The humble auction flyer is a stalwart marketing tool that has stood the test of time*, and with very good reason! It is cost-effective, easy to distribute, and has a wide reach that goes beyond the first line of recipients. After all, there is no way of telling who may see a flyer once it’s put up on a fridge or a community advertising board.
However, for a live or online charity auction to get effective exposure from a flyer, it has to be designed to convince the viewer to take part in the event. This is where the challenge comes in. Anyone can print a flyer. But, there are certain things that need to be in place if you want to put out a flyer that converts.
*FUN FACT: The oldest surviving flyer dates back to 1477! It advertises a religious book, and even uses some very interesting early marketing tricks.
Here are our best tips for creating eye-catching auction flyers that will help drive more people to your event. No matter whether it is online or live.
For any piece of marketing material to be effective, it has to have a clear goal in mind. In the case of a charity auction, you want to invite and encourage your viewer to attend a live or online auction in order to contribute to a good cause.
Be sure that you drive this message home by keeping it central to your communication throughout. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to say too much - stick to the basics.
When viewing marketing materials from a distance, like auction flyers on a community advertising board, they have to be attention-grabbing on a visual level.
In cases like these, high contrast visuals are your best bet. In real life, there are no flashing icons to draw the eye. So, you need to get back down to basics to draw your viewer in.
TOP TIP: Graphic designers are professionally trained to understand how the human eye works and what type of contrast is called for at various distances.
Although their services can be expensive, a designer may be inclined to make their time available for a good cause free-of-charge if you can provide them with a tax certificate.
The absolute ideal when it comes to flyer design is to find the sweet spot between visual interest and simplicity. In short, your marketing material has to be interesting enough to draw the eye. But, it needs to be ‘clean’ and uncluttered enough to bring your message across without confusing the viewer.
Always err on the side of simplicity. If a flyer feels overcrowded, rather remove a few elements until it seems less visually overwhelming.
TOP TIP: There are certain fonts that are particularly well suited to flyers. These include Century Gothic, Verdana, and Helvetica. These sans serif options offer maximum readability, which is exactly what you want.
If you choose to use an image on your auction flyer, be sure to choose a quality image that really makes it pop. There are many great stock sites that offer royalty-free images by up-and-coming photographers for use.
Remember, for print purposes, your images always have to be hi-res. If you can’t find a suitable photo or graphic in a high enough resolution, rather opt for an interesting layout and inviting fonts.
The way you approach your written content will all depend on your target demographic.
Depending on the nature of your charity, you may have found that your pool of regular donors consists mainly of Millennials and Gen Z's. In this case, you can keep your language fairly casual and use conversational lingo. In fact, you could even throw in a few hashtags.
On the other hand, your cause could be mainly supported by older ladies and gentlemen who prefer to be addressed in a more formal fashion.
The trick lies in using your donor data to find what your average donor persona looks like and to tailor your language to their liking.
Don’t try to fit too much information onto your flyer. Stick to a snappy headline or title, and a concise description of the particulars of the auction using lots of action words.
If you have a lot of information to relay, rather point the viewer to a website or provide a telephone number that they can call if they need finer details.
Your call to action should always be very clear, even if a viewer is just skimming the content. Do you want them to call, visit your website, book an auction slot, contribute auction items?
Decide what you need your target audience to do and explain the next steps they should take to participate in no uncertain terms.
When things are printed in bulk, the last thing you want is a spelling error or grammatical mistake slipping through. Always remember to check, check, and check again before you send your flyers off to the printer!
People read flyers from the top down. So, include the most important information at the top so you can be sure that the viewer gets the gist of your message even if they don’t read every word on the flyer.
If a regular donor should come across your flyer, they should know it belongs to your organization. Be sure that your printed marketing materials reflect the look and feel of your nonprofit at all times.
A well-designed auction flyer is a fantastic, cost-effective marketing tool. Focus on the important elements of your visual and written content to ensure that your flyer hits the mark and shares your message in the most compelling way possible.
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