Use Your Banner Effectively for Promotion

We sell lots and lots of banners to many different people and companies for many different reasons.

One of the most frequent uses is to promote an event or product on the outside of a business or location. These outdoor uses are fraught with problems for many of our clients, and as a result, banners end up hanging badly, falling down, tearing, or being blown away altogether. We've got some tips and strategies here to help you keep your banner up and looking good, while protecting your investment.

Banners are just like a sail of a boat. If wind can get behind it, it WILL pull it down. Your challenge isn't to try to overpower the wind -- your challenge is to try to prevent the wind from getting behind your banner at all, if possible.

If those banners that will be exposed to the wind -- like pole banner -- it's important to know how to fabricate them to last as long as possible.

Here are important things to know about attaching a banner firmly:

• The ideal placement for a banner is on a wall or solid fence -- it allows for little or no stress on the banner, even in strong winds.





• We attach banners to a wall or fence at 18" intervals. The more frequent the attachment points, the better. If all the force of the wind is focused on just a few corners, it will tear the banner without any difficutly. Using more attachment points is better. If you know you'll need lots of attachment points, when you order the banner ask for 18" or even 12" increments for grommets. You don't want to attach a banner without a grommet.




• Be sure the banner is firm and taut. If you can get the banner super flat on the wall surface and attach at multiple points, the wind will not have a chance to get behind it.



• On a open weave fence, like chain link, you could cut some wind slits in the face of the banner to further reduce stress. There is some debate of the value of wind slits, as some believe it contributes to tearing of a banner, ultimately.

What if you can't hang it on a wall or fence?

• If your banner is going to hang freely, like a pole banner, you'll need a double layer of heavyweight banner to ensure long life. A pole pocket top and bottom helps, rather than grommets. This spreads the stress out tremendously.





• Having pole pockets sewn, rather than glued, can also make for a longer term of use.





• Provide some relief from wind load by using spring loaded hardware, which is readily available, or bungy-cord type of attachment on large banners. This relieves some of the load of the wind so the hardware gives, rather than the banner having to give.





• In a very dangerous installation situation -- over a street or overhead of pedestrian traffic, we urge our clients to use a professional installer with experience to predict the wind load and install your banner properly. We are so wary of do-it-yourselfers that we void the warranty on our large banners unless we are providing installation services. We've experineced too many unhappy clients who hang their banner one day to find it collapsed on the ground the next.




• Mesh banners are a wonderful option for super-large banners. It allows the wind to pass through easily and the edges are reinforced with nylon webbing to ensure a firm grip when installed. The downside of mesh is the color isn't nearly as vibrant as typical banner, and the mesh tends to hold dirt, providing even more discoloration as time goes on.

Free standing banners are an option for short term installations in a grassy area. We've provided clients with instructions on how to build a structure out of pvc pipe to hold their banner, with sandbags for weighting it down. We've also shown clients how to use rebar and rope and stakes to hold a banner up for a quick and easy install. Both of these are great for easy, re-usable, short term displays of promotion banners.

Banners are a great, affordable, reusable way to share your message or promotion. Knowing how to preserve your banner and install it properly for the best value is key.

Interested in learning more? Contact us at 502-585-4099 or sales@signaramadowntown.com