---
title: "Easy but Not Simple: 8 Tips for Posting Promotional Posters at Retail Outlets"
description: "This article provides eight practical tips for FMCG companies and distributors on how to effectively post promotional posters at retail outlets, emphasizing the importance of coverage density, strategic placement, and ongoing maintenance to maximize promotional impact."
author: "周导"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2014-11-25"
language: "en"
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# Easy but Not Simple: 8 Tips for Posting Promotional Posters at Retail Outlets

> This article provides eight practical tips for FMCG companies and distributors on how to effectively post promotional posters at retail outlets, emphasizing the importance of coverage density, strategic placement, and ongoing maintenance to maximize promotional impact.

**Click** **↑** **"FMCG Distributor Professional Consulting"** to learn more about marketing and distributor internal management.

In order to compete with rival products at the retail level, FMCG companies inevitably engage in frequent consumer promotions. As a result, the use of posters—the ground-level tool for carrying and disseminating promotional information—becomes very important. During peak promotional periods, poster posting at various retail outlets can become as congested as a train station during the Spring Festival travel rush. Many companies and distributors often complain: "How is it that we've posted nearly 2,000 posters in such a small county town, yet they're almost nowhere to be seen at the retail level? And how is it that our competitors' posters are still so prominently displayed? Moreover, the owners of mom-and-pop stores are reluctant to post our posters on their storefronts. It's really strange!"

Based on my previous market promotion experience, I have formulated the following eight pieces of advice, hoping they will be helpful for FMCG companies in their poster posting efforts.

**First, in mature markets, seek coverage density; in semi-mature (or under-mature) markets, seek coverage effectiveness.** This is the overall principle guiding poster posting. In mature markets, retail outlets are densely developed and relatively balanced across the region. The company's product awareness, brand reputation, and usage loyalty have a relatively solid foundation. In such areas, when consumers see a promotional poster, they can immediately recognize it as a promotional poster from a certain company (and then learn the detailed promotional information). Therefore, it is not advisable to implement a poster blitz in these markets. However, it is important to ensure that the density of poster posting in the region is reasonably distributed, emphasizing dynamic balance in coverage density to achieve the desired visibility rate. In semi-mature (or under-mature) markets, due to the uneven development of retail outlets, poster posting should be selective and focused. That is, in areas with dense outlets and good consumption bases, dense posting should be implemented, and a poster blitz tactic can be used locally, because the vast majority of sales in these markets come from these outlet clusters. For those scattered or undeveloped areas, they are basically not considered, because if the product is not even on the shelves, consumers seeing the poster may think the company is "cheating consumers." Such a counterproductive result is something any company that spends a lot of money on promotions would not want to see.

**Second, prefer left over right, and do not avoid key points.** What does "prefer left over right" mean? It means that when posting posters, when encountering symmetrical posting units such as store doors, try to post the poster on the left side of the symmetrical object. There are two reasons:

**First, people's reading and browsing habits are from left to right, and the left eye has higher attention than the right eye, so the left side has better visual acceptance; therefore, the left side is the first choice.**

**Second, most people are right-handed, so when posters are posted in a symmetrical area, the right side is more likely to be torn or damaged. In terms of the probability of damage, posters posted on the right side have a higher chance of natural wear and tear.**

What does "do not avoid key points" mean? Because many market promotion specialists have a misunderstanding that in KA stores, key stores, and flagship stores, poster posting only needs basic coverage. The reason is that these key stores already have a considerable sales advantage, and even without promotional activities, they can achieve absolute sales. Therefore, the posting of promotional posters in such stores is mainly for notification, and there is no need to put in much effort. However, this is not the case. The fundamental purpose of poster posting in key stores is to establish a strong brand image and compete with competitors in the "brand concentration camp"—the key store cluster—for consumer mindshare. Whoever occupies the first tier of the consumer's mind has the initiative in brand consumption. In short, poster posting in key stores is about competing for brand image, not just disseminating simple promotional information. Therefore, in key stores, more attention should be paid to the attractiveness of the copy, the cleanliness of the layout, the aesthetics of the design, the coordination with supermarket promotions, and the maintenance of the posters. This is what is meant by "do not avoid key points."

**Third, the strong dragon should suppress the local snake.** As the saying goes, "A strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake," meaning that even the most valiant outsider must yield to local forces because they have local connections and power backgrounds that cannot be easily provoked. However, terminal promotions among companies are often tit-for-tat and face-to-face. Even when intercepting local strong brands, one must not yield an inch. Whether in terms of quantity, coverage area, or poster design, one must think what the "local snake" dares not think, seize every opportunity, and pursue relentlessly to deliver an interceptive blow to local strong competitors. Why should "the strong dragon suppress the local snake"? There are two reasons:

**First, relatively speaking, local strong competitors have advantages in HR, logistics, PR, and other aspects. The survival space and development profits of our product locally are often squeezed to the point of being cornered and stretched thin. In this situation, if we cannot give a powerful counterattack to the local strong competitor, our situation will become even more difficult, easily falling into a vicious cycle.**

**Second, as mentioned above, because our product is at a disadvantage in overall cost, when operating large-scale, high-intensity SP promotional activities, we have higher expectations for success. This determines that the posters, as promotional resources, must emphasize coverage rate and fullness. In order to squeeze out a promotional space at the retail level, even if it means engaging in a wheel battle with the local strong brand, we will not hesitate.**

**Fourth, do not just "post" without "speaking."** Many promotion specialists have a psychological imbalance, thinking that poster posting is the simplest and most mindless job in sales. They often post posters at retail stores at lightning speed and then leave without a word—this is what is meant by "posting" without "speaking." Market promotion personnel themselves are a moving, talking poster. Why not take the opportunity during store visits to communicate promotional information with the store owners? Moreover, retail stores often have many consumers. Why not take this opportunity to have face-to-face communication with consumers about promotional information? Wouldn't that be faster and more direct than just posting posters? The problem is that our promotion personnel often overlook this, lacking the awareness of proactive communication and the skills to engage and persuade. Therefore, they miss the multiplier effect of word-of-mouth communication. In some cases, the posters are torn down or covered by the store owner or competitors immediately after posting. "Posting" is just one decomposed action to achieve the effect; "speaking" is the key skill to bring the poster to life.

**Fifth, do not just "post" without "re-post."** The so-called "re-post" refers to checking the posted posters and making supplementary or restorative re-posting. Generally, promotion personnel can notice this, but they lack the skills and methods. Specifically, the strategies for "re-posting" include:

**1. Familiarize yourself with competitors' re-posting times.** Competitors are not easy to deal with when posting posters. Therefore, it is very important to grasp the timing and patterns of competitors' re-posting. Market promotion personnel need to communicate with retail points and conduct thorough research to develop a time-following strategy. That is, as soon as competitors leave, our market promotion personnel should follow up with re-posting. If you blindly set a fixed day for follow-up re-posting, it is easy for competitors to find loopholes and take advantage.**

**2. Cover as much as possible, do not tear down.** That is, try to cover competitors' posters with our own, and do not tear them down, because tearing down can create an untidy appearance at the posting location, which will affect the effect of our posters. On the other hand, competitors may not necessarily see our product as a competitor when re-posting; they may only post in non-related areas, which does not affect the effect of our posters.**

**Sixth, money makes the mare go; don't believe that terminal stores don't love money.** Why do some companies even face resistance or obstruction from store owners when posting posters? Actually, there is no big reason. When competitors post posters, they usually sign agreements with store owners that specify how much benefit the store owner will receive for a certain period of poster posting (direct cash, returned goods, included in store price, etc.), and also include conditions that no other related posters can compete for superior positions. Under the lure of benefits, store owners naturally are willing to maintain the posters for them. Obviously, whoever offers more benefits, the store owner will maintain more. Therefore, when posting posters in CV key store clusters, using agreements as constraints and offering better benefits than competitors (based on prior investigation) as bait will surely secure the best positions for our posters, and store owners will be obedient and willing to accept. However, one point to note is that such policies should only be used in extraordinary times. As a distributor or manufacturer, you cannot rely solely on this single method to stimulate cooperation, as it is very likely to "spoil" the terminal and provide a ladder for them to push further. Smart companies will set price limits or minimum monthly sales policies for single stores when operating such policies.

**Seventh, if you can't afford to provoke, don't provoke.** When companies engage in poster battles with competitors at the retail level, it is not necessary to be dominant every time and everywhere.

There are three reasons:

**First: Industry leader companies often have flawless terminal maintenance and promotion execution. Our product cannot compete with them in terms of manpower, systems, control, cost, or strategic planning. In this case, the point to note in poster posting is "if you can't afford to provoke, don't provoke." That is, without confidence in gaining a complete upper hand, do not easily cover or tear down posters of companies with top-tier operations and high visit frequencies. It is most important to act according to your capabilities. Our posters may be covered or torn down immediately after posting. Conversely, if we do not intercept them, we may avoid their tit-for-tat counterattacks.**

**Second: In situations where we cannot afford to provoke, try to post our promotional posters close to the industry leader's posters, seeking a bundling effect. Since we cannot compete with them in the frequency of "re-posting," it is better to prepare for "first come, first served." I will post next to yours but not cover you (if you can't afford to provoke, don't provoke). In the consumer's visual acceptance, there is a high possibility of a grafting effect. This is often used by many FMCG companies in their promotion execution.**

**Third: "If you can't afford to provoke, don't provoke" is not contradictory to the earlier "strong dragon should suppress the local snake." The former is a counterattack tactic against local competitors' strong pressure; if not counterattacked, it may suffer a devastating blow. The latter's premise is that the competitor's terminal control capability is completely above ours, and no matter how we operate, we cannot gain much advantage at the terminal. In that case, it is better to adopt a secondary strategy and seek development through detours. The first emphasizes counterattack tactics, while the second emphasizes appeasement tactics. Different backgrounds require different strategies. Market promotion supervisors need to grasp this balance when supervising terminal execution.**

**Eighth, carry a rag with you; don't learn from the dandy, learn from the beggar.** "To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools." The rag mentioned here actually includes richer content, such as cutting scissors, rulers, tape, correction fluid, correction paper, and other necessary tools. "A rag" is a generic term, a collective term, referring to the necessary auxiliary tools for poster posting. Why "carry a rag with you; don't learn from the dandy, learn from the beggar"? There are several reasons:

First, when market promotion personnel are doing "re-posting," sometimes the posters are only partially dirty, or sometimes it is impossible to cover them a second time, or it is impossible to lift the poster and re-post it. We can use the rag to wipe the dirty parts clean, without making a big fuss. This saves poster resources and work time, and it is convenient and effective.

Second, as market promotion personnel, we rarely have the opportunity to visit CV terminals. Why not take the opportunity of "re-posting" to use the rag to "wash the face" of our products on the shelves and tidy up the goods? Because in addition to brand, habits, price, and other factors, FMCG products largely compete on display area, product cleanliness, and product shelf life. As the saying goes, "a hundred miles is ninety percent half." Many companies lose on this last "ten miles."

Third, market promotion personnel who pay attention to details may notice that if you directly enter a CV store to tidy up your products, the store owner generally dislikes it, because tidying up will inevitably disrupt the display order of the series products on the shelf (tidying up often changes the positions of competitors' products, because CV stores do not have SKU restrictions), and our product may not be the store owner's favorite. Therefore, he has no reason to absolutely support you making changes on his shelf. But if you first use the rag to wipe your products clean, using this "face washing" action to divert the store owner's attention, and then take the opportunity to squeeze your product into a relatively superior position, the store owner's attention may not be focused on the tidying but rather on the promotion personnel's action of cleaning the product.

Of course, the market has no fixed patterns, and promotion execution also has no fixed patterns. The above eight suggestions are just an experience-based and technical perspective on one aspect of SP ground execution. In specific applications, market promotion managers still need to arrange scientific P, D, C, A cycle execution plans according to market characteristics.

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