Is poster marketing even worth it in 2023?

Direct mail marketing has a 37% greater response rate than digital mail, and 82% of consumers say they trust print advertisements the most when making a purchase decision. Therefore, print advertising, including posters, is an invaluable marketing tool for small businesses.

Poster marketing is a brilliant way to get your name out there and start bringing customers to your door. 

Throughout this blog, we will explore the types of posters most suitable for small businesses as per the occasion to help you determine the perfect one.

What are the types of posters?

Every poster serves a distinct purpose. Choose the one that suits your business.

Formative Posters

Marketing is not always persuading to buy. It is also about building trust, providing value, educating, and helping your audience. 

Formative posters help people better understand a topic, idea, product, or service. You show them “why this product” instead of “buy this product.” They are created in a visually appealing way, either in a poster format or as a handout. 

Formative posters include text, images, diagrams, and other visuals to explain a concept. They can be used to show progress or illustrate the steps needed to achieve a desired outcome. Formative posters are often used in marketing campaigns and other promotional events.

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Infomercial posters 

Infomercial posters use visuals to convey a message. They can be instrumental in sharing information about your business and industry with your target audience by using eye-catching graphics and clear copy.

An infomercial poster typically comprises facts, statistics, graphics, charts, and vibrant images along with text sprawled about them to give as much value as possible. While creating an infomercial poster, keep the text skimmable and include photographs or illustrations to amplify your message.

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Event Posters

Are you hosting an event? Then get the word out and let your target audience know about it. Pick a font, color scheme, and other design components that will catch the attention of your target audience. Include a large, noticeable graphic that conveys the event’s theme with a catchy title.

Remember to include necessary event details, such as date, time, location, etc. Add a Call-To-Action to guide your audience to the next step. To make it easy for people to contact you, provide your phone number or email. 

Or you can reach out to professional design services to take care of your design needs. Get a dedicated designer and unlimited graphic designs for just $399 per month from Design Shifu.

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Corporate Posters

Corporate posters are an essential component of marketing for B2B companies. In addition to product promotion, it is a straightforward method to talk about your business, network with other business owners, and develop professional relationships. 

They can be used at business conferences and networking gatherings to catch visitors’ attention and give a glimpse of your business. Make sure you include a logo, address, website, and contact details so they can easily reach out to you.

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Campaign Posters

Customers have a strong emotional connection to a brand when they view a campaign that reflects the ideals or values they uphold. 

A marketing campaign is an organized effort to promote a product, service, or concept to a target audience. A successful campaign should be well-structured, with clear objectives and strategies tailored to the target audience. 

Think of creative ways to make your marketing campaign centered not on your products and services, but on your consumer. The focus should be on your audience, talking about the causes they believe in, or the benefits they’ll receive by using your product.

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Digital Posters

Digital posters are both affordable and adaptable. Shared on a variety of media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, they can reach a larger audience and increase brand awareness.

You can use digital posters to promote new products, advertise upcoming events, and create stunning graphics. What makes digital posters an effective medium is an ability to change them without spending huge costs. Social media channels provide analytics that allows businesses to monitor the performance of their campaigns and posters. This offers valuable feedback that businesses can implement and execute within a short period.

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Sale & discount Posters

To make a sale successful, you must spread the word about it widely. Creating effective sales and discount posters for small businesses can be a great way to draw in potential customers.

In order to effectively advertise a discount or sale, the poster needs to be straightforward. Make sure to include a detailed description and a clear image of the product or service you are promoting. Red and yellow colors are widely used colors to catch passersby’s attention.

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Motivational Posters 

Motivational posters can be used in a myriad of ways. In addition to being visual reminders of a company’s mission or values, they can also be used to celebrate success or mark milestones. 

Additionally, motivational posters contribute to portraying a positive image of a brand and establishing customer trust.

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Typography Posters

As the name suggests, typography posters heavily emphasize text. They contain very little to no other details. Like in this one, the words ‘JUST,’ ‘DON’T’ and ‘QUIT’ are typefaces such that on observing closely, it reads “Don’t Quit, Just Do it.”

These posters are often accompanied by bright background colors and overlays to make them stand out. Typography posters can be used as motivational, advertising, infomercial, and marketing posters. 

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Research Posters

The research posters raise awareness about a specialized topic or concept based on a study, survey, or research. They do not target the general public, in contrast to informative posters. 

Only specialists in the field or people interested in the subject make sense of them because they are filled with industry-specific terminologies, facts, and figures.

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Why are posters still an effective marketing tool?

Posters are a cost-effective marketing strategy for small businesses to generate buzz in close vicinity. It can draw attention, spread the word about a company, and promote the brand. Businesses can use poster marketing to establish a presence in their local market. They can be hung in stores, posted on bulletin boards, or passed out in local communities.

Moreover, they can promote their new product launch and foster relationships with consumers. 

Summing Up

Small businesses can leverage different types of posters to promote events, promotions, products, and services and build strong brand recognition. So if you are running a small business, use poster marketing to your advantage and watch your small business thrive.

Why not take help from Design Shifu to design posters for your business? You get unlimited graphic designs and a dedicated designer to take care of all your design needs beyond posters at just $399/month.

We see posters everywhere, on the streets, at the mall, outside the movie theaters, and in front of shops. Posters are a great way to advertise for small businesses that want to connect and reach out to a much closer crowd. 

While designing posters is cost-effective with potential returns, you might find the process daunting. But don’t worry, we have simplified the poster-making process for beginners and experts in this article. 

Scroll down to learn useful tips on how to make advertisement posters. You will also find some inspirational poster designs to get you started. 

How to make a poster from scratch? 

Before we begin on how to make advertisement posters from scratch; make sure you pick the right design tools. People who are usually familiar with design software use Adobe InDesign/Illustrator or Photoshop. However, if this software is too complex for your workflow, you can use free online design tools like Canva, Visme, or PicsArt, which offer design templates and ready-to-use graphic elements. 

Now that we’ve cleared up the tools, let’s get started:

#1 Define your purpose

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Are you going to invite the town for an open mic at your store? Is there a SALE next weekend? Or are you planning to open up a new store somewhere in the area?

Having a clear purpose will allow you to refine your communication and give you direction as to what elements must be used in the poster design. 

A high-resolution picture of a woman as a centerpiece with a short copy in the foreground clearly conveys that it is an advertisement poster of a photography studio. 

#2 Know your target audience

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Understand your target audience and their preferences before brainstorming ideas to narrow your design choices. You can have a smart and quirky poster design in mind, but for example, if your consumer base is senior citizens looking for healthcare services, it won’t make an impact. Solid colors and loud fonts would have been a better choice. Similarly, this poster with vibrant colors and funky fonts will resonate with a younger crowd. 

#3 Determine dimensions

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Although there are no set dimensions for advertisement posters, some printing presses only allow certain standard sizes that you may need to adhere to. Some of these sizes are 11×17, 18×24, 24×36 and 27×40 (in inches). Consider the place where your poster will be printed or published. 11×17 is preferable if you’re pinning your poster on a community board, whereas 27×40 is used when placing it outdoors or at a bus stop. 

#4 Pick the right color palette

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Colors create the environment for your poster design. Some studies suggest that 90% of the time colors are responsible for creating the first impression. 84% of consumers buy your product because they found the colors in a design attractive. When you are learning how to make advertisement posters, choose your brand colors strategically. Try to add bold hues of yellow and red when you create posters for SALE or discount offers. 

#5 Choose aligning font

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Typography is the linchpin to brand communication and can make or break your poster. The purpose of your poster is to communicate a message. Pick a bold typeface for the heading to keep it visible from a distance and create a hierarchy of fonts based on the priority of information. 

#6 Identify your sharing platforms

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Before beginning your advertisement poster, make sure you are clear on which platforms to display them. A print flyer is very different from a poster on Facebook; hence ensure you optimize your poster design based on the desired platform.

Now that we’ve covered the must-dos before designing, this guide will help you start or elevate your existing design. 

Decide on the layout. 

Once you pick your online tool, you can search for poster designs for inspiration or look for templates in the website’s search box for your business poster and customize it as per your liking.

Add your text. 

Craft the messaging for your poster. Keep it short and attention-grabbing. Select the ‘Text’ options from the design panel and add/edit/delete. Change the font style, color, size, spacing, border, and other attributes to keep it on brand.

Add graphic elements or photos. 

Use custom illustrations and photographs to entice viewers. Place visuals strategically to guide viewers’ eyes to information. 

You will usually find a sidebar on the interface of your design tool; where you can select various icons, vectors, shapes, and other elements to enhance your poster design. 

Why not take help from Design Shifu to design graphics and illustrations for you? Get unlimited graphic designs and a dedicated designer to take care of all your design needs at just $399 per month. 

Customize it in your brand. 

Add your brand color palette or the colors you’ve decided to the design. You can use a color picker to set the right shade. Also, include the logo, website, address, social handles, and contact details.

Add a call to action.

A CTA is crucial to direct your consumer to take the next step. For example, if you are making a brand awareness poster, you can guide your consumers to your website by adding ‘ Visit website, Sign up, Buy now; etc.’ 

It’s ready to print!

Download your poster design by adjusting the resolution and the file type. Publish and send for print.

Best practices for designing a poster

• Use grids to maintain balance, consistency, and spacing.
• It is easy to get lost in terms of communication in a flat poster. Use contrast through colors, typeface, and pictures to direct the audience’s attention.
• When using images, ensure they are of good quality and resolution because expanding and contracting images can make them look pixelated and ruin your design.
• Adding too many elements, images, or text to the design can make it complicated, and you can lose the purpose of communication, making it a hassle to read the content. So, keep your design simple and your message concise. 
• Ensure negative spacing is used judiciously for a clean and readable design. 

Wrap Up

It is not necessary for you to follow hard rules when creating your advertisement poster design. The only thing you need to do is explore them and find out how you can use them effectively.

Design Shifu is the best graphic design partner for your organization if you need more than an advertisement poster.

In addition to marketing materials, you can also get a website (or refresh) on the plan, as well as custom illustrations tailored to your brand. For a fixed monthly fee, you’ll get it all. You can join us like other brands by signing up for a Design Shifu plan.

A few decades back, posters were one of the powerful mediums for advertising a business, product, or movie and communicating a message about a movement or social cause. With digitization, new methods of advertising like social media and emails have emerged. While they may take an essential chunk of the marketing budget and effort, posters are still relevant and impactful.

In this blog, we will discuss what are modern posters and how you can create one for your business using modern poster ideas and examples.

What are modern posters?

Modern posters and campaigns are usually based on one key message, idea, or concept. The designs incorporate text and images to support your objectives. With the rising digital tools and software, modern posters are extensively designed using design software. Since they can be used in print as well as digitally, they have the potential to reach a wider audience across continents with minimal effort.

Modern poster design ideas & examples

Typography Posters 

Attractively delivering information and art is the core purpose of typography. 

“If you’re bored of Helvetica, there’s no need to worry,” says Janine, professional graphic designer and creator of Janine Designs Daily. “Experimental typography is all about pushing the boundaries of traditional typography and exploring new ways to create text-based designs. Experimental typography is worth exploring if you’re looking for something new and exciting to try in your graphic design work.” 

Take this eye-catching poster by Sonic Beanz as an example. The text “Helvetica” becomes the central character to notify its viewers about the changing trends in typography. Make typography the centerpiece or see how you can combine different elements into the text.

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Minimalist Design

Minimalist posters adhere to the philosophy of ‘Less is more.’ The idea is to use the least number of elements — be it colors, text, images, or icons — to create maximum impact. 

Strip down your message and design elements to their basic form. You can simply direct your audience’s focus to the essential details with minimalist designs. Enlarge the image or text to highlight it. “Coin” Band Poster in the Swiss Style by Chelsea W is a great example of a minimalist poster. 

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3-D Elements 

Modern posters with 3-D elements have been the talk of the digital town recently. The trend is undoubtedly fueled by the rising demand for virtual experiences and graphics that blend computer-generated imagery and real-world objects. The demand for custom 3D illustrations is likely to increase as the metaverse’s influence continues to grow.

Consequently, you should consider 3D elements. Add depth, shadows, layers, textures, and overlap elements to give a 3D illusion. The poster by Magdiel Lopez uses 3-D design to create an interesting visual.

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Why not take help from Design Shifu to design custom 3-D elements for you? You get unlimited graphic designs and a dedicated designer to take care of all your design needs. 

Play with colors 

Our brains correlate hues with certain emotions and feelings. Use this knowledge to your advantage and choose colors appropriate for the emotion you want to convey. 

One has to keep in mind the audience, the purpose, and the overall theme of the poster while selecting the color scheme. 

You can choose from subtle pastels, vibrant and bold colors, or contrasting colors. There is no right or wrong color combination. Use two entirely opposed colors or complementary color combinations, depending on your brand voice and color palette.

Foundational Diversity 

Diversity is not a fad, but a must-include practice and commitment for every business, big or small. The foundational diversity is all about businesses making diversity a fundamental principle and incorporating diverse practices into all aspects of their operations, including branding and design.

We expect to see more designs that put diversity front and center in the future as more companies and graphic designers work tirelessly to promote diversity and inclusivity.

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Create a Series of Posters Campaign

Got a big launch? Or, do you have a big issue to address? 

Create a series of posters spanned across days or weeks to create a lasting impact on your audience. Post campaigns usually consist of three posters, designed differently but based on the same message and have a similar appearance. You can use it to increase brand recognition. People will start to identify your design, making it more likely that they will recall what you said when they see the second poster.

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Virtual reality

Cryptocurrency. Non-Fungible Tokens. The metaverse. 

A few years ago, almost everyone within hearing distance would have been confused by these terms. But by 2023, almost everyone is familiar with the rising demand for Web 3.0 technologies. Graphic designers are incorporating 3D illustrations, neon palettes, futuristic liquid gradients, and Blade Runner-style picture simulations to represent the unlimited potential of the future. If you work in the tech industry or own a gaming center, having virtual reality as your theme can be advantageous to catch the attention of the tech fold and youngsters.

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Dare outside-the-box thinking 

Even though you wish to create something unique for your business, you might resist attempting a new idea just because you haven’t seen any other business doing it. However, you must break the mold and the rules as a creator and become the trendsetter. Try something unusual. Go beyond the popular trends. 

Here are some examples of posters that went out of the way to make something memorable.

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All the best designing! 

Designing posters can be a lot of fun. By now, you must have a basic understanding of what modern posters are and how you can create one to promote your business, products, and services. We have shared enough modern poser ideas with examples to spark your creativity. Get your pen and paper out and start designing for your business. 

Remember to add your logo, business address, CTA, and email to direct your audience to take action. Get creative. Use all of your imagination to create something fresh and unique.

Do you want help designing posters for your business? Get a dedicated designer and unlimited graphic designs for just $399 per month from Design Shifu.

Loaded with information! This is a heavy statement, but what’s the use if the information isn’t properly disseminated? Scientific studies say that human brains can store a million gigabytes each day. However, what limits the storage capacity is our ability to learn each day. 

We can only pay attention to a small number of things at once, and paying attention is usually necessary to enhance knowledge. That’s why, it is necessary that what we create for our target audience should be that powerful, which increases their knowledge about our product. 

Informational posters are one way to educate the target audience about the product. But before we go towards informational poster design, check out some advertisement poster ideas.

Elements of a good informational poster design

• Let’s understand what will make a good informational poster:
• Adequate information should be provided in the poster
• Do not beat around the bush, be straight and to the point with your words
• Avoid cluttering of images and text
• Simple and clear fonts and attractive images to be used

Now, let’s take a look at some good examples of informational poster designs.

1.  Infographics posters

Imagine you have a lot of data that involves numbers and you are confused about how to showcase it. There comes infographics to your rescue. Using pie charts, bar graphs coupled with images and brief text defines infographics.

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This poster is probably of a healthcare unit helping people to get rid of nicotine. This poster, in limited has shown how their process will lead to some side effects and also your progress report per week. This is a very good example of how data and numbers can be displayed and the messaging is clear to the target audience.

Another example of infographics is this.

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How beautifully the brand has put forth the process of milk curdling using numbers and text.

Another way of showing the infographic poster is through bars and graphs. Like this.

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Through geometrical bars and graphs, a lot of information can be displayed. Such types of posters are usually made by companies for their annual reports, advertisement of their business growth, etc.

Though infographics are a very good way, refer to this article and ensure that these mistakes aren’t committed while designing.

2.  Information-centric Informational poster design

Some posters do not use too many images but rely only on information, yet send out their message in an effective way. And that’s the beauty of a good design.

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Through bubbles and some illustrations used in this poster, the information is systematically presented without making it look cluttered and overloaded.

Such kind of informational poster design is created by health professionals who want to put out preventive measures to the citizens. During Covid 19 pandemic, these types of posters were seen in almost all places.

Another example of such kind of posters is this.

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This is an information-only poster where there is a bifurcation of information in branches/ key elements. Though the information seems too much, this kind of poster is for a niche audience looking to consume the information mentioned in the poster.

If you have a lot of information and you would like to put it on paper through posters and still wondering why would you employ a graphic design agency, then probably you should read this and your doubts will be cleared.

3.  Images-centric Informational poster design

A lot of informational posters rely only on images to display information. And for that, you require someone with a creative mind, who would know exactly how to convey the message exactly.

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This is a beautiful way to showcase that the brand is into Arts education. The messaging is very clear through the image and with very limited text, the audience would still understand what the brand is looking to advertise.

Another example of an image-centric poster is this.

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Through comparison of 2 diametrically opposite scenarios, this poster is created for accident prevention. Usage of graphics and bold and minimum text, such kind of posters also give out a lot of information on bike safety measures. Another kind of image-centric informational poster design.

Looking to create posters like this. We, at Design Shifu, will help you create poster designs like this and much more at 399$ per month. We promise you will never have to look anywhere else for your creative designs.

4.  More Creative Posters

Some more creative posters that can be also called informational poster designs are the following:

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How to convince your customer that Hawaii is the best place to travel. Show what happens in Hawaii. A fool-proof way to entice your customers to book their next trip with you.

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A strong message is conveyed through minimalistic design.

If you are a digital advertiser looking to create the perfect ads that could get you maximum conversions, refer to this

Conclusion

It is likely that you will need more than just a promotional poster to generate more leads and boost sales. Design Shifu can help you with that.

With our fixed monthly rate, you not only get marketing materials, landing page designs, custom illustrations, and more tailored to your brand.

For several brands around the world, brochures are a marketing goldmine for reaching their target audiences and influencing their behavior.

It is possible, however, that you are just redirecting your potential customers into the arms of your competitors if your message doesn’t get across well. Brochures can get through any communication to your customers, be it research data, product information, brand awareness, and even promotions. Your company’s brochure acts as a word of mouth for the audience in places where you cannot physically advertise yourself. 

Brands struggle a lot when it comes to finding the right brochure design. Designing an effective brochure that represents the brand’s vision, mission, and aesthetics is of utmost importance. We have gathered tips and inspiration to help you put together a strong product promotion brochure that brings conversion. 

How to make an effective product brochure?

Prerequisites before designing your product promotion brochure

Know your brand 

Identify who you are and what the brand stands for. In the absence of identity, none of the marketing tools will align with your brand. 

Identify your Target Audience 

Ask yourself, who am I designing for? Once you define the audience you want to target, you will make the right choices in terms of design, communication, message, and other design elements. 

Articulate a message 

Spend time writing the content for your brochure. You do not want to confuse the audience; you want to persuade them. Having a strong, clear message in the language can make or break a sale.

Budgeting 

Brochures are usually printed, which accounts for some marketing budget. Starting from design to which paper you want to choose for your brochure, will require you to set a budget and work accordingly.

Designing your brochure

Maintain the design standards

You need to remember your brand identity and use elements and styles that match your brand. It doesn’t matter what type of brochure you’re making as long as the design is consistent and aligns with your brand personality.

Pay attention to details

Think about the reader when you are redesigning. You want to pay attention to details like keeping big blocks of text without overwhelming them and using relevant visual elements for the readers.

Choose the brochure type

There is no set rule for the type of brochure you should design. As per Printaholic, there are at least 15 ways you can fold your brochure. For example, tri-fold, z-fold, bi-fold, parallel-fold, roll-fold, half-fold, etc. 

Add text and other elements

Get your text and images ready for placing once you have set everything else. Make sure you choose a template according to your text to avoid spacing issues. Use headlines, sub-headers, headers, descriptions, and relevant visual elements to grab the audience’s attention.

Place the right CTA

Encourage your readers to take action. Include your CTA where it simply becomes hard to miss. You don’t need to put your CTA only in one place, it can be added in multiple sections. The goal is to add a relevant call to action based on your communication agenda.

Evaluate and share the design

Proofread your brochure, and ask for inter-departmental opinions before you decide to print the lot. The design must be evaluated before reaching your audience. 

Why not take help from Design Shifu to design an effective product brochure for you? You get unlimited graphic designs and a dedicated designer to take care of all your design needs.

Product promotion brochure ideas and tips

Knowing your audience

The key to having a successful brochure design is to first understand your marketing objective or goal. First, determine your customer type. Knowing your customers will allow you to choose key elements in design accordingly. For example, the message for senior citizens will not be panned out the same way for Gen Zs. Your graphics and copy will rely on your target audience. Using colorful elements, drawings, funky fonts, and imagery would attract a younger crowd.

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Mapping out your goals

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Be clear about what exactly you want your product promotion brochure to do. Whether you want to create brand awareness by asking the audience to visit your website, you want them to come to your SALE offer, or you simply want to highlight the best products of the year. Your goal will help you determine which message to highlight and craft a clear conversion-oriented CTA.

Working on structuring your message 

Once you have figured out what and who your focus should be, the next step is developing a copy and creating a layout. The only way to do this is by knowing what will go in the front, middle, or back of the brochure.

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Use bold headlines in the front

You must capture the audience’s attention and lead them with a perceived problem followed by a solution. Compel them with a strong headline. Use headers when you write the main content and then back them up with short descriptions about products. These headers act as visual maps for the readers and help you skim through irrelevant points without using big words. 

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Include the necessary details

Along with catchy headlines, include the brand logo, tagline, contact information, address, website, and social media handles in a readable format. Add taglines, brief text to explain the products, and focus on benefits to keep the audience intrigued.

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Adding high-quality images 

While one large high-resolution featured product image does the work, the number depends on the products and layout of your product promotion brochure. Let the products speak for themselves.  

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Now, it is important to note that your business may not have the marketing budget for a professional product photoshoot. You might get tempted to use stock images in your brochure, but it is not recommended at all. Especially while making a product promotion brochure, try to use authentic images of your products alone. 

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If you are short of your product images, use the owner’s power and make your face the main highlight of your brand. This works well for bakeries, beauty brands, independent service providers, etc. You can also use custom illustrations and icons.

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Picking the right layout 

Once you have your text and images in place, it is time to design the layout. A clean and neat layout can be read effortlessly. Any friction in reading efforts can land your brochure in the trash. So, your goal is to not just fit your content, but also to structure your product promotion brochure around it. Consider alignment and brand aesthetics.

You can resize, crop, and structure your images based on the template to make them look cohesive and creative. 

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Or, you can let the whole image take up the space, so it overflows to the next page without cropping them, and add supporting elements alongside. 

Text can be placed alongside the image allowing more negative space to fill the design. This gives out a clean, minimalist look to the brochure.

Using the right colors 

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While we understand colors evoke emotions, do not overdo it by adding more than two or three colors. The principle is the same as font; you do not want to confuse the reader visually. Include brand colors to strengthen brand recall, or use solid colors if you are yet to decide on a color palette.

Repurposing your design

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The final tip of the day is to repurpose the design. You have come so far with your brochure that we want you to maximize the use of the design. Your brand can have more products and categories that may not be relevant in a single brochure. Hence, tweak the colors, the images, and the text while keeping the same design, and you have brand new brochures for different products for every new launch. 

Let’s design a product promotion brochure!

No matter how big or small your brand is, the above tips will ensure that you create the perfect product promotion brochure for your brand. In case, you need an expert to do this for you, Design Shifu can help you. You get unlimited graphic designs for a flat monthly fee of $399. You also get a dedicated designer to work on your design requests.