How to make an effective advertising poster and increase its visibility?

A poster is still the best advertising medium there is. This is true whether you want to promote a new product, an event or simply your company. Making an advertising poster is within everyone's reach, but creating a quality and effective poster requires the support of communication and printing professionals.

Why make an advertising poster, who should design it and above all how to make a creative poster? We invite you to follow this guide.

Determining the communication objectives to make an effective advertising poster 

Are you planning to make an advertising poster as part of a communication campaign? Then take the time to determine the objective of your campaign in advance and to create content that is in line with it.

•       A 4×3 advertising poster is ideal for promoting a product/service or increasing the visibility of your brand.
•       An event poster: this format is recommended to promote a festive or promotional event (show, concert, etc.).
•       An informative poster: ideal for internal communication (meeting, corporate event) or external communication (seminar, conference, etc.).
•       A cultural poster: you can make a publicity poster of this kind as part of the launch of a cultural event (cultural event, exhibition, etc.).
•       A decorative poster: the decorative poster is recommended to decorate your windows, premises, etc.

Who is the advertising poster aimed at?

Before making an advertising poster, it is also important to define the target audience. This will enable the content to be adjusted appropriately and thecommunication medium to be adapted to the audience's expectations.

So, before defining your marketing positioning, consider asking yourself the right questions:

• Who is my target audience? People in a professional context (BtoB target) or in a personal context (BtoC target)? Are they women, men, children? How old are they? Where do they live? What are their tastes?
• What are their problems? Their unfulfilled expectations? What image do they have of you? And how could you meet their needs in a relevant way?
• What type of offer is being made? Do you want to communicate about a product or a service? Is your message a one-off for a competition or a promotion, or is it more of a long-term project to increase your reputation and build your brand image?
• What is the positioning of the competition in relation to the product? And what message can you convey to differentiate yourself and catch the eye of your future customers?

Once you have the answers to these questions, it will be easier for you to choose the right message and make a relevant and creative advertising poster. Don't hesitate to survey several potential customers in order to better understand their expectations and thus, succeed in reaching them through your advertising poster.

What message do you want to send to the public?

The message conveyed by the poster must be consistent with your communication objective. It should also be adapted to the target audience.

For example, making an advertising poster for the launch of a new product for the general public and making an advertising poster for the presentation of the company to a professional audience are two different things. They should therefore have a different visual and message.

In general, you should highlight :

•         Your company logo or name
•         Your company's slogan or the specific tagline of your promotional operation
•         The image or visuals that recall the DNA of the company or its sector of activity[JG1] .
•         Remember, in any case, that posters are very often visible from a distance and to moving passers-by. They must therefore be striking and the messages simple and effective. So choose each word very carefully and of course the visual, which will have a very important weight in your creation!
•         Don't neglect bright colours, shocking or intriguing photos, and chiselled words that will allow you to capture attention and also to stand out among all the other communication campaigns around you that will inevitably come and parasitise your message. 

To make a success of your advertising poster, it is also important to choose the right tone. Whether it is offbeat, serious, humorous or childish, it is imperative that it is adapted to the target audience.

Don't forget important information such as the name of the event, the promotions on offer and the products concerned, the date and time the shop opens, etc. In any case, take the time to prioritise the information you put on the poster.

To make a successful advertising poster, apply the Z-path and make sure to put your company logo at the bottom right. After all, this is the last thing passers-by will remember.

Where to place the advertising poster and how to display it?

Once you have thought about the content, think about the location. It is not enough to make a striking advertising poster, it has to be placed in the right place so that it can be seen.

If you are planning to display it outdoors, make sure you choose the right materials. Posters displayed on bus shelters, on the side of a bus, on a wall, should not have the same format or be made of the same printing paper.

Please note that for outdoor use, COPYMAGE offers laminating, lamination and/or lamination solutions to better protect the poster and allow it to be installed outdoors.

The location must also be considered. Will the poster look better in the window of a local shop than on a wall with high traffic? 

Whether indoors or outdoors, anticipate from the outset how the posters will be attached to their support. Making a poster and installing it takes time, so it would be a shame if it came off at the slightest gust of wind. For one-off or long-term use, there are certain tips for effectively sticking your posters.

Use staples or adhesive tape indoors and strong glue outdoors. If you're worried about the weather, then laminateit.

How can you ensure that your poster is printed in the highest quality?

• First of all, this requires a very good quality file 

As advertising posters are usually printed in large format, you should ensure that the image resolution is at least 300 dpi. The higher the resolution, the better the quality of the print.

You should also consider vectorising the font of your posters in order to avoid a strong pixelation of your image. Indeed, when you enlarge an image, it loses quality. By choosing to use a vectorised font, you will be able to enlarge it without the risk of having a hyper-pixelised rendering.

• Entrusting your poster to a professional printer such as COPYMAGE will guarantee you a perfect quality result and a very high definition rendering

Forserial poster printing, they have the latest generation of large format printing machines. You will also have a good choice of paper weights and various finishes such as lamination and laminating. 

For the paper weight, you can choose between :

•       Soft 135g paper, ideal for printing self-adhesive posters or advertising leaflets;
•       170g paper to print a poster or an A3 poster to frame;
•       Thicker 240g paper, so you can create an A3 poster and hang it on a wall or in a window without the need to frame it;
•       Very thick 300g paper offering a very high quality finish for your advertising posters.

When it comes to finishes, you can choose between matte and glossy paper. While the former is appreciated for the sober touch it promises, the latter ensures a more sophisticated look to your visuals.

Finally, to make your advertising poster even more attractive, consider laminating your document during the printing process. You can choose between :  

•       A matt lamination that ensures a sober and chic look;
•       A glossy lamination that ensures a brilliant appearance;
• A soft-touch lamination that ensures a velvety finish.