Effective Display Banners

Effective Display Banners

Whenever you visit shopping centres or drive/walk past business establishments, it’s hard to not notice the colourful advertising materials littered outside the building or in the surrounding area. Event display banners are an effective way of making people take notice and if done correctly they can be valuable marketing tools. These event display banners do work and can be surprisingly effective at getting people to visit the business establishment. Don’t go putting up any old colourful banner or sale posters just yet. Even if you think the posters and banners you see out and about are just some random marketing gimmick, you’re wrong.

The world is loaded up with visual mess, so when you’re promoting a sale or any good deals for your business, you need to follow a handful of rules for design if you want to achieve your goal of bringing more people in. My skills revolve around words, not pictures and visuals however I’ve been in business long enough and collaborated with enough graphic designer to know that these display banner need to be done right. When you put your resources into posters, banners, and signage you want to make sure that no budget is wasted. Here are just some of the things that you want to consider when designing your promo materials.

Not Too Big, Not Too Small. Just Right

Before you choose business signage you need to choose what the most fitting size will be for its unique circumstances. On the off chance that your sign is too little, the effect will be lost. If it’s too huge it might look unfilled or basically be an aggravation to those cruising by. When you pick the correct size for your sign it will grab a client’s attention and attract them. For walkway use, pick a sign that is enormous enough for individuals to see it from 100ft away. In the event that you have to grab the eye of individuals in passing cars you’ll need to consider a significantly bigger size. Imagine looking at a good website with a great banner image that makes you want to click for more info, that’s the effect you want to achieve with this.

Display Banners and Effective Design

Busy display banners make it difficult for individuals to take in all of the relevant information. You need a structure that is simple on the eyes yet offers recognisable branding and gives potential customers and clients all of the information they need and a call to action. Just don’t clutter your display banners up. Nothing puts people off faster than an overload of information and overly strong graphics.

Be mindful too of where you’ll be using your display banners. For example, are you looking for something to use for a community event, a conference (i.e. an exhibition stand banner) or something larger and in multiple locations? What you want the banner for and where it will be location-wise will dictate how it will be displayed and designed. For example, something at eye level will need to be structured differently to something high up on a shop front.

An Offer You Can’t Refuse

A perfectly planned sign won’t win you deals all alone – you have to incorporate a powerful idea in it as well. Include a call to action, a great headline, an offer that can’t be refuse and/or something quirky that makes your display banner design stand out and be remembered.

Display Banners That Last

Solid signs will enable you to utilise them again and again. By using a similar sign again and again you’ll save time and money while also helping to construct brand acknowledgement. To get the most the out of your signs, think about printing them as amazing vinyl standards. Never opt for the cheapest printing option unless you are certain of its quality.

Done Right 

An attentively structured sign with a well-made offer can be the contrast between a decluttered display that is too much or a bland one that doesn’t inspire further action. Think carefully about your display banners as to receive the maximum ROI you need to use them effectively.

 

Getting My Business Out There

Business
Photo credit

According to my emails via LinkedIn and the kind congratulations they contained I should be celebrating a work anniversary this week, six years as the owner of Candid Copywriting. I’ve been self-employed for nine years now however officially becoming CC was a turning point for me and I’ve worked full time as a freelance copywriter ever since.

When I look back to the beginning of my business journey there are a few things I would change. I know people say that your past mistakes form the present “you” however when it came to marketing in the early days the only thing some of my efforts shaped was an empty purse and wasted time.

I did all of the usual stuff, advertised in the local In Focus magazine which cost a fortune and promised a huge return (no one ever admitted to seeing it, let alone got in touch) and attended the formal networking meetings (ego lunches) to no avail.

The problem with starting out I found, particularly with marketing is that you really need to concentrate on your target audience or area and secondly, you could probably do with some help. I was so busy at that point writing copy that marketing was a sideline which it really shouldn’t have been.

Thankfully my advertising misadventures have not cost me too dearly and now, years on I have a thriving business which I love; I have a great book of clients, I am able to pick and choose what projects I take on, I choose my own hours, I really enjoy copywriting and of course what I do is so family friendly.

To be fair though I think I was fortunate, despite my ham fisted marketing efforts early on, thanks to some great recommendations from people who liked my work to others who took me on because of it. If this hadn’t happened and my reputation hadn’t grown organically I’d have been scuppered!

If I was to have a time travel machine which could take me back and allow me to make some different choices I would look at something like leafleting, having someone create leaflets (something quirky yet professional) and have them distributed in the areas I wished to work. I like the idea of the hand to hand approach as opposed to a blanket advertisement in a magazine or similar, it suits how I like to work. I want people to hear what I do and how I do it and want to take a leaflet with my details on!

My advice to anyone starting out now or revisiting their market plan would be to really think about how your business is being advertised. Of course we are all taking advantage of the online (often free) methods of building a brand and advertising ourselves however it would be blinkered to think that you’ll catch everyone in your marketing net this way as there are so many different forms of advertising to exploit, if you will.

What you choose depends on your business, your message and what you are trying to achieve for example. For me gorgeous lads and lasses as walking billboards at an event or busy metropolitan area would not suit my particular business however for some could be a game changer.

It doesn’t matter how established you are, it always pays to shake up your marketing efforts every now and then and trying something new could take your business in directions you’d never imagined.

Did you waste time and money on advertising methods going back which really weren’t suitable for you and didn’t create the buzz you’d hoped for? What would your one piece of advice be for someone starting up now and looking to get their name out? Please do comment as I’d love to hear your thoughts!