TOW#456 — Advertising material
How do we go about making a promotional (advertising) poster that will have the greatest impact on the audience / reader?
To what extent do you think that different designs, texts or messages influence the recipients of the information?! A lot of you will probably say to a great extent, obviously! Which is true. However, what I see (when I look at various promotional materials, which I can’t help because of the work I do) is that many companies aren’t paying enough attention to what they’re communicating on their advertising materials. Here I’m mostly referring to small and medium enterprises that design and develop their own creative concepts for self-promotion.
Every company, from the smallest to the biggest, needs to promote its services and/or products in order to inform the public and more easily make a sale. However, unfortunately, many companies don’t manage to get the most out of the messages they’re sending. I think the biggest problem is when there’s simply too much information. Whether it’s due to a lack of know-how, or a desire to make every cent count, or a lack of interest in aesthetics, you’ll regularly see promotional materials with absolutely everything on them — all possible information about the product/service is plastered on the poster, leaflet or whatever else it might be.
We must be aware that “more is better” isn’t always the best way to go. In this particular case it’s better to go with “less is more”. Also, we must remember that each promotional (communication) element has its own goal and purpose. A poster can contain several important pieces of information, while on a leaflet you could decide to put a little more. However, a giant billboard shouldn’t contain too many elements. It needs to have a very clear message, especially since drivers don’t have a lot of time to read. In order to achieve the best results we must combine the different elements, and then, of course, place them in the proper channels.
A lot could be written on this topic, so here I’ll just stick to sharing with you some advice on the most important aspects to consider when developing one of these advertising materials — posters. So, in order to truly get your message across you need to keep these things in mind:
1. Aim of the promotional material: what do you want to achieve? What is the most important thing you want people to know? You can’t write everything down. The idea is to get your most important message across. The entire design, text and message, must be related to the principal aim. And don’t worry about whether you or the company director likes it, just make sure that your customers (those who you’re trying to reach) do.
2. Visibility: once you’ve made the poster, place it to one side and glance at it quickly. What’s the first thing you see? Is it the thing you want people to grasp immediately? If not, change something! The first thing people see will decide whether or not they’ll look at the rest of it. It’s the bait.
3. KISS (Keep It Short & Simple) — the poster must always be short and clear. It shouldn’t have too many elements, colours or text. Always try to make it shorter, more concise or to modify it.
4. Most important elements:
a. Slogan: what are you promoting, selling, offering, looking for? It needs to make an impression and be clear.
b. Image (photo, illustration): connected to the concept of the campaign, message, strategy.
c. Text: doesn’t need to be long. A few sentences, bullet points, details. This is where you need to list all the most important benefits of your product/service, i.e. what separates you from the rest. Why should consumers buy from you? This part is decisive.
d. Product: a picture of the product.
e. Signature: logo, description, your company’s slogan.
Of course, depending on the conditions, audience, constraints and so on, other elements can also be added, expanded or reduced.
5. Additional elements:
a. Font: must be related to the concept. Avoid too many different types.
b. Colours: pay attention to different colours and whether they go together.
c. Descriptive text: if you need to add more text, then use the bottom of the poster, but make sure a line clearly separates it from the main design.
Wishing you success with the changes to come,
Petar Lazarov
“Tip of the Week” Team member
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