Banner ads are a great way to advertise your business. The banners are affordable, and the printing shop can deliver your order quickly. One of the biggest downsides is that when designing banner ads, it’s possible to make fundamental errors.
So how can you come up with banner design ideas that will reflect well on your business? This article lists 7 important banner design tips that will help you come up with the perfect advertising banner for your small business.
1. Be Careful With Text on Banners
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is putting too much text on a banner. Banners are supposed to be something that people see in passing. They should be able to get the message from your banner within a couple of seconds.
If you put too much text on a banner, it’s unlikely that most of the people who see it will ever read it. It makes more sense to have just a sentence or two maximum. You should also make sure that the text is a good size.
Not only will people struggle to read walls of text, but they’ll also consider it to be bad design, which reflects badly on your business.
2. Good Use of Color
Another classic mistake is using color wrong. Certain colors go well together, but other colors will clash. This can make a badly designed banner almost painful to look at.
Thankfully, the design principles of which colors work together and which don’t are relatively well established. This means you can easily find resources online about what colors you should use.
If you’re in doubt, you should ask the banner printer for advice. In some cases, certain colors won’t print as well as others, so it might also make sense to change colors for that reason.
3. Use High-Quality Graphics
When printing banners, you really can’t afford to use high-quality graphics. Using low-quality images can often result in your banner looking smeared or blurry.
If you work with a good printing company, they should be able to spot if you’ve used images that won’t print well. If you’re unsure how to source graphics that will look good in print, ask the print shop.
It could turn out that a certain graphic isn’t available in a high-quality version. Unfortunately, in this situation, you’ll either need to select a new graphic, or you’ll need to recreate it in higher quality.
4. Communicate a Simple Message
The key to designing a good banner is to keep your message simple and to the point. The majority of people won’t stop to take a close look at your banner. Instead, they’ll pass it in their car or while walking by.
This means you only have a few seconds to communicate your message. That means you have to make it count! It’s worth running some tests with your design. See if people understand the message within a few seconds.
If people seem confused about what you’re getting at, it’s a sign that you might need to simplify your design. Try to remove anything that’s unnecessary. If you remove an element, is the message still intact?
5. Use a Bold and Readable Font
It also makes sense to take the time to get the font right. Generally, simple, bold fonts are the best as these are the easiest to read. It’s not always immediately apparent what doesn’t work and what doesn’t.
What looks great on your PC monitor might not look very good when it’s printed out on a banner. You can ask your print shop if they have any advice on font choice.
You might also figure out how well your font works by printing a prototype version. You should be able to clearly read everything on your banner while standing a few feet away.
6. Include the Right Information
While less is more when it comes to marketing with banners, you need to be careful not to forget any key information. For example, don’t forget to include a way for people to find out more about your business.
You might list your business address, or you might provide a link to your website. You shouldn’t include too many ways to find your business. Ideally, there should be just one or two methods listed.
7. Represent Your Brand
A banner is a great chance to promote your branding and establish a consistent image for your company. With the best marketing with banners, you can clearly tell who the company is within a few seconds.
This is possible when a company has a good logo and consistent branding. Making a banner is a great chance to make sure your logo design and branding are on point.
Banners are the perfect test for your corporate logo. If the logo is too complicated, it won’t print well. Only simple and bold logos will look good on a banner.
If it seems like your logo isn’t going to look very good, you might consider redesigning it. You might even consider working with a graphic designer to help you get the best logo possible.
Designing Banner Ads Can Help Grow Your Business
There’s a reason that banner ads are still a popular way to advertise in the age of digital marketing. People use them because they work! If you want to promote a new product or drive more business to your store, banner ads are the perfect form of promotion.
When designing banner ads, there are a lot of potential pitfalls. For example, using the wrong font or using low-quality graphics. It pays off to work with a professional printing company as they can help you to spot these issues early on.
If you want to work with a great printing company with a tried and tested reputation for producing quality prints, check out our contact page today.