Door drop marketing in Surrey: a beginner's guide

Door drop marketing means delivering a leaflet, menu or flyer through the letterboxes of the households you want to reach. For local businesses in Surrey, it is a simple way to put an offer in front of nearby customers.

If you have never run a door drop before, the process can seem harder than it is. This guide takes you through it one step at a time, with a worked example, the mistakes to avoid and answers to the questions first-time customers ask most.

Who door drops suit

Door drops work well for businesses whose customers live nearby: takeaways, trades, estate agents, gyms, nurseries, tutors, dentists and new shops.

They also suit anyone with something to announce to a particular area, such as a new branch, a change of opening hours, a community event or a seasonal service. If your customers can be found by where they live, a door drop lets you reach them directly.

Step 1: choose your area

Start with the streets closest to you, or the areas that already bring you good customers. You can target whole towns, individual neighbourhoods or specific postcodes.

Surrey is varied, so it is worth thinking about what kind of area suits you. Busy town centres such as Woking and Epsom have lots of homes close together. Commuter towns such as Walton-on-Thames and Dorking mix town streets with larger family homes. Rural villages can have homes spread along lanes with long driveways. A window cleaner, a takeaway and a landscaper might each choose a very different set of streets in the same town.

Step 2: plan the leaflet

• One clear offer or message.

• A reason to act now, such as an offer with an end date.

• Your phone number, website and opening hours.

Keep the front simple. Most people decide in a few seconds whether to keep a leaflet, so the headline and offer should be readable at a glance. Use the back for detail, such as a price list, a map or a short list of services. If you need help with size, paper and design, our flyer printing page explains the options.

Step 3: choose shared or solus

A shared drop goes out alongside other non-competing leaflets and costs less. A solus drop goes out on its own and gets more attention.

Our starting prices are from £80 per 1,000 for shared distribution and from £110 per 1,000 for solus. If you are testing a new area, shared can be a sensible way to start. If your offer is time-sensitive or you want to stand out, solus is often worth considering.

Step 4: pick your timing

Line the drop up with a launch, a seasonal offer or a local event, so people see your leaflet when they are most likely to act.

Allow enough time for printing and for planning the rounds. A distributor typically covers around 1,000 properties in a 7 to 8 hour day, so larger campaigns are spread across several days or several distributors. If you have a fixed date, such as an opening day, tell us early.

Step 5: track the results

Use an offer code or ask new customers where they heard about you, so you know which areas responded best.

Keep a simple record of each drop: the area, the date, the number of homes and the enquiries that followed. Over time, this shows you which streets are worth returning to and which to drop.

A worked example

Here is a hypothetical example to show how the steps fit together.

A new dog grooming business in Reigate wants its first customers. The owner picks the streets within a short drive of the salon, choosing roads with family homes and gardens. The A5 leaflet has a headline, a photo, a first visit offer with an end date and a clear phone number. The owner chooses a shared drop to keep costs down for the first test, timed for a fortnight before the salon opens. Every new customer is asked where they heard about the business, and the answers are written down by street. After a few weeks, the owner can see which streets responded and plans a second drop focused on those roads.

Common mistakes

Too many messages. A leaflet that tries to say everything says nothing clearly. Pick one offer.

No reason to act. Without an end date or a clear benefit, people put the leaflet down and forget it.

Hard to contact. Make the phone number large and check every detail before printing.

Not tracking. Without an offer code or a question at the till, you cannot tell which areas worked.

Giving up after one drop. People often need to see a business more than once before they get in touch. Plan for repeat drops to the areas that matter most.

Frequently asked questions

How many homes should I target first?

There is no fixed rule. Many businesses start with the streets closest to them, then expand to nearby areas once they have seen how the first drop performed.

Can you print the leaflets too?

Yes. We can design and print your leaflets and deliver them in the same order. Print orders come with free delivery and no minimum order.

How do I know my leaflets were delivered?

Every round is GPS tracked and our teams are supervised. See our page on GPS tracked leaflet distribution.

When do I pay?

Payment is due in advance, unless you sign a contract of at least six months.

How we can help

Leaflet Media has run door drops across Surrey since 2014, with supervised teams and GPS tracked rounds. See our door drop marketing in Surrey page, or email surrey@leaflet-media.co.uk. You can also call 07525 722 427, Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 4:30pm, or check our leaflet distribution prices.