in your favor.
- Versatile distribution options. Pamphlets can be distributed in a number of ways, some of which will likely benefit you more than others. If you order a large volume of pamphlets, you can distribute them in many different ways simultaneously, harnessing the unique advantages of each of them.
- Permanent accessibility. Your pamphlets aren’t going to expire, nor do they require an active subscription to use. If you print thousands but these pieces of marketing collateral, you’ll have them permanently accessible to you. You can freely use them in campaigns for years to come (as long as your content remains relevant and accurate).
- Tangible nature. Some of your customers probably prefer tangible marketing materials to digital ones. Because of this, pamphlets are a perfect fit for some brands and some target audiences.
The Bottom Line
The ROI of your pamphlet strategy is going to be contingent on a number of variables. You need to make sure you can print your pamphlets and distribute them as affordably as possible. You need to hire professional copywriters and graphic designers to make sure your messaging is as persuasive as possible. And you need to play to the specific strengths of pamphlets to make the most of them. Do that, and you’ll be left with one of the highest-ROI traditional marketing strategies around.
