You might be surprised to learn that even in today’s digital age, something as old-school as street posters can play a significant role in a well-rounded marketing plan. Businesses of all sizes, but especially brick-and-mortar ones, can benefit from using them. You’ll learn how to maximize your marketing impact with affordable street poster advertising. Let’s take a closer look at incorporating posters into your advertising budget.
Posters offer a way to connect directly with consumers in their everyday environment in a way that many digital campaigns just can’t do. We are so inundated with online ads today that a physical sign or poster often breaks through the clutter and catches someone’s attention because it is different.
But this doesn’t mean you should forgo social media marketing, online ads, or email campaigns altogether and dive head first into poster printing. Learning how to maximize your marketing impact with affordable street poster advertising involves using these elements together. More on that in the next section. You may have an amazing social media strategy driving traffic to your website, and that’s fantastic, but what about all of those potential customers that haven’t found you online yet? Physical posters displayed out in the real world might be their first point of contact with your brand, especially if you’re a newer business.
Benefits of Affordable Street Posters
When considering using posters as part of your overall marketing mix, it is important to think of all of their benefits. Posters provide value in a variety of ways and are particularly useful when attempting to drive awareness of an event or sale during a set timeframe. For a lower cost than you might expect, posters provide high impact and build buzz because they can’t just be scrolled through and ignored. Let’s explore some benefits further.
1. They Offer Targeted Reach
While it is true that nearly anyone in the area could see your poster, you have control over where you hang them. Smart placement, in locations where people are already open to experiencing ads, like bus stops or near college campuses, helps you reach a more specific target demographic. You may decide to leverage sniping and wild posting campaigns in specific areas. These forms of advertising focus on blank walls or sides of buildings instead of standard billboards.
According to experts, this gives you more expression in how you deliver your messaging than a standalone billboard or static mobile ad. The placement of your marketing messages allows for maximum control over which segment of consumers is being exposed to your poster designs. High-traffic locations will net more views than areas with less foot traffic.
2. Budget-Friendly Visual Impact
Posters can grab attention even in busy areas because of their large size, but they can also be less expensive to produce than other large-scale advertising. Experts say that street poster advertising is notably the cheapest advertising service offered. Keep in mind, though, that large-format printing may come at a premium, so choosing your poster size carefully to align with your budget is important.
Depending on the printing services you use, prices for an 11”x 17” print can run around $3–$10 each but it varies widely, with price breaks typically available when you print a higher quantity. Street marketing is known for being budget-friendly, which allows even smaller brands to participate.
3. Street Posters Foster Creativity
While posters are not usually appropriate for conveying complex information about your company, they can spark interest with a clever message and memorable image. One of the challenges when creating a poster is capturing someone’s interest quickly, so using thought-provoking visuals and limited but catchy wording, are both vital elements of an effective design.
In 2003 Steve Jobs and his brilliant marketing team at Apple leveraged street poster advertising in this very way when they rolled out the now-iconic Silhouette iPod campaign. These ads, plastered on the sides of buildings and other unexpected spaces all over major cities, created a strong visual impact while aligning with Apple’s dedication to a streamlined aesthetic.
Successful Campaign Strategies
Posters as advertising have been around for decades, so there are examples of successful campaigns out there to learn from, both from larger corporations and independent brands. Take a look at what big companies have done well, and find elements that you can adapt into your campaign without needing a huge marketing budget.
1. Don’t Forget About the Call to Action
While building brand awareness is always an important aspect of marketing, you also want to elicit a response from consumers. Your posters need to have a specific call to action that tells people what to do after viewing the ad. Perhaps that is encouraging people to scan a QR code that leads them to a discount on your products or providing your website URL for those that want to learn more about what you do.
Or, maybe it’s even simpler than that, such as using a poster to highlight a new product or grand opening event with just the name, date, time, and your logo to reinforce a basic message. The goal is to catch people’s attention and elicit a response.
2. Think of Your Posters as Supporting Players
Using a variety of strategies will help you cast a wide net and connect with a broader segment of potential customers. Even though using social media and online advertising campaigns may not seem directly related to designing an eye-catching poster, all of it contributes to brand recognition.
You can further enhance your poster campaign’s return on investment (ROI) by coordinating its message and design to any current online promotions to further encourage customers to take the desired action after seeing your posters out in the wild. Think of posters as one component of your overall marketing ecosystem, all supporting the same overall goals for your business.
Things to Consider to Maximize Your Marketing Impact with Affordable Street Poster Advertising
When planning an effective poster marketing campaign, a marketing professional must be mindful of the potential pitfalls that could minimize the return on investment (ROI). Here are some areas to keep top of mind.
Know the Local Regulations
Before putting any posters up in public spaces, be sure you are adhering to local ordinances because you don’t want to end up having to pay fines, or worse. Some cities may require specific permits to put anything up on telephone poles, for instance. Another thing to watch out for is that while something called wild posting has become common, laws around posting materials directly onto the sides of buildings, especially those in historic districts, can be tricky to navigate, so being mindful and doing your homework on what is and is not permissible is crucial for legal compliance. Make sure you’re following the rules when it comes to poster distribution in your city.
Think Like a Consumer When Choosing Your Placement
There are areas around your city where posters are prevalent. You’ll see concert posters on construction barricades, flyers stuck on the backs of bus stop signs, and advertisements wheat-pasted to the sides of buildings. Knowing the typical areas where street poster advertising is generally accepted and encouraged, as opposed to going rogue and plastering every blank space in town, is an important distinction.
Posters can even end up being counterproductive to building a positive brand identity when they become so widespread as to be considered a nuisance. For example, if they’re distracting pedestrians or covering up historic landmarks, potential customers may begin to associate your company in a negative light, so moderation and being mindful are important factors. Busy streets are good, but we don’t want to create visual pollution with our postering campaigns.
It’s probably clear that despite our always-plugged-in online lives, there are still smart, affordable methods for getting your marketing message out there. Learning about maximizing your marketing impact with affordable street poster advertising will help you implement creative, real-world strategies that increase your brand awareness, reach a new client base, and connect with consumers. A successful poster is one that considers its placement. Choose areas frequented by your ideal customer.
Outdoor advertising, like street posters, remains a powerful marketing tool. Because you can be strategic about the placement, your brand’s message is amplified to precisely who you want to reach and is proven to create brand awareness. Using this simple strategy is one key way to maximize your marketing impact with affordable street poster advertising. In fact, a recent study by the Out of Home Advertising Association of America discovered that outdoor advertising has a higher ROI than more traditional types like print, television, or even radio ads. Guerrilla marketing using posters is a great way to generate awareness on a budget.
