Seasonal promotions need seasonal signs, but printing a new everything every few months gets expensive and wasteful. Most of what you put up for a season should come down cleanly at the end of it, while the pieces that stay never mention a season at all.
This guide sets out a simple way to handle seasonal promotion signage: a permanent base, a few changeable pieces, and a plan for when to order each one.
Seasonal promotion signage starts with a permanent base
The smartest approach is a permanent display system with changeable content. A wall poster frame, a countertop card holder or an A-frame with replaceable panels. The structure stays; the printed insert swaps out each season. That costs far less than new standalone signs every time.
A changeover A-frame is built for exactly this. The frame lives on your footpath all year and the poster inside changes with the promotion.
Quick tip: design every seasonal insert to the same size as your frame or holder. Then any season's artwork drops straight in, and a reorder is just a new design on the same product.
Which seasons are worth printing for?
Not every date on the calendar deserves new signs. Pick the few that matter to your customers and do those well. Around Bendigo, the usual candidates are:
Easter and the Bendigo Easter Festival, when the town fills with visitors.
End of financial year for businesses that sell to other businesses.
The Bendigo Cup and spring racing for hospitality, fashion and beauty.
Christmas trading, the busiest window for most retail and food.
School terms for anything that sells to families.
Two or three well-planned seasons usually beat six rushed ones. For the big two, see our guides to Christmas trading print and Bendigo Cup signage and apparel.
Window graphics for seasonal campaigns
Removable window graphics give your shopfront a fresh look without touching permanent signage. A summer sale, winter specials or holiday hours: a new window graphic changes the whole feel of the shop from the street. Ask for removable vinyl so it peels off cleanly when the promotion ends.
Keep the message to one idea. A season's window should be readable from across the road in a couple of seconds, like any other sign. Our guide to making a shopfront more inviting covers how much glass to cover.
Corflute and banners for short-term outdoor
Corflute signs are affordable enough to treat as seasonal items. Order a batch for a spring sale or a summer event, use them for the promotion, then order fresh ones next time. Storing and reusing season-specific boards across several years often is not worth the shed space.
For a bigger message on a fence or building front, a vinyl banner carries a promotion for its whole run and can be rolled up afterwards.
Change the A-frame message every season
If you already have an A-frame on the footpath, change the message at least every season. A stale message becomes invisible to the people who walk past every day; a fresh one catches them again. Print new inserts rather than new frames. It is the cheapest seasonal update you can make.
What not to do
Do not reprint the whole menu for a seasonal special. Add a counter card, a table card or a clip-on panel instead. Postcards on a stand at the counter work well for this.
Do not over-invest in one season. Keep seasonal print simple and focused, one clear message per piece.
Do not put dates on anything permanent. Dates belong on the pieces that come down with the promotion.
Rule of thumb: if a piece is meant to outlast the promotion, leave the dates off. Put them on the inserts, decals and corflutes that come down with it.
When should I order seasonal signs?
Work backwards from the day the promotion starts. Allow time to settle the offer, time for design and proof rounds, then the production time. Each product page shows an estimated turnaround, so check the ones you need and add your design time on top. Busy seasons like Christmas fill up, so start earlier than feels necessary. Our guide on how early to order printing for events walks through the planning.
If you plan marketing by the year, our Marketing Plans include 25 hours of design a month, so each season's window, A-frame and social posts can be designed ahead of time and match.
Common questions
How often should I change my window display?
At least once a season. A window that never changes becomes part of the background for regular passers-by.
Will seasonal window vinyl damage my glass?
Removable vinyl is designed to peel off cleanly when the promotion ends. Ask for removable vinyl when you order a seasonal graphic.
Is it worth keeping seasonal corflutes for next year?
Usually only if they carry no dates or year-specific offers. Otherwise it is simpler to order fresh boards for each promotion.
Can you design a year of seasonal inserts at once?
Yes. Tell us which seasons matter to you and we will design the set to one size so each drops straight into your frame.
Plan your next season
Tell us which promotions are coming up and we will help you choose the few pieces that make the biggest difference. Browse our signs and banners range, with live pricing on every product page.
