Going old school is a new way to promote your business!
Believe it or not–people today, especially millennials and Gen Z find value in old-school things. Be it fashion trends or love, going old school transcends us back in time and makes us connect well with others. Oh, and it is not limited to fashion or love. You can use this tactic while marketing your business as well.
In this era of digital marketing, trying something old school will make you connect with your customer more meaningfully. One way of doing so is through posters. Remember that billboard you saw through your car window that stayed with you for quite some time? It could be the colors or the text or other visual entities. A good poster has the power to move an audience.
You can use posters to market yourself, especially if you are just starting out. A small business needs to focus on the local audience initially and posters help you do that. How?
They are cost-effective
They can leave a lasting impact on a customer
There are many poster printing services that will print you a poster at a minimal cost. This doesn’t mean, digitalization goes into the bin. You do need tools and software to design the poster and then print it. Be it an announcement of a sale/offer or something about your product, you can showcase it through a poster.
Infographics also do well in a poster. You can show data-based information visually using interactive graphs. With a chart maker, you can easily make a graph through simple drag and drop options and customize it however you want. If you want, you can add other visual entities to the poster that complement the graphical data.
Well, you now know how posters can be a boon for marketing. The real question however is–how to know which type of poster attracts the customers? Well, this article will provide you with 20 ideas that may help in promoting your business.
20 Poster ideas to market your business
Photo-centric
If used the right way, a picture in a poster is capable to make you think a thousand things. You can choose to keep a raw photograph of an object or a person that goes with your brand or even play around and edit it.
Typographic
Typographic posters are all about presenting text in a unique way. They convey the message in a neat way without boring the reader out. For example, look at the poster below
Here, the text is imbibed in the object itself. This is an interesting way of conveying your message bold and clear while also keeping it interesting for the viewer.
Play with colors
Colors add all the feel to the poster. Knowing when to use bright colors to express a certain emotion and when to go for dull ones, will make all the difference. However, don’t shy away from using bright colors thinking they might be too flashy. The colors should resonate with your brand, that is the only goal.
Go Retro
You can take the viewer back in time if you want. How? Simple—through a poster that gives off a vintage vibe. You can easily give your brand a historic angle and sell your product. This will not only look good but has the potential to entrust your customers. After all, history always sells.
Less is more
You might have heard ‘less is more.’ Well, in the designing world, this stands true. You can convey a lot through minimalistic objects in your design. If you have fewer objects in the design, the viewers will have to be less attentive to the visuals and more to what is it trying to say. Mcdonald’s has never failed to have great ad campaigns. For example–look at the image below.
Get creative with lines
You can use geometry to your advantage and manipulate the reader’s eye by leading it anywhere you want. You need to decide the subject of the poster and see if you can showcase the line of text through an invisible line.
Try different shapes
You can convey a message using a simple line written vertically or you can also convey a message by writing it in a definite shape. Just this simple trick makes the poster more appealing.
Experiment with dimensions
Be it text or images, try different sizes, shapes and fonts. Only if you experiment with the dimensions of the entity, will you know what looks best as a whole design.
Get complementary
You can use two different images and combine it into one to show the complete picture. You can bring two incomplete images and make a single complete image out of it.
Use the negative space
Never underestimate the importance of negative space. You can get creative and make something of the negative space. This way you convey something without actually doing something.
Use Contrasting colors
You can use contrasting colors to make your poster stand out. Try mixing those bright blue, red, and green with totally opposite colors. However, make sure to pair the colors that are opposite in nature but still complement well with each other.
Use portraits
This is one of the simplest ways of promoting your business. You can simply add a single image or a portrait or try a combination of both to look creative. This is by far the most effortless way of promoting your business.
Focus more on graphics
This is where you need to get creative. Conveying your message solely through visuals or by using minimal words is challenging. However, if done the right way, a design that focuses more on the visuals can do a lot better since it will be really easy for the viewer to grasp and yet smart.
Place things in order
If you want to convey multiple things through a single poster, then you can place the entities in order of their importance. You can start off by placing the most important visual entity at the top and keep adding the less significant ones below.
Use color to showcase a vibe
You might know that colors have a direct effect on the way you feel. You can use this psychological fact to your benefit to give off a certain vibe through your poster. For example–if you see green, it makes you think of nature and growth. Similarly, know your brand and choose the apt color to express your brand voice.
Sound smart
You can never know the power of that one catchy line that hits the right chord with the viewers. Even though your poster might not be visually appealing, if it has got a smart sentence that clearly shows the essence of the poster, then it can definitely be a sellout.
Don’t forget your audience
This is rather a tip than an idea. It is extremely important to not forget your target audience while designing a poster. Creativity should not cost you losing your focus. Keep your audience always in mind before starting to design a poster. After finishing, ask this question–is it serving any purpose to my target audience? If you get yes as an answer, then the poster is likely to get applauded by your target audience.
Try asymmetry
Gone are the days when viewers appreciated symmetry in a poster. Try being asymmetrical to not only make the poster look one-of-its-kind but also to sound clever. You can experiment with the text or the objects used in the symmetry.
Imbibe your product
If you want to raise brand awareness through your product, then feel free to add a 3D image of your product along with other visual entities. However, you need to embed it in a way that complements the whole design. You want your product to stand out from the remaining visuals but also to be complementing it enough to not look like an odd one out.
Break the rules
Needless to say, creativity knows no rules! A poster design is no less than an open ground for experimentation. Feel free to get weird, and crazy by experimenting with colors, text, and objects. In time, you will know what works for your audience.
Conclusion
There is definitely no one-size-fits-all concept applicable here. Every poster design asks for different things. As a brand, you should know what you want to convey, who you want to convey, and how you want to convey it. If you have clarity on these three things, poster designing will be nothing but fun.
Also, there is no rule to stick to a particular type of design. The best thing about posters is that they give you a blank canvas to fill it creatively and create something that appeals to the viewer.
Remember–a poster that is eye candy but with a meaningful message is key to grabbing the audience.