What Is The Role Posters and Flyers Play In Festive Marketing
Posters and flyers still play a big role in festive marketing. With inboxes full and social feeds noisy, print gives you something physical that people can see, touch and remember. Studies on direct mail and print from organisations such as Royal Mail MarketReach and the Data & Marketing Association show that printed media can drive strong engagement and store visits when it is used strategically, not just as decoration. Take a look at the wider Pointmedia website for examples of how local retailers combine print and digital activity to achieve exactly this kind of impact, which can be useful context when you plan your own campaign.
If you are planning Christmas offers, New Year events or a winter sale, here is how to make your posters and flyers work as a real performance channel.
Decide What You Want Print to Achieve
Before you open a design tool, be clear about the job that posters and flyers will do alongside email, social and in store displays.
For some brands, print is about filling specific dates, such as Christmas party bookings or New Year’s Eve menus. For others it is about increasing average basket value by promoting multibuy offers or gift bundles. You might simply want more people through the door for a seasonal promotion.
Choose one main outcome for each piece of print. A poster that is meant to drive bookings should look and read differently from a flyer that exists to push impulse stocking fillers by the tills. When you are specific about the outcome, copywriting, design and placement all become easier to get right. If you are not sure where to start, take a look at our ‘How it Works’ section to understand the process of our services.
Turn Your Festive Offers into Clear Messages
The most effective festive print is simple. People walking past your window or glancing at a noticeboard have only a few seconds to decide whether to care about what you are offering.
Start by writing down every seasonal promotion you want to push. Then group them into a small number of print pieces. A good rule of thumb is one hero offer per poster, with a short supporting line that adds context, such as the date range, the audience or the key benefit.
For example:
- “Festive menu from £24.95 per person” with a supporting line such as “Available +weeknights in December. Book now at the bar.”
- “3 for 2 on selected gifts” with a supporting line such as “Perfect for Secret Santa and stocking fillers.”
Try to avoid long lists of offers in tiny type. Research into attention and memory from organisations such as the Nielsen Norman Group consistently shows that people skim rather than read in detail, especially in busy environments. A focused headline with a short explanation usually performs better than a dense block of copy.
Where you can, build time sensitivity into your message. Deadlines like “Book by 30 November for a free fizz upgrade” or “This weekend only” give people a reason to act now, rather than thinking they will get around to it later.
Design posters that people actually notice
Good festive poster design is not just about adding snowflakes. It is about guiding the eye from the headline to the offer and then to the call to action.
Think about how your poster will be seen in the real world. In a shop window, people may be several metres away. In a café or reception area, they might be sitting right next to it. That should influence your font sizes, image choices and how much detail you include.
A useful approach is:
- A large, legible headline that can be read from the distance your audience will stand.
- One strong visual element, which could be either product photography or a simple festive illustration.
- Short, plain language explaining what is on offer and who it is for.
- A clear next step such as “Book online”, “Ask at the counter” or “Scan the code”.
If you need a reference point for this kind of hierarchy, many design best practice guides from platforms such as Canva or Adobe Express talk about size, contrast and white space as the core ingredients of a readable poster.
Keep your branding consistent. It can be tempting to switch to red and green for December, but customers still need to recognise you. Use your usual logo, brand colours and fonts, then layer festive elements on top instead of replacing your core identity.
Make Your Flyers Work Harder Than a Handout
Flyers are a flexible way to spread festive offers beyond your own windows and walls. They can be dropped through doors, placed in other local businesses, included in order bags or handed out at events.
Match the format to the job. A small flat flyer is ideal for a simple seasonal discount or a reminder about late-night opening hours. A folded piece can carry more information, such as a Christmas set menu, a short gift guide or a schedule of December events.
Paper quality matters. A thicker stock suggests a premium experience, which suits higher-priced dining or spa packages. A lighter stock is fine for general promotions where you want volume over luxury.
To get more value from each flyer, consider making it “do” something. That could mean including a perforated section that acts as a voucher, a QR code that links to a festive landing page, or a unique code that unlocks a small treat. Practical advice on using codes and personalised URLs in offline campaigns is widely available from providers such as Royal Mail MarketReach and HubSpot, and many of the same principles apply to your festive flyers. Furthermore, designing your own flyers (or posters!), requires adherence to a combination of artwork and file requirements.
Put your Print Where Festive Intent is Highest
Even the best designed poster will fail if it lives in the wrong place. Think about where your customers are physically present when they are in a festive mindset and close to making decisions.
Your own shopfront is the obvious starting point. Make sure your key offers are visible from outside and that posters complement, rather than compete with, your window displays. Inside, use smaller posters to mark out “zones” such as gifting, partywear or seasonal food, and to highlight quick add-ons like gift wrapping or gift cards.
Then look beyond your premises. Local coffee shops, hair salons, gyms, community centres and workplaces often welcome relevant posters and flyers, especially if you are prepared to reciprocate or support their own events. Sponsoring a local school fair, charity market or community concert is another way to get your festive offers onto noticeboards and into event programmes in front of people who are planning their seasonal social life.
Transport hubs and commuter routes can also be powerful for posters, particularly if you have a clear store-locator type message such as “Just around the corner on High Street”. If you are considering outdoor formats, resources from organisations such as the Out of Home Advertising Association of America or the UK’s Outsmart provide useful guidance on readability and distance that also applies to your own in-window posters.
Measure and Learn so Next Year is Even Stronger
Festive marketing can feel hectic, but it is worth putting a simple measurement framework around your posters and flyers so you know what worked.
Unique codes and QR links are the easiest starting point. Give each print piece its own code, even if the underlying discount is the same. Track how many redemptions or visits each one generates. You can also ask staff to log when customers mention a specific flyer or poster in conversation.
Where possible, compare campaign periods. Did store traffic, average order value or bookings increase in weeks when you were distributing flyers or changing window posters. Analytics platforms, point-of-sale systems and even simple spreadsheets can help you connect timing and activity with results.
After the season ends, keep a short record of which creative executions and placements performed well. That way, you do not start from scratch next year; you build on evidence.
Bringing it all together
Posters and flyers are most effective when they are treated as part of your festive campaign strategy, not as last-minute extras.
If you define clear goals, write simple time bound messages, design for real-world environments and place your print where your customers are already in a festive frame of mind, your posters and flyers will do far more than add a bit of Christmas colour. They will help you sell through seasonal stock, fill your booking diary and keep your brand front of mind at the busiest retail moment of the year.
