Publicize Campus Events With Flyers - By: David Stoakes, 2007-08-02

Besides word-of-mouth, flyers and posters can be one of the best ways to promote your event, item for sale or group. This form of advertising can help you sell textbooks, promote your tutoring service,
recruit new members, or improve attendance at meetings . Posters are inexpensive (you can 100 for about $5.00), easy to update or reuse, can be posted for free, and can be distributed by others beside yourself.

But if your campus is like many others the country, sometimes when you put up a flyer tonight, tomorrow morning it will be plastered over with other people’s flyers.

That's because most student groups are first-time posterers and haphazard in the way they poster — they give members a stapler, copies, and say "Go post these."

You don't have to be professional to be effective, but you need to be thoughtful if you want the best results. If you're courteous to other groups, keep track of where you post, and check the boards regularly, you can get a lot of attention through your flyers. Putting up posters the right way around campus is almost always worth your time and effort.

Tip #1: Get your flyers stamped if needed

Some schools want all posters and flyers be approved by the dean's office or by student activities, and/or stamped with an official seal. And some schools back-up this requirement by having staff removing flyers without a stamp. Some schools are more serious about this than others. You can tell if they’re serious if all the OTHER posters on the board have a stamp. If no one else is getting a stamp, don’t bother.

Tip #2: Don't monopolize the boards

Never put more than one or two posters on each bulletin board. You'll get a bad reputation and create hard feelings among other student groups if you deluge the board with your posters. You can put up more than one if you are only a day or two away from the event. But then immediately afterward, take them down.

Tip #3: Remove your old posters

Don't wait months to take down your flyers. If it looks messy, people will poster over top of you. A lot of students aren't going to check before they post you over.

This tip works in reverse. Taking down the outdated posters of other groups and re-arranging sloppily-posted flyers will improve the overall appearance of the board

Tip #4: Avoid posting on walls

Nearly all colleges and universities across the nation prohibit groups and individuals from attaching posters to interior or exterior classroom walls. Taping or stapling posters to walls eventually ruins the underlying wall or surface. However, if everybody else is doing it, and/or there is absolutely nowhere left to post, you could use a light transparent tape on a wall or window.

Tip #5: Never use glue or staple guns on inside boards

Heavy-duty staple guns are a no-no because the staples they shoot are very difficult to remove. Plus they are noisy and disturb classes. An office stapler, such as an Arrow stapler, or a light staple gun, will usually work just as well on inside boards as a staple gun.

The exception to the rule is with heavily-posted, outside boards or kiosks. These are often so thick with old posters that you might need to use a staple gun just to get your flyer to stay up.

Tip #6: Keep track of the best posting spots

Take a quick trip around your campus to scout out the boards- where they are, how heavily covered they are, and how well they're maintained and how many students read them. If you have a week or two before your event, or you are selling a good or service, it will pay to post a lot of remote locations away from the busy campus areas. Don’t neglect inside classroom boards, either. You’ll notice that there is less competition for board space at these outlying locations—most amateur posterers just go for the big boards in the big buildings and then go home.

If you’re up against a deadline, the high traffic locations are probably best, though you may have to re-check them several times a day to make sure you’re not ‘overposted’ by somebody else.

One unusual option is to place posters on the inside of stall doors in restrooms, if it's permitted. These locations represent the ultimate captive audience.

Tip #7: Target your audience

Target your market, just like in a political campaign. Don't put posters in areas and buildings that don't relate to your organization. It doesn't make much sense to put engineering club posters in the business building or flyers for the chemistry club in the political science department.

Tip #8: Classrooms vs. hallways

In classrooms, students are stuck in one place for an hour or more. If you place your posters inside classrooms on the small bulletin boards near the doors, you'll have a captive audience. Hallways are also good locations. Often students are waiting 10-20 minutes

Tip #9: When to poster

Ideally, start putting up posters about a week before the event. Don't wait until the day before or it'll be too late to attract much attention. On the other hand, if you start too far in advance , you'll get posted over. (If you’re prepared to monitor you flyers, this doesn’t matter).

Tip #10: Best time of day to poster

Try late at night or early in the morning.

Tip #11: Where to post on a board

Try to put your posters at eye level, where most people will see it. Try posting on the last 2 or 3 inches from the left and right borders of the bulletin board, with the bulk of you poster in empty space. This will minimize post-overs, and also get more eyeball attention. If you post right in the middle of a messy board, you’re just asking for the next posterer to cover you over. Plus, your flyer will not stand our—it will just blend in with all the others.

Tip #12: Who should poster?

Unless they understand what you're trying to accomplish, not every member of your organization should be allowed or asked to put up posters. If they break the rules you might lose you posting privilege that could be tarnished.

Tip #13: What if somebody posters over you?

If some clueless person posts their posters over yours, re-post it elsewhere on the board. You have that right. But knowing how much you hate it when this happens to you, don't annoy the offender too much. He might get mad and start targeting your postings rather than respecting them.

Tip #14: Postering gets your members involved

It's actually a good way to get your members motivated. There may be people who aren’t interested in fund raisers or a particular meeting, but who may be fine with being a posterer.

Conclusion

You can improve attendance at your club or organization meetings and gain more publicity for events if you develop a plan for when, where, and how to display flyers and posters on your campus so they’ll get the most exposure.
Besides word-of-mouth, flyers and posters can be one of the best ways to promote your event, item for sale or group. This form of advertising can help you sell textbooks, promote your tutoring service,
recruit new members, or improve attendance at meetings . Posters are inexpensive (you can 100 for about $5.00), easy to update or reuse, can be posted for free, and can be distributed by others beside yourself.

But if your campus is like many others the country, sometimes when you put up a flyer tonight, tomorrow morning it will be plastered over with other people’s flyers.

That's because most student groups are first-time posterers and haphazard in the way they poster — they give members a stapler, copies, and say "Go post these."

You don't have to be professional to be effective, but you need to be thoughtful if you want the best results. If you're courteous to other groups, keep track of where you post, and check the boards regularly, you can get a lot of attention through your flyers. Putting up posters the right way around campus is almost always worth your time and effort.

Tip #1: Get your flyers stamped if needed

Some schools want all posters and flyers be approved by the dean's office or by student activities, and/or stamped with an official seal. And some schools back-up this requirement by having staff removing flyers without a stamp. Some schools are more serious about this than others. You can tell if they’re serious if all the OTHER posters on the board have a stamp. If no one else is getting a stamp, don’t bother.

Tip #2: Don't monopolize the boards

Never put more than one or two posters on each bulletin board. You'll get a bad reputation and create hard feelings among other student groups if you deluge the board with your posters. You can put up more than one if you are only a day or two away from the event. But then immediately afterward, take them down.

Tip #3: Remove your old posters

Don't wait months to take down your flyers. If it looks messy, people will poster over top of you. A lot of students aren't going to check before they post you over.

This tip works in reverse. Taking down the outdated posters of other groups and re-arranging sloppily-posted flyers will improve the overall appearance of the board

Tip #4: Avoid posting on walls

Nearly all colleges and universities across the nation prohibit groups and individuals from attaching posters to interior or exterior classroom walls. Taping or stapling posters to walls eventually ruins the underlying wall or surface. However, if everybody else is doing it, and/or there is absolutely nowhere left to post, you could use a light transparent tape on a wall or window.

Tip #5: Never use glue or staple guns on inside boards

Heavy-duty staple guns are a no-no because the staples they shoot are very difficult to remove. Plus they are noisy and disturb classes. An office stapler, such as an Arrow stapler, or a light staple gun, will usually work just as well on inside boards as a staple gun.

The exception to the rule is with heavily-posted, outside boards or kiosks. These are often so thick with old posters that you might need to use a staple gun just to get your flyer to stay up.

Tip #6: Keep track of the best posting spots

Take a quick trip around your campus to scout out the boards- where they are, how heavily covered they are, and how well they're maintained and how many students read them. If you have a week or two before your event, or you are selling a good or service, it will pay to post a lot of remote locations away from the busy campus areas. Don’t neglect inside classroom boards, either. You’ll notice that there is less competition for board space at these outlying locations—most amateur posterers just go for the big boards in the big buildings and then go home.

If you’re up against a deadline, the high traffic locations are probably best, though you may have to re-check them several times a day to make sure you’re not ‘overposted’ by somebody else.

One unusual option is to place posters on the inside of stall doors in restrooms, if it's permitted. These locations represent the ultimate captive audience.

Tip #7: Target your audience

Target your market, just like in a political campaign. Don't put posters in areas and buildings that don't relate to your organization. It doesn't make much sense to put engineering club posters in the business building or flyers for the chemistry club in the political science department.

Tip #8: Classrooms vs. hallways

In classrooms, students are stuck in one place for an hour or more. If you place your posters inside classrooms on the small bulletin boards near the doors, you'll have a captive audience. Hallways are also good locations. Often students are waiting 10-20 minutes

Tip #9: When to poster

Ideally, start putting up posters about a week before the event. Don't wait until the day before or it'll be too late to attract much attention. On the other hand, if you start too far in advance , you'll get posted over. (If you’re prepared to monitor you flyers, this doesn’t matter).

Tip #10: Best time of day to poster

Try late at night or early in the morning.

Tip #11: Where to post on a board

Try to put your posters at eye level, where most people will see it. Try posting on the last 2 or 3 inches from the left and right borders of the bulletin board, with the bulk of you poster in empty space. This will minimize post-overs, and also get more eyeball attention. If you post right in the middle of a messy board, you’re just asking for the next posterer to cover you over. Plus, your flyer will not stand our—it will just blend in with all the others.

Tip #12: Who should poster?

Unless they understand what you're trying to accomplish, not every member of your organization should be allowed or asked to put up posters. If they break the rules you might lose you posting privilege that could be tarnished.

Tip #13: What if somebody posters over you?

If some clueless person posts their posters over yours, re-post it elsewhere on the board. You have that right. But knowing how much you hate it when this happens to you, don't annoy the offender too much. He might get mad and start targeting your postings rather than respecting them.

Tip #14: Postering gets your members involved

It's actually a good way to get your members motivated. There may be people who aren’t interested in fund raisers or a particular meeting, but who may be fine with being a posterer.

Conclusion

You can improve attendance at your club or organization meetings and gain more publicity for events if you develop a plan for when, where, and how to display flyers and posters on your campus so they’ll get the most exposure.

Article Source: http://www.articlestonurture.com

David Stoakes has been postering college campuses for over 30 years. For information about flyer postering on campus and off-campus, and how to increase affiliate responses through postering, please visit: www.flyerpostingjob.blogspot.com

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