How to write flyer copy

To write flyer copy, write in the order people read and give each part a word budget. The headline says what the reader gets in two to six words. One promise line makes it specific. Three body points state facts, not adjectives. A line of proof gives the reader something they could check, the price is a real number with what it includes, and the flyer ends on one ask with one way to act on it. The table under this article sets the budget for each element; most flyers land between 40 and 120 words.

The content rules, which five things belong on a flyer and in what order, are in what to put on a flyer. This article is about the words inside each of them.

A person picking up a flyer is asking one question: is this for me? The copy has to answer it before it says anything about the business.

Australia’s Government Style Manual gives the same advice for any public writing. Think about who you are writing for, ask what they need to know and what they need to do, and put the most important thing first, because readers might not reach the bottom. On a flyer, many readers will not reach the second line.

Nielsen Norman Group’s research on reading behaviour explains why. It found 79 percent of test users scanned new pages rather than reading word by word, and its F-shaped pattern research shows scanning readers weight the first words of each line heavily. A flyer’s first words are its headline.

The headline: two to six words that say what they get

Write the headline from the reader’s side. The cleaning service flyer is three flyers for a fictional cleaning company, and its headlines are Clean, Every Week; Quoted by the Job; and Half Price First Clean. Each tells a homeowner what is on offer before they know the company’s name.

Test a headline by covering the rest of the flyer. If a stranger cannot say what you are offering, rewrite it. The most common failure is using the headline for the business name, which answers a question nobody has asked yet.

The promise line: what makes this one different

Under the headline, one line of 10 to 20 words makes the offer specific. It is the answer to “why this one and not the other flyer on the fridge”.

The cleaning service flyer’s promise line is the best thing on it: the same two cleaners at your place every visit, so nobody has to be shown where the vacuum lives twice. It names the single thing customers of cleaning services care about and most competitors do not say. The plumbing flyer finds its equivalent in a number: a two hour average arrival on same day calls, which is what somebody with water on the floor is actually buying.

The body: three points, each a fact

Three body points is enough for almost any flyer. Each should be 8 to 15 words and state a fact the reader can use: what is included, how long it takes, who it suits, what it costs.

Compare two versions of the same point. “Professional, reliable office cleaning” says nothing a competitor could not say. The cleaning flyer’s version, “after hours, alarm trained, invoiced monthly with no swipe card fuss”, tells an office manager three things they were going to ask.

Keep the points parallel. When each starts with the same kind of word, a noun or a verb, they scan in a single pass. The Style Manual recommends bullet lists for grouping related information for exactly that reason.

Proof and price: numbers people can check

Proof is a claim a reader could test. The cleaning flyer’s proof is that its cleaners are police checked, insured and paid above the award, and that a missed spot reported within a day is redone at no charge. Every one of those could be verified, which is why they persuade. The landscaping flyer does the same with 340 gardens since 2014 and a 4.9 average across 180 published reviews.

Claims have to be true. The ACCC’s guidance on false or misleading claims applies to a flyer exactly as it does to a television advertisement, so a testimonial must be real, a guarantee must be honoured and “limited time” must end.

Then give a price. The cleaning flyer’s priced guide lists four starting figures, from 95 dollars for a weekly clean of a two bedroom home to 340 dollars for an end of lease clean, each with what it includes. The gym flyer prints both membership rates, 34 dollars a week and 24 dollars off peak, beside the words no lock-in contract. A price with its inclusions filters out the wrong customers and reassures the right ones.

The ask and the offer terms

End on one ask of two to five words and one way to act on it. The cleaning flyer’s offer design says Book a free quote and prints one phone number and one website on a single line.

If there is an offer, the terms sit beside it in plain words: who qualifies and when it ends. “Book any weekly or fortnightly clean before 30 September and the first one is half” is eighteen words and leaves nothing to ask. How to choose the action and word it for the channel is covered in how to write a flyer call to action.

A social version of the same flyer needs fewer words again, because more of the frame is covered and the reader is scrolling. Instagram sizes shows where the interface sits over a post and a story.

Edit: read it aloud, then cut a third

When the draft is done, read it aloud once. Anything you stumble over is too long, and anything that sounds like an advertisement rather than a person is probably an adjective that can go.

Then count. If the total is well over the budget in the table, cut a third before you look at the design. The easiest cuts are usually the second sentence of the promise line, the fourth body point and any word ending in a phrase such as “and much more”. Style Manual advice applies here too: use everyday words and short sentences, and prefer the active voice, so “two cleaners arrive at 7am” rather than “cleaning will be commenced at 7am”.

Finally, check every number against its source: the price, the date, the phone number and the address. A typo in a phone number costs every enquiry that flyer would have produced.

Common mistakes

• The business name as the headline. Put it in the logo, not the first words.
• Adjectives instead of facts. Best, quality and affordable are skipped by every reader.
• A paragraph where three points belong.
• “Call for a quote” on a service that has a starting price.
• Three contact methods and no ask.
• Fine print that changes the offer. If the terms reverse the headline, the headline is misleading.

Build it

The flyer generator reads a written brief of up to 8,000 characters, so the budget above doubles as a brief: write the headline, the promise, three facts, the price and the ask, and paste them in. Generation treats your request as the source of truth. It does not invent brand names, prices, dates, phone numbers, addresses or statistics, it leaves an optional slot empty rather than padding it, and each text slot has a length budget, so long copy is rewritten shorter rather than cut off. The flyer from a description page sets out what it does with a brief.

The language is typed freely, with 32 suggestions, and the design comes from the template and theme you choose rather than from the words. The guide to choosing your flyer’s template, theme and size explains those settings.