When it comes to selling yearbooks, the most successful yearbook poster ideas are those that actual show off the yearbook. That’s a problem at the beginning of the year, though, because, well… none of those awesome memories that are going to be featured in the yearbook have happened yet.
And yet you still need some yearbook posters so that you can start marketing the book. So, go for funny.
Funny yearbook poster ideas, when well executed, grab student attention and start building the case early for the yearbook. Pair it with some tried-and-true back-to-school yearbook marketing strategies, and you’ll be selling a bunch of books before all those summer tans fade away.
This post will give you the scoop on why these yearbook posters are a good idea, what you need to execute on your yearbook poster ideas, and three ready-made examples you can use for free.
Why Funny Yearbook Posters Are a Great Idea
Funny yearbook posters in a high school will no doubt look different than posters hanging on walls in a middle school (and those posters will look different from those in an elementary school), but there’s one thing about all of them that’s the same. And that’s the way they embody a key marketing psychology principle.
See, yearbook posters are pretty much the best way to keep the idea of the yearbook fresh in your students’ minds. In marketing psychology, that’s called the Mere Exposure Effect.
We’ve discussed this principle in more detail before, but here’s the skinny: People like things that are familiar, even if they don’t necessarily like the constant advertising and marketing that it takes to make something familiar.
Enter funny yearbook posters.
By making your posters funny, you’re able to flip your constant advertising presence from annoying to entertaining. It might sound like a little thing, but you shouldn’t underestimate the impact that can have. Here’s why:
The more entertaining the poster, the more likely your audience is to talk about it with friends (viral marketing, anyone?) and check out whatever it is you do next.
And that’s why funny yearbook posters are a great idea.
Crush it with your first set of posters, and you’ve laid the groundwork for every other type of marketing play you’re going to run throughout the year. You’ve pretty much guaranteed yourself an audience, which means you’ll continue to increase your exposure while you start trying to achieve other goals (like building FOMO and getting people to help you create the yearbook).
What You Need For Funny Yearbook Poster Ideas
If all that sounds good, the next step is actually, you know, making funny yearbook posters.
Your might pull some inspiration from an inside jokes or you might recycle memes, but the first thing you need for a funny yearbook poster idea is a punchline. That, of course, is the key to making your poster funny.
Spend all your time on the punchline, though, and your poster might fall short in other areas. You need to focus on four more areas to make sure your poster gets as many laughs as it deserves.
Here are those four areas:
- Headline. Attention spans are notoriously short. It’s even worse when your students are racing to their next class, distracted by their friends, or in the middle of a daydream. Your headline needs to catch attention while also entertaining. Think about the words you use, but also the fonts.
- Visual. A pen and paper is a great starting point for the visual aspect of your poster; it can also make for an eye catching finished product from a unique design standpoint. That being said, between the Adobe Creative Cloud and free alternatives (like Canva) you can produce something polished without much work.
- Call to Action. You’ve got a captivating headline. The image you’re using is going to knock socks off. But what’s the poster actually trying get someone to do? Answer that question, so you can present your students with the information they need to take that action.
- Contact Information. This one’s a no-brainer. You need to provide students (and parents and other faculty members) with a way to perform the action you’re asking them to complete. Including your room number and/or email address on your posters is the bare minimum. Which leads us to the stuff you’ve been waiting for: examples…
Funny Yearbook Posters Ready For The First Day of School
We’ve covered the underlying principles. We’ve touched on the structure. We’ve made our case for the importance of social media. Let’s walk through three funny yearbook poster ideas in application.
The Uncle Sam Emoji Face Poster
A timeless classic … updated with a bit of irreverence.
Look, emojis are everywhere. And everyone is making their own (Steph Curry, Kim Karadashian, Justin Bieber…). But no one is photoshopping emojis onto old photos. And we think it’s high time someone does. So, here you go:
The Crying Jordan Meme Poster
FoMo with a sense of humor.
Crying Jordan dominates Twitter about as much as Michael Jordan dominated basketball. Now, he can dominate your yearbook posters, too. All that’s needed is the Jordan face and a picture of some students.
Here you go:
(Quick aside: This probably has the biggest mass appeal with your students. Show us a kid who doesn’t love Crying Jordan and we’ll show you a liar.)
The Mastercard Rip-Off Poster
Easy to create, but funny all the same.
Because you’re keeping out visuals, you’ll be able to knock this ad out with little more than a good idea and Microsoft Word (or just a marker and paper). The idea here is equally straightforward. List a few items of increasing silliness, the same way Mastercard used to do its “Priceless” commercials. If there’s ever a time for inside jokes and school-specific humor, this one is it.
Still, here’s a first hack that you can build from:
If you’re new to yearbook or if you’ve spent the last several years scrambling to recycle old pictures for fall yearbook posters, it’s time to embrace these funny yearbook poster ideas. Do it, and you’ll be in the perfect position to generate interest and sales before all those summer tans fade away.
