What Happened When We Tested Flyers vs Digital Across 20 Cities

One question we hear almost every day is which performs better. Flyers or digital ads. To answer that properly, we decided to run a large-scale test across Canada. Twenty cities. Thousands of households. Identical offers. Two formats. One goal. Find out which channel delivers real response for local businesses.

Here at Flyer Canada, we already knew flyers perform strongly, but even we were surprised by the final numbers. This test made one thing clear. When it comes to local marketing, flyers consistently outperform digital ads in both conversion rate and cost efficiency.

Digital has its strengths. But flyers win where it matters most. Real homes. Real attention. Real customers.

How the test worked

To keep the test fair, we chose twenty cities across different regions. Large cities. Mid-sized cities. Suburban communities. Smaller towns. Then we selected comparable neighbourhoods within each city.

Every area received the same offer. The same headline. The same message. Half received a flyer campaign. The other half received the same message through digital ads. We measured conversions, cost per lead, and customer acquisition cost.

The difference was unmistakable.

Flyers captured attention faster

Across all twenty cities, flyers generated immediate response. People picked them up, scanned the QR codes, redeemed the offers, and visited the websites quickly. Flyers reached them at home, where decision-making actually happens.

Digital ads, on the other hand, had to compete with noise. Notifications. Social feeds. App activity. Scrolling patterns. Most impressions were ignored instantly, which is common in digital campaigns.

On average, the flyer campaigns achieved a 4.4 percent conversion rate. The digital ads reached just 0.12 percent. That is not a small gap. It is a different playing field.

For more detail on this comparison, visit Flyers vs Digital Ads: Which One Actually Delivers Better Results.

Cost differences told the real story

Digital campaigns cost significantly more across all cities. Competition pushed bidding prices up. Visibility fluctuated based on time of day. Some neighbourhoods were oversaturated with ads. The cost per click kept rising without improving results.

Flyers have no bidding system. No fluctuating price levels. No algorithmic interference. They are delivered directly to the homes you choose.

This structure is one of the reasons our flyer campaigns helped businesses cut their customer acquisition costs by 51.8 percent on average.

To explore cost efficiency further, visit How Much Do Flyers Cost And Are They Worth It.

Regional patterns appeared

Another interesting outcome was how consistent the flyer results were across different regions. Large cities like Toronto and Vancouver showed strong conversion. Smaller markets like Kelowna, Barrie, and Moncton showed equally strong engagement.

Digital ads varied widely. In some cities they performed acceptably. In others they struggled to gain traction at all. Flyer response was steady and predictable. Digital response was scattered.

This consistency is one of the main reasons businesses choose flyers as a long-term channel. Predictability builds growth.

If you want to understand why consistency matters, explore Why Flyers Work for Canadian Entrepreneurs.

Why people responded differently

We also surveyed customers during the test. Many told us they trusted flyers more. They liked seeing a local offer physically in their home. They felt more confident acting on something printed than on something that popped up online.

Digital ads triggered skepticism. Flyers triggered familiarity.

This trust factor played a major role in the performance gap. When people trust the medium, they trust the message. And when trust is present, response follows naturally.

To learn how to design trustworthy materials, see How to Make Flyers Impossible to Ignore.

The biggest takeaway from our findings

After running this test across twenty Canadian cities, the takeaway could not be clearer. Flyers dominate when it comes to local response. Higher conversion. Lower cost. More consistency. More trust. Digital ads still have a place, especially for retargeting, but they do not replace flyer performance for neighbourhood-based marketing.

Flyers do not fight for screen space. They do not rely on bidding. They do not get skipped instantly. They show up when people are ready to pay attention. And that simple advantage changes everything.

Final thoughts

Our cross-Canada comparison confirmed what we see every day. Flyers work because they connect with people where it matters. At home. In moments without distraction. With messaging that feels local, credible, and easy to understand.

Here at Flyer Canada, we design and deliver campaigns built on these insights. It is how we achieve an average 4.4 percent conversion rate, reduce acquisition costs by 51.8 percent, and help businesses earn between three and twenty nine times return on investment.

If you want to see these results in your area, reach out through our contact page, browse our store, or call 437 524 5287.

We are ready to help you run a campaign that delivers real data and real results.