Do Door Hangers Work for Home Services Contractors?
Absolutely! Door hanger advertising is a tried and true marketing technique that has been used by businesses of all sizes. In this blog post, we will discuss how door hangers can be used to help you grow your business. We will cover door hanger content, design, distribution methods, the pros and cons of door hangers from a marketing perspective, and more in this post!
Door Hanger Advertising
Door hanger advertising is a form of marketing that uses door hangers to promote a business. These door hangers are typically designed to be hung on the door handle or knocker, and they often include information about the business, such as hours of operation, services offered, or special deals.
Door hangers come in two standard sizes: 3.5″ x 8.5″ and 4.5″ x 11″. The larger-sized door hanger is harder for prospects to miss. It also allows you to convey more as part of your marketing message.
Pros and Cons of Door Hanger Advertising
Pros:
Door Hangers Get Noticed
Direct mail arrives in your mailbox and is often thrown out without ever being opened. As a result, the majority of the time, your target won’t even see your advertising message.
Door hangers will almost always be seen by your target customer. Homeowners receive important messages from delivery companies (like UPS and FedEx) on their door handles. It is more than likely that they’ll see your message, as they’re used to receiving important information on their door handle.
Door Hangers are Relatively Inexpensive
Compared to the cost of other advertising options, door hangers are a great value. You can get door hangers made for under $0.50 each, and if you buy in bulk, the price per door hanger decreases even more – as low as $.05 each for 5,000 is possible.
There is also a cost involved with distribution, but that cost is generally pretty manageable.
Easily Reach Your Target Market
Unlike more broad forms of advertising that reach a wide range of consumers – like radio and tv – door hangers are much more targeted. You’re able to place your advertising hanger on the exact types of homes that are a good fit for your home services business. If you service homes in a particular neighborhood, door hanger advertising is a great way to reach those consumers.
Easy to Measure Effectiveness
You can create door hangers with different advertising messages and put a custom phone number for each production run. This will allow you to track how many potential customers call you for each type of ad campaign. You’ll know what advertising messages work best with your customers. You’ll also be able to see which neighborhoods provide the most value for your door hanger advertising budget.
Cons:
Door Hangers Get Noticed
The fact that door hangers are easily noticeable makes them both a pro and a con. Many of your prospects will not take kindly to your ad hanging on their door. It is possible that as a result, they will form a negative opinion of your brand.
Your Marketing Message Must be Perfect
Your door hanger ad has limited space available to establish the credibility of your company and to make a compelling offer. Every word must count. So be sure to focus on your marketing message and how it will directly benefit the homeowner.
It May Not be Allowed
Even if inserting door hangers in a prospect’s mail slot is permissible, it runs the risk of irritating the prospect and damaging your brand
It is possible that door hangers may not be allowed in the neighborhoods and communities you are targeting. In most areas, door hangers aren’t considered “solicitation” and are generally ok to distribute. Even so, always be sure to check with your local municipality/HOA/community before you order your door hangers and start distribution.
Even if door hangers are allowed, always be respectful of the homeowners and adhere to any no-trespassing or solicitation policies that may be in place.
While door hangers aren’t considered “soliciting” in most areas, it probably isn’t worth it to place a door hanger if you see a sign like this
You Can Only Reach a Small Audience
Using door hangers is ideally suited to smaller neighborhoods, and not large metropolitan areas. It is great for reaching a very specific audience, but not so great at reaching millions of people.
If you have a large home services company with multiple locations, you may be better served with online advertising, direct mail, or even tv or radio advertising.
Limited Effectiveness at Promoting Your Brand
Door hangers will work best when the homeowner is in need of your services – or will soon be in need of your services. You’re unlikely to build your brand with door hangers.
Since it is so challenging to build your brand with door hangers, you’ll likely need to periodically target the same neighborhoods repeatedly to get your message in front of homeowners when they need your services (but only if you’ve already received a positive ROI).
Door Hanger Ad Design
The design for your door hanger advertisement needs to be eye-catching and draw attention to your service. You’ll also want to Here are a few tips for designing an effective door hanger ad:
Use Bright Colors – But Don’t Get too Busy
Use bright colors that will stand out against the door’s color. Stay away from plain old black and white. Two colors can work fine (like red and white) – but don’t use too many colors.
Keep the design simple. If you have too many different colored elements on your door hanger it can be hard for prospects to process your ad.
Clear Illustration of Service Offering
If you’re a plumber, have a photo of your brand/van or your staff doing plumbing repairs. Your prospects need to know with a quick glance about your service offerings.
Clear, Concise Message
It may be tempting to say as much as possible with your advertisement but resist the urge. Door hangers are not like other forms of advertising, where people are more likely to take the time to read through a longer message. Your door hanger should have a clear and concise message. Use the minimal amount of words possible to get your point across.
Limited Time Offer
Your door hanger advertisement should have a limited-time offer to create a sense of urgency. This could be a discount on your services or a free consultation. Whatever the offer is, make sure it’s something that your potential customers can’t refuse!
Very Clear Call to Action
The goal of door hanger advertising is to make sure your contact information is easy to read and included on the ad. Your phone number, business name, and website should all be clearly displayed. It needs to be 100% obvious how your prospective customers can get in touch with you.
Different Calls to Action for Tracking Purposes
Some messages and offers will resonate with your customers differently. If possible, it is best to test multiple marketing messages to see what works best.
You may wish to print out two batches of door hangers with different offers. Each batch would have a different phone number and/or a website page associated with the offer.
Let’s use a garage door repair services company as an example. The goal is to get more customers for routine garage door maintenance. These may be the two offers that they use:
1) Garage Door Inspection – $75. Includes hardware inspection and lubrication of moving parts. Call 555-4481.
2) $100 off Garage Door Maintenance – This Month Only! Includes hardware inspection, safety check, and routine maintenance. Call 555-8881.
By using a call services provider with two separate phone numbers, you’ll be able to know which marketing message works best.
Door Hanger Templates
Many door hanger advertising companies (discussed below) will provide templates that you can modify to create your door hanger ad.
You can also get door hanger templates from a variety of websites including stock photography websites like shutterstock.com and depositphotos.com
*Websites like shutterstock.com have door hanger template designs that you can modify and take to a printer
Door Hanger Advertising Companies
There are a variety of companies that offer door hanger advertising design, printing, and distribution. Some companies offer all three services. Here are a few of these companies and services that may be worth exploring:
VistaPrint – offers door hanger advertising printing. They also have templates that you can modify for your business. They also offer a service where you can get help from designers (starting at $5). VistaPrint will print and ship the hangers to you.
Fiverr – is a website that offers many different gig-type services including door hanger design. You can likely find a fairly inexpensive design through one of their freelancers.
RunAmplify – does full-service printing, design, campaign demographic targeting, and delivery for door hangers.
Doorhangers.com – This company will design and print your door hangers. They do distribution by mail through the USPS – as opposed to actually hanging it on doors of homeowners.
PsPrint – Offers door hanger printing services.
Frequently Asked Questions About Door Hanger Advertising
What is the Return on Door Hanger Advertising?
The return on investment for door hanger advertising will vary greatly based on the cost of the door hangers, the cost of delivery, the effectiveness of your demographic targeting, the effectiveness of your advertisement, and how good your sales team is at converting prospects into paying customers. Making a mistake in any of these areas can lead to a campaign that loses money instead of makes money.
It is vital that you measure all of your costs and associated revenue in order to calculate your return on investment.
The important thing is to do your homework, calculate the numbers, and make an informed decision.
Can You Tape Flyers or Marketing Materials on Doors?
No. You should never use tape or any adhesive substance to attach flyers or marketing materials to doors. It could potentially damage the door and the surrounding surface. The goal is to get your business noticed by prospects in your targeted neighborhoods. You’ll definitely get noticed – in a bad way – if a customer has to scrape tape or any other adhesive off of their door or doorknob. Make sure the people you hire to do the canvassing for your marketing materials don’t use adhesive substances.
Who Hangs Up Door Hanger Advertising?
You can hire members of your team to do the door hanger distribution if you wish. Or you can hire a door hanger distribution company to place the hangers. Here in Denver, when I do a search for “door hanger distribution near me” – multiple local and national companies show up.
Most home services providers should probably hire a third party to do the distribution as members of your staff are focused on customer fulfillment. It probably wouldn’t make sense from an economic standpoint to have your team members canvassing neighborhoods.
How long does it take to distribute door hangers?
Assuming you want to use your staff to do the door hanger delivery, the amount of time it takes to will vary based on a number of factors. The size of the area you’re covering, how densely packed the houses are, how large the lots are, how many door hangers you plan to distribute, and how fast your delivery people walk will all play a role.
You can estimate the amount of time it takes beforehand by analyzing these factors. In this example, we’re assuming that your delivery people won’t walk on prospects lawns – and they shouldn’t walk on lawns as this is a sure way to have your marketing material tossed out:
– Space Between House Driveways (average): 50 feet
– Space From Sidewalk to Front Door (average): 30 feet
– Speed of Delivery Person: 3 miles per hour
To deliver one door hanger, the delivery person will have to walk 50 feet to get to a house’s driveway, then 30 feet to the door, and 30 feet to get back to the street (50 + 30 + 30 = 110 feet).
3 Miles Per Hour * 5280 Feet = 15840 feet per hour
15840 feet per hour / 110 feet per hanger = 144 hangers per hour.
Can You Put Door Hangers on Mailboxes?
No. You are not allowed under any circumstances to place door hangers on mailboxes according to the USPS. You also can’t place or affix your marketing materials (including door hangers) on or in a prospect’s mailbox.
The only possible exception may be using a mail slot on a customer’s door. USPS regulations don’t apply to door mail slots. While doing this may not be strictly prohibited by USPS rules, you would be very wise to know the rules of the neighborhood or municipality where you are distributing your door hangers. Some may allow it, and others won’t. That said, prospects are very likely to see marketing materials like this being shoved through their mail slot as being very intrusive.
Can You Mail Door Hangers?
Yes. You can actually mail door hangers as long as the door hanger has the proper postage and is delivered by the United States Postal Service. As mentioned above, you can’t just put the door hanger in a customer’s mailbox.
While you may have success by mailing door hangers, you may be better served by mailing postcards instead of door hangers. Both are able to be instantly viewed by customers (without opening an envelope).
The printing cost of postcards is significantly cheaper than door hangers. A run of 500 8.5″ x 5.5″ postcards costs $54.74 at VistaPrint. 500 similarly sized 3.5″x8.5″ door hangers cost $75.74.