How To Create An Effective Banner

Even amongst the many advertising and marketing options open to businesses these days, including all the digital opportunities and media platforms, printed banners are still effective and affordable advertising tools employed by companies.

A well-designed and carefully placed printed banner is a versatile and cost-effective marketing tool – ideal for exhibitions, conferences, business fairs and trade shows, they are also effectively deployed in shopping precincts, retail parks and other business environments.

Here are some tips as to how best to design an effective banner and some of the reasons your business should be considering including banner printing as a marketing option:

Purpose

The first thing to establish is what you want your banner to achieve – perhaps you need it to help increase your brand profile and awareness, or maybe it is to highlight and promote a new product or service from your company? Banners are also great marketing vehicles to promote an event – whatever your main reason for designing a banner, make sure you have a clear idea of exactly what you want from your finished product.

Unique

There is always competition in any business marketplace vying for the very same customers and clients as you are – so make your banner as unique as possible to stand it apart from other company offerings and displays. Ensure that your banner design has elements that are instantly recognisable as YOUR company to all who see it, as opposed to any competitors branding.

Logo

The single most recognisable aspect of any brand is the logo, so ensure that your company logo is clearly visible and highlighted on your banner. Your banner design should have your logo placed at the top of your banner with any other imagery and text below the logo at eye-level. You want your banner to look professional to reflect the quality of your products and services, so ensure that your logo is reproduced in a high-quality resolution. 

Relevant Information

Your banner is designed to attract initial attention of potential customers or clients – not to inform them in detail of your products and services! So, ensure that you keep the text detail to the minimum – include only the most essential information and display any text clearly so is easily read. Your banner should act as a prompt for interested parties to contact you to get the detailed information about what your company offers and the benefits, so make the details such as phone numbers, web addresses, and any social media platforms your business uses, clear and distinct.

Quality Images

Printed banners will only be a part of your corporate marketing and advertising armoury – a company’s marketing materials reflect on the business itself, so it is important to use high-end, quality materials in all your advertising and marketing merchandise. Use only high-resolution images of your company logo and any other product images displayed on your banner – convert any downloaded images to a format that best suits banner printing and produce a sharp, professional, high-quality image that will attract peoples’ attention for the right reasons!

Colour

Colour combinations are important to get right if your banner is to make a positive eye-catching impression – depending upon which business arenas your company trades, you should choose colours that reflect the nature of your products and services.

If the business is in the ‘professional’ marketplace – perhaps finance, insurance and such, you may want to consider darker colours such as black, blues, dark greens which all present a more ‘serious’ image whereas, if your business is event planning or more ‘flamboyant’ products or services, then brighter, more ‘frivolous’ colours may better represent the company!

Bright, attractive colours will garner attention, but ensure that they are relevant to any corporate colours associated with your logo and brand. The most important aspect of an advertising banner is that it can be easily read – so ensure that the background colours, whilst you may want them bright and eye-catching, do not make the text difficult to read even from a distance!

Placement

Having settled on your banner design and had it printed on quality materials to achieve the most effective impact, you need to consider the placement of your banner or banners.

Is it to be displayed indoors or outdoors, is it to be used on your actual business premises or is it to attract attention to your business from remote locations – decide upon where it will attract the most attention for your specific cause.

Once you have chosen a location, consider the immediate surroundings – what coloured buildings or other facilities are there – if you’ve used bright colours in your design (reds, oranges and such) then you don’t want it displayed against red brick buildings or walls! Consider all aspects of your location before displaying your banner.

A well-designed printed banner can represent your company and brand in a positive manner – it is always worth speaking with an established print company who can advise you on design aspects and the best quality materials for printed banners.