Using your display equipment to maximum advantage

Are you using the display equipment for your business to maximum effect? Do you review and update your display equipment from time to time to keep pace with developments in your industry? These are important questions to consider.

Your display equipment can be a great marketing tool if used appropriately. They can be used to advertise or promote your goods and services to potential buyers in settings where there is a lot of competition. They can also be used to expose your offerings to prospects in situations where your products or services may not otherwise reach.

Here are five important factors to consider to give you an edge when designing and using display mate equipment:

Projecting your unique character and identity: your display equipment can help establish your brand identity in the competitive market place. Even if the primary intention is to pitch your products or services to the customer, your display equipment can also be used to establish a credible image and presence in the minds of customers for medium to long term success.

Unique benefits, or spelling out what's in it for the customer: Great advertising is not necessarily a beauty contest for its own sake; the purpose is to spell out the benefits or advantages of choosing your product or service over all the others or similar products in the marketplace. It is essential to incorporate your unique benefits into your display material, whether the strength of your offering is based on quality of a product or service, pricing, ease of use, availability or some other reason.

Great design: with so much advertising messages out there, it is often challenging to come up with completely innovative designs that are also visually appealing. But through an appropriate combination of text, graphics and colours, your display equipment can be used effectively to capture and hold the attention of customers and clients – while you get your message across.

The KISS principle: keep it simple and straight-forward is an old but tried and tested formula, and it is still a good mantra. An effective set of display material will have clear messages and a clear call to action, such that customers and clients know what to do next if they want to take up an offer or follow through to a purchase.

Commitment to continuous improvement: it is to the advantage of your company to continually collect feedback from your customers and clients, and to use the information for continuous improvement. More often than not, the changes to be made are small adjustments and refinements, but these can make all the difference to next season's marketing campaign. Progressive firms have policies in place to ensure constant and never-ending improvement. So at the end of every season or cycle of campaigning, it is advisable to check out the effectiveness of your display and promotional material. Where can they be improved? What elements do you need to highlight for the next round of campaigning? Which elements to drop or de-emphasise? What is the feedback you've received from customers and staff and what can be incorporated for the next set of display materials? The challenge of continuous improvement can be a fun and exciting journey.