Door Hanger Design Essentials

Door hangers are an excellent way to influence your target audience where it matters: on the home front. They're one step closer to your customers because they're not bundled with the mail. Door hangers must be picked up and handled, enhancing your odds of conveying your message in an exciting way that earns response.

Door hanger design is integral to the success of any door hanger campaign. Content might drive response, but the content won't even be looked at if your design is lackluster. On the other hand, compelling design helps your customers feel that the content is worth reading. Take these door hanger design essentials to heart so you can get closer to your customers' hearts.

Keep it simple

Your job as a door hanger designer is to get customers to read the copy. You must attract immediate attention and help funnel customers' eyes toward: 1) a solution to their problems; and 2) a call to action. Don't bog your door hanger design with distracting imagery that gets in the way of the message. After all, the purpose of a door hanger is to motivate response, not win an art competition. If you can identify the easiest way to facilitate this, you've found your door hanger design concept.

Incorporate big headlines and bright colors

Imagine your customers walking up the steps to their door. They should be able to read your headlines from the bottom of the steps. By grabbing attention with bright colors and incorporating large, easy-to-read headlines, you're able to take advantage of those crucial first seconds of interaction. With the right headline, your customer will want to read your door hanger before they even get to the door.

Highlight your call to action

Ever get an interesting marketing piece, read it and then asked: "So what?" The last thing you want to do is leave your customers wondering what to do next. Your call to action should be big and bold - you certainly don't want your customers to miss it. Whether you want customers to call a phone number, visit a location or log on to a website, the next step (and the benefit for taking it) should be clear and well defined. Try using a contrasting color to lift your call to action off the paper for more impact.

Take advantage of the flipside

Don't overlook the back of your door hanger - it's valuable real estate you can use to include powerful information that reinforces your message. When it comes to design, use iconic bullet points, maps, diagrams, charts, coupons and anything else that adds value or makes it easier for your customers to take action. Plus, don't forget to include a teaser on the front of your door hanger to motivate customers to turn it over.

Use a template

You can design door hangers more efficiently by using a pre-formatted template, which helps guide your layout positioning with safety area, bleed lines and cutlines. Templates are also prepared in the proper color mode (CMYK) and resolution (300 dpi), which saves you set-up time and ensuring your door hangers will look great off the press.

Effective door hanger design is a science, and carefully planned. Understand your goals, solve your audience's problems and highlight benefits and a call to action to maximize response.

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