The Pros and Cons of Poster Advertising

In the government's 'Unite against Covid-19' media campaign, posters played an important role. Posters helped the government get their messages directly onto the streets and connecting with audiences lacking access to the digital space. However, their use is often most effective when used strategically as part of a wider campaign. Acknowledging the limitations of poster use and maximising their benefits.

In my opinion, here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of poster use:

PROS

• Targeted (locations and spread)
• Affordable
• Mass impact (especially good for product launches)
• Flexible in scale (A5 to A0)
• Quick to produce
• Can raise awareness quickly and be cumulative
• Hyperlocal (great for promoting local community events using noticeboards and shop windows)
• Brevity (good for simple messages)

CONS

• Can easily get lost in the visual noise of locations
• Needs a good design (and not too much information) to have impact
• Viewer needs to make more of an effort to take actions (compared to a social media post with links)
• Not easy to modify or edit
• Location restrictions (may be limited by access to commercial posting sites or availability of community noticeboards and shop windows)
• Brevity (difficult to communicate lots of detail)

If you have any questions about poster use, feel free to get in touch.