The No-Fly Zone
5 reasons why flyers don't belong on social media
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Fun fact about most social media professionals: we hate flyers.
In the age of digital communication, flyers don’t exactly fit in, yet social media managers are constantly asked to publish them online to help promote a variety of events and initiatives.
You may be adamant about your flyer being posted, but there are a number of legitimate reasons why you may be getting pushback from your organization’s social media manager.
Your flyer isn’t accessible
Personally, this is my biggest issue with most flyers that I’m asked to post on social. A flyer created for print typically features a lot of copy. If you’re sending me your flyer as a JPEG or PNG, all that copy was flattened upon being exported which means it no longer registers as readable copy and an assistive device like a screen reader can’t read the text.
In order to make the flyer accessible, all the copy on it will need to be added to the alt text of the image, and that’s a lot of redundant work that could have been avoided if digital-friendly content was created in the first place. There are much better ways to handle flattened copy on social media like making graphics with minimal text on them and linking to a webpage where the info on your flyer is available in a readable format.
Your flyer isn’t on-brand
This point may not be true depending on who created your flyer, but there are many tools out there today that make it easy for anyone—novice or professional—to create their own flyers and graphics. Canva is one of the most popular design platforms currently available, and a lot of people take advantage of how easy it is to use.
However, even if you’re using a sleek pre-packaged template to create your flyer, that doesn’t mean it meets the brand guidelines of your organization. Consistent branding is important, especially when it comes to marketing materials and external communications. It’s better to work with your marketing team to ensure anything you create is on-brand.
Pro-tip: contact your organization’s marketing department as soon as possible if you’re looking to promote something, even if…
