Whether you’re planning to launch a new home business or already managing one, building awareness about your business in the local community is highly essential. Local marketing plays a key role in this by helping home businesses build a strong local presence. Most small businesses that are aware of this make it a point to invest a chunk of their resources into their ongoing marketing efforts.
But what if you’re just starting out or only have a small, limited budget to invest in marketing? No need to worry! To guide our readers on how to promote their home business without burning a hole in their pockets, in this article, we share some tips on how to use a relatively inexpensive local marketing tool that you might be all too familiar with: printed posters advertising.
What are ad posters and how can my business use them for marketing?
An ad poster is a single-page graphical design that makes use of an ad copy (or text) that’s designed for promotional purposes. Such a poster can be designed either digitally using easy-to-use online design tools (like Canva) or even manually (if you’re an artist).
Printed posters can be used for advertising a business or an event, among other things. You can also use them to advertise your local services, or promote a freebie giveaway for generating leads. The options are virtually endless and limited only by your creativity!
What are the benefits of using posters for marketing purposes?
- Small businesses that don’t want to pay for ad space or running a promotion find posters really beneficial for their marketing campaign.
- Posters can be designed and printed in almost no time.
- They are easy to distribute among the local community.
- Have high visibility and readability among the audience.
- They can be printed at an economical cost, since printing services for creating posters are cheaply available for the most part.
How to get the best value from your ad posters
Write a persuasive copy
Before working on the design for your posters, it’s good to have the written content ready. For that, it’s ideal to:
- Create an attention-grabbing headline that appeals to a broader audience
- Write a persuasive copy, telling the readers what’s on offer (find more tips on this, here)
- Make sure your text is easy to read and understand
- End your message with a call-to-action, encouraging people to take action
Don’t forget to share your contact details
haring your contact details is just as important as writing the copy. If people don’t know how to reach you or where your shop is physically located, your posters aren’t going to be much helpful. It’s important that you include one or more of the following:
- Phone number
- Web address
- Email address
- Links to your social media profiles (such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc.)
Create an attractive design
Make sure your poster design doesn’t just look good, but really stands out! It should have an appealing layout, make use of high-quality images or graphics, and look professional. Choose the right kind of colours, fonts, and imagery that will resonate with your target audience. For doing everything correctly, it’s best to design it with the help of a professional graphic designer or a poster printing company that knows what they’re doing, especially if you’re not confident you can pull it off.
Focus on attention to detail
Make sure that everything flows really well and appears in the right order. For example, the images should be placed below the heading and subheadings, and your contact details should come towards the end. Choose the appropriate font size for each section to make sure it’s highly readable. The ideal sizing of the poster should be anywhere between A4 and bus stop size. To learn more, check out this poster sizing guide.
Find innovative ways to distribute your posters
Once your posters are designed, printed, and ready to go, it’s time to get them distributed.
Place them in an area of your shop or office where your clients or customers can notice them, such as nearby the entrance or the waiting area. Drop them in places where you expect your potential customers to be. Hand them out at events or to the public on the street. You may also put them through doors, get them placed inside popular local print publications, or place them on the notice boards of your local community, post office, clubs, schools, nurseries, church, local shops and supermarkets.
BONUS TIP: Since most printing services offer discounts on bulk orders, it’s always a good idea to order in batches of at least 50-100 posters, if you want to save more on the printing costs.
Social media may be popular but print is not dead. Making use of printed posters for marketing can go a long way in making the local audience aware of your presence and what you’re offering as a business. Even though it may seem a little old school at first, posters can be very effective messaging tools when it comes to spreading the word about your business.
This is a collaborative post. Photo by John Jackson on Unsplash