Filed under: advertising, marketing, posters, printing | Tags: advertising, marketing, online printing, posters
Poster printing can be customized to advertise any product, service, or special event. Here are the five tips to remember when advertising with posters.
#1 Know what you need to tell viewers – Decide the main point of what viewers need to know and stick to it. Don’t lose focus or your poster will lose impact. Whittle your copy down to just the essential information that the viewer needs in order to know who you are, how to contact you, find your shop/event, choose you over the next guy. Remember: keep it simple.
#2 Organize info – Organize the information in a way that will make sense and get viewers from one point to the next. Draw them through a chronological order of events: statement of problem/issue, statement of solution, statement of why you provide the best solution, how they can reach you.
#3 Sell with benefits – Sell your product, service, or event with the benefits to the viewers in mind, whether they will benefit as your customers, by the entertainment value of your event, or perhaps there are environmental benefits to be gained. Let viewers know the outstanding benefits that you provide in a way that no one else does. Or how you are working together with other organizations to provide benefits. Your stance will depend on the nature of your product, service, or event.
#4 Use high quality images – Great images are an ideal way to attract attention. Images should be high quality and pertinent to the subject matter. Don’t use too many images. One large, high resolution image for your poster printing project that makes an impact is better than too many small, busy images.
#5 Use a professional printer – The quality of your poster prints will make a huge difference to passersby. Find a printing company who will create high quality poster prints at a reasonable price. You shouldn’t sacrifice quality for price, but good quality poster printing should not cost a fortune either. Request samples of the printer’s work and get quotes. A good professional printer should guarantee your satisfaction. Online printing companies are a great choice for poster printing because of the many options usually available at a relatively low cost.
These days everyone is looking for a way to promote their brand or business with inexpensive marketing ideas. Of the many economical options for printed marketing materials, one is sure to stay with your customers all year long: a print calendar. Calendars are versatile and can be customized to any brand or business for any market. Here are some ideas to promote your brand or business with calendars.
Recognizable Design
The number one trick for promoting your brand with print calendars is to have a consistent, distinctive design for your print calendars. Photos, products, and captions change from year to year but maintaining your company logo and the subject matter and style of your images will be the continuity that customers recognize and come to expect. Be sure that your logo appears on each page and that the overall design of the calendar is consistent with your other printed marketing materials.
Captions
The greatest benefit of print calendars is that your customers can use them every day of the year. Of course a compelling design is needed to make customers choose your calendar as the one they hang up. It is best to be able to tie each image used to your brand or products but this does not mean that the images must be of your product. The trick is to create a print calendar with striking images and use the captions to show how your company relates to or is like the visually stunning illustration.
Any business can choose beautiful photography of national parks, distinctive cities, or iconic landmarks and add a caption that demonstrates how your brand or a particular product supports the subject of the photo. For example, if you choose photos of protected national park lands, your captions can share with customers the environmentally friendly practices of your company in an effort to keep all of our country beautiful. If you choose photos of great bridges your captions can talk about the ways your company is the bridge between their problem and the solution.
Emotional Images
Professional images of various products in use shot in such a way as to invoke an emotional response is another option if your brand and products are conducive to this format. Think of a dramatic image of a welder, sparks flying. He could be at the top of a tall building or in a dark area so that the sparks are the illumination. Your tie to the photo could be the welding service, the welding gun, the solder, the safety equipment, the training, etc. Use the caption to solidify the emotional connection the image evokes in viewers with your brand.
Don’t Forget:
Here is a quick checklist for promoting your brand with print calendars:
- Design for your audience – choose a theme they will enjoy and will keep.
- The theme of your calendar should be relevant to the industry.
- Use print calendars to sell the benefits your brand or business offers (sell products in a catalog).
- Offer your customers extra value by including coupons at various times throughout the year.
- Use the corporate or brand identity on each page of the calendar whether conspicuous or inconspicuous.
- Order extra calendars to have extras available to hand out throughout the year.
- Send customers on your mailing list a calendar at the end of each year.
Large balloons may be visible because they fly high over a business, but what does it really tell you about the business? Consumers do not want to waste their time going to see what the balloon is advertising. A better and equally affordable option is a poster campaign. Here’s why:
Faster, Wider Scope, Same Cost
With poster printing, in less than a week you can order and receive customized posters that will increase traffic and awareness far more than one large helium balloon and spend the same amount of money. An order of posters has the potential to reach far more people than one balloon since they can be placed all over a town instead of just one spot for the same amount of money. And a poster will better inform potential customers of what you are offering.
Proven Success Rate
Poster printing is a simple, long-standing marketing technique that is known to generate market awareness. Posters are still an important part of marketing campaigns. They contain detailed information that identifies the business being advertised immediately and tells potential customers exactly what advantages they will realize with a visit to this business.
Easier Distribution and Larger Quantities
Using an online printing company to print posters is a smart choice. If you have more than one base location from which the posters need to be distributed, the printer can separate the order and ship them directly where you need them to go. Another advantage is the greater the quantity of posters per order the cheaper they get.
Using posters instead of balloons for advertising offers many advantages. The poster venue allows for immediate business identification and the exact location for the event you are advertising, unlike balloons. Posters also allow for advertising coverage in a much larger market area. And with the added convenience of using an online printing company the entire order process will be simplified.
Disney and McDonald’s mastered the art of business collaboration and cross promotion for more than a decade. When a new major animated film was slated for release by Disney, consumers knew to anticipate cross promotional ads, highlighting Happy Meal toy tie-ins with the film. The relationship was clearly a win-win for both organizations because of their equal status as iconic American companies, each with built in public good will. The same principles apply for small businesses seeking to grow.
Why Cross Promote?
There are a variety of reasons why two organizations may want to collaborate. In the Disney and McDonald’s venture they shared a core audience for a specific product each offered. Tots – and their parents – love Happy Meals featuring toy versions of their new favorite characters. The excitement generated from pre-opening cross promotion publicity at McDonald’s helped to ensure plenty of anxious ticket buyers on opening weekend and assisted in sustaining repeat moviegoers.
Before You Jump in…
When seeking businesses to collaborate with, it is important to do your homework regarding the health and reputation of the organization before hitching your credibility with theirs. What may appear on paper as a good business alliance can quickly turn into a public relations nightmare if you do not follow through on this critical step.
Using Events as Cross Promotion
Sponsoring charity events is also an effective collaboration tool with other business. By donating staff, services or products to a popular fundraising event, a business can generate goodwill in the community, by gaining the reputation as a good corporate citizen. In many ways the benefits are even better for small businesses, helping local – less prominent – charities. Although the audience is smaller, they are often very committed, will take note and really want to do business with those who support their favorite charity.
In addition, the contacts and resources gained by planning and working with the event team can prove highly profitable in the long run. Event planners work with organizations across industries. If your business goes above and beyond when working with the charity and event planning team, the rewards can be immeasurable. Simply following-up by snail mail with a “enjoyed working with you” type letter, plus your marketing materials can be what the doctor ordered when they hear of a need from their colleague seeking just the product or service you offer. They feel good about helping your company out after all your hard work before, and you feel very happy all the way to the bank.
Get Creative
Finally when choosing businesses to collaborate with, think outside the box. Why would a local toy store want a 10% off coupon inserted in the envelope when monthly statements are sent from a local long term care insurance agent each October? Because the toy store owner knows that grandparents buy an estimated 25% of all toys, seniors love coupons and they are the most affluent consumers.
So when looking for businesses to collaborate with, by all means look for the obvious fit. But also do just a little bit of homework, identify a customer base that overlaps with that of a strategic partner yet is often overlooked by your competitors.
Cross-selling
Cross-selling is a good way to boost sales. Cross-selling involves giving the customer the option of buying complementary products based on the product they are already shopping for. A good example of this is used by amazon.com, which gives the customer the option of buying other products based on what past customers have purchased. For example, if you add a videogame console to you shopping cart, you may be given the option of also buying accessories like a game or an extra controller. If your company offers brochure printing, you will want to include other options on the page such as business cards or flyers. The customer may have been searching for poster printing, but if he or she sees these other, complementary products listed on the same page, you may make more sales.
