Another cost-effective solution for marketing your brands is by using vinyl banners. Most start-up entrepreneurs still use this marketing tool because of its impact. In addition, it doesn’t cost them as much as running digital campaigns. The durability of the materials used also enables marketers to use them for outdoor events and other open spaces. But, you have to make sure that for this tool to have its full impact, the design should be captivating, interesting, and vibrant. Below are some helpful design tips to consider when using Vinyl banners.
Determine the target audience
Let’s say that you are selling sports shoes. Since there are different types of sports shoes plus the demographics (male/female/age/etc). You have to identify first who will be your target audience for the marketing. If you are targeting women who love to play badminton, then you can align the design based on your audience. Failure to do this first then means that you are either targeting the wrong market or two you can miss out on opportunities to make a sale. So before you talk to your graphic artist, make sure that you have identified your audience. In addition, you would then learn how to reach out to them. What’s the best way to communicate to this type of audience? Will the messaging be formal or casual? Which type of fonts will you be using to capture the attention of this kind of audience? Knowing who you will be talking to enables you to answer the rest of the questions that follow.
Define your marketing objectives
When you are marketing or selling a product, there are plenty of key performance indicators (KPIs) or goals that you can set. If you just recently started your business, you may want to use the vinyl banners to strengthen your brand awareness and reach more people. For more established businesses, you can use these banners to let people know about your product offerings and services. If you have any upcoming promos/discounts or special rates, you can print them out on those banners to have better engagement with your market. Since these marketing tools serve different purposes, it is recommended that you first define what you are trying to achieve with your marketing efforts. Once this is done, you can come up with the right design elements and wordings to capture the right audience based on your business objectives.
Consistency in branding
Regardless of whether your brand is new in the industry or a popular one, it is important that you stay consistent with your branding. Customer loyalty is further strengthened by having consistent branding across different platforms. In addition, it is easier for your market to recognize your brand if you are using the same brand color, logo, font, size, taglines, and other brand elements. This is also where brand guidelines come in. Whether you are working with a marketing agency or in-house, having guidelines keeps the integrity and credibility of your brand. This is also easier to establish brand identity once the guidelines have been defined. In addition, it would keep you consistent with your marketing designs. Imagine if you are shifting from one brand color to another every quarter. Or if you are using one logo for this month and then another logo the following month. This can create confusion and miscommunication with your audience. But, if you stay consistent.
Choose Vibrant Colors
This does not mean that you will be using all the colors of the rainbow to make it stand out. It also does not mean that all neon and bright colors should be used for the design to stand out. If you are choosing colors, take into consideration your brand colors. This should complement the color wheel. Take time to study the psychology of colors and align the marketing objective based on the color palette choice. You can still make the design pop out compared to the rest by using contracts in colors. For example, you can use light text on a dark background or vice versa. Color consideration is an important factor in designing your banners. People can easily formulate an impression of your brand just by the color usage of your design.
Hierarchy of Layout and Banner Size
Make sure that you consider the banner size depending on the venue or the placement. If your size is too small, the design won’t be seen and the text won’t be read by the people walking by. If the size is too big, it becomes an eye sore and people could get annoyed because it could be blocking their view. Be conscious of how big the banner will be and where you will be placing it.
In addition, the layout hierarchy should also be considered. If the most important information is placed at the bottom part of the banner, it’s less likely to be read. The layout should be logical and the text holding the most important information should easily be seen. Think of a banner where the discount rate and promo code are placed and the bottom part. Chances are people will miss out on this important information. You might end up having fewer participants on your sale day.
Use Premium Graphics with High Resolution
This is an important rule that must be followed. If not, you’ll end up with a pixelated image and a poor-quality vinyl banner. This won’t look professional at all. It’s more likely that your brand will be gaining negative reviews and impressions from your audience. There are plenty of websites where you can get free images and use them for your designs. Some of these websites include:
Check out which websites you prefer the most. If in case you can’t find the right image that you are looking for from one website, you can simply move to another. The important thing is that you don’t use low-resolution images that once it gets printed will look distorted.
Invest in Graphic Software
To make things more convenient for your team, you can invest in good graphic software. This will help them render the design faster. In addition, it offers convenience and more creative freedom for designing. Below are some of the good quality graphic software that you can check out.
- Canva
- Adobe Photoshop
- Design Wizard
- Lunacy
- Setka Editor
- Adobe Spark
- Krita
- Gravit
- GIMP
- Fotor
- Piktochart
- Pixlr
There are still several design software out there. Take time to research about them. Compare their features and price rates.
In addition, if you don’t have experience in terms of design, it would be best to hire a professional. These people have the skills and experience to do the job well. It will save you time, energy, and headaches. The only downfall is that you have to pay for them. If this is just a one-time job or a seasonal one, you can outsource the talent. There are plenty of websites where you can hire contractual or project-based people. Check out websites such as Fiverr, LinkedIn, and Upwork to connect to graphic artists. Remember, before you hire someone make sure that you have checked their portfolio. In some cases, you could even ask them for a sample output of your brand if they are willing to provide one.
Invest in graphic equipment and machine
If you are doing graphic design in-house, make sure that your laptop or desktop is equipped for the job. If the specs are not aligned, you will be wasting time redoing your work because your laptop keeps on lagging. In addition, you will also have to wait for it to render. Imagine if you are working on a rush project, this puts a lot of stress and pressure on your part. So make sure to check the speciation of your equipment whenever you are designing.
Do Quality Check and Proofreading
A misspelled word, wrong grammar, or incorrect encoding of a number could hurt your brand’s credibility and integrity. These days people could easily take a photo of your vinyl banner with incorrect spelling and post it online. You may have gained some online presence but with negative reviews. In another example, let’s say that your brand is celebrating its first anniversary. To make it special you are throwing a 5% discount across all items in your shop.
Unfortunately, the graphic artist made a mistake and encoded 50% instead. The banners were printed and hung around and people started going to your shop to avail of the discount. This mistake could equate to complete chaos. If you are unable to deliver the promised discount, you will end up losing your customer’s trust. If you let them get the discount, this will negatively affect your store’s sales. This is why it is essential to do a quality check before giving the green light for printing. You can do a test print for one sample, review it, and make the necessary adjustments.
These are just a few of the things you need to keep in mind when you are designing vinyl banners. You can fully maximize its impact if you know how to take advantage of having a good design. If you have already used vinyl banners before, make sure to incorporate these tips in your next event.
