Flyers Do's and Don'ts

The flyer evaluations on this page are not intended to criticize past efforts. Their purpose is to share proven marketing principles about what attracts attention and what people tend to overlook. By learning from these examples, we can all become more effective at attracting new square and round dancers. Marketing has changed over time, and the individuals who created and distributed these flyers have made valuable contributions to our activity and deserve our appreciation.

Examples of Flyers that are most effective at attracting new members:

What works and doesn't:

We don't usually recommend old-fashioned square dance images, but this one has great appeal. To keep the focus on attracting beginners, consider removing organization and standard logos. While meaningful to dancers, they add clutter for non-dancers. Keep the message simple: Try square dancing—it's fun!

Good layout and lesson information. Focus the message on fun, friendship, and community rather than the club name or explaining modern square dancing. One large photo of energetic dancers having fun dancing would be more engaging than several small graphics. Replace long paragraphs with short, catchy phrases—people decide within seconds whether to keep reading, and too much text can reduce interest.

This flyer is colorful, but the variety of colors and graphics against an intense multi-color background makes it feel busy. Keep the focus on the main message: inviting people to try square dancing for fun, friendship, and community. Extra symbols, music references, and patterned backgrounds can distract from that message. You have only a second to capture attention, so simplicity helps. A QR code linking to your website is an excellent addition.

Great top half! Photo with energetic dancers is perfect. Non-dancers don't care who the caller or the teacher is unless s/he is a well-known community celebrity outside of the dancing world. Leave the caller/cuer information for flyers for dancers. Too much text, leave the quotes for your website or Facebook page information. Effective catch phrases are listed at the bottom of the page. Emphasize them. QR code A+!