When it comes to outdoor advertising ideas, few options provide as much flexibility as vinyl advertising banners. They are easily customizable, can be made in nearly any shape and size, and can be easily hung and re-hung with little or no specialized equipment. But what can you do to make banners an effective part of your advertising campaign? Here are some tips.
- Pick the Largest Size You Can
In outdoor advertising, where you are generally hoping to catch the eye of pedestrians or drivers, you have only a few seconds to make your point. This means that in general, a larger size will be better. Take into account the height and distance at which the banner will be hung from the viewers you hope to reach, and select font sizes proportionate to the banner so it will be easy to read.
The larger the banner, the less likely you are to want it shipped across the country, so look for semi-local companies. Not every print company will offer such large sizes; you may need to go to the nearest metro or advertising hub (for example, a number of companies might want to start a search with “large format printing NYC”).
- Don’t Overwhelm Your Viewers
Designing advertising banners requires essentially the same skills as creating print ads, which means it’s best to hire a graphic designer if you can afford it. If that’s not an option, keep a few simple design tips in mind:
- Use only a few colors. Create a color scheme with two or three shades, all of which contrast each other. Use a color wheel if you’re not sure where to start; colors opposite from each other have the highest levels of contrast.
- Use no more than two fonts. Additionally, these fonts should complement each other.
- When it comes to copy, less is more. Don’t try to crowd the banner with words.
- If you do use a photo, make sure it is of high enough quality that it won’t degrade when printed on a large format banner (ask your print company for guidelines if you’re unsure).
- Coordinate Your Campaign
To create a cohesive advertising campaign, coordinate ads of all sizes. You can make use of your storefront by using barricade wraps or building wrap advertising for high-impact statements. If you’ve got company cars on the road, custom vehicle wraps are another way to promote your company on what would otherwise be wasted space.
On the other end of the spectrum, have promotional gifts personalized to hand out at events; research shows that 84% of Americans will remember the name of a company who gives them a branded gift. You may even be able to coordinate the gift to your business’ service—a used bookstore, for example, who handed out bookmarks with the company name and logo would actually be providing a useful item to customers and making those customers more likely to return.
Have you used advertising banners for your business? How do you think they turned out? Share in the comments.