Something as simple as white space doesn’t sound like it makes a difference in print marketing, but it does. White space is a crucial component of your marketing efforts and can be the number one reason people read your content—or don’t. In this blog, we’ll show you exactly how to use white space in print marketing to get your best results. Keep reading to learn why white space works and how to best apply it in advertising and other areas.
Just like a cluttered room won’t look neat and tidy and command attention, neither will a cluttered page of content. Balancing white space is the most successful way to stand out and encourage consumers to read your content. But there’s more to this than surface-level appearances. It goes back to basic psychology.
Using white space strategically not only helps your audience focus on what they need to, but it also helps them:
This is just the beginning of the power of white space. Using content and space strategically ensures your content is more powerful and has a greater impact on your audience.
The biggest mistake many marketers commonly make with white space is not utilizing it enough. Oftentimes, people will try to put too much content on a page, trying to ensure that the space isn’t wasted. In reality, not having white space wastes the content because no one reads it. Without effective white space, your audience will get bored easily and stop reading before you want them to.
Here are some of the most commonly made white space mistakes in marketing:
Now that you understand some commonly made mistakes, here’s what not utilizing white space appropriately can look like:
This is a great example of not using white space properly. Before you even begin reading, you can tell this is a huge block of text. It’s intimidating. It’s making you not want to read it. When text is placed in a huge chunk, it doesn’t flow naturally. It’s like a solid wall in front of your eyes, and it makes you want to stop reading before you get to the end. There’s a chance that you’re still reading right now, mainly to prove a point. But some might have already fallen off. In fact, a few readers might have even skipped to the next example by now. This text is boring and literally just meant to show how white space works rather than portray any value. You get the gist already. If you’re still reading, congratulations. Most wouldn’t make it this far, but perhaps you’re intrigued, and that’s why you’re still going. There’s not really much else of importance here. We’re just droning on and on to show you just how dull this can be. When you write text in chunks without utilizing white space, your readers tend to zone out, skip to other sections, or get frustrated with the layout and might completely turn away from reading. This might include exiting out of your page, throwing away your print advertisement and not doing the response you need them to. Creating huge walls of text only hurts your marketing and drowns out the important stuff in monotony. Anyway, that’s it. We’re done now. There was no particular point to this block of text other than to show the visual clutter of it. Thanks for reading.
In comparison, here is an example of an effective use of white space:
No, seriously. Stop.
This is super important information that you’ll use in the future, and it could cause you to change up your marketing for good. Don’t continue reading unless you’re okay with that.
Incorporating white space ensures:
Did you stop? Or did you keep reading because this was a fun change of pace? Can you see the difference between the huge wall of boring text and content laid out in a way that effectively uses white space?
When it comes to content, less is more. You want to utilize space to get your point across without wasting your audience’s time. While you may be tempted to throw every important piece of information into your print marketing, simplifying the content works even better to focus on what matters most.
The easiest way to gain more white space in your print marketing materials is to simplify your content. Write a piece by adding the most important value propositions to your print ad and any information that backs it up. Ensure that your content evokes emotion from your reader and highlights your product or service as a solution for their problem.
When you’re done writing everything down, cut away the excess. Trim redundant information, swap out challenging words for easier readability, add spaces between sections and use different formatting (bold, italics, bullet points, etc.) to ensure the important content stands out.
Effectively use margins by creating space between the edge of the paper and the beginning of your content on every side. When you’re too close to the edge of the ad, it can get overwhelming quickly. Make sure the appropriate spaces are in place using margins, bullet points, new paragraphs, and more.
White space works best when it tells a story in a linear fashion using visual hierarchy. The most readable content will be organized with the most important information or catch at the top, and it’s highlighted using an H1 (the largest heading size on the page). As you get to less important areas or topics within topics, you keep going down a size for the headers (H2, H3, H4, and so on). This ensures that the reader can easily follow the organization of your content. By the time you reach the bottom, you should be able to slap on a call to action (CTA) and call it a day.
If you use the visual hierarchy effectively, the reader will follow the natural pyramid of content from the top down to the bottom, gaining information as they go. If the content succeeds in appearing as a solution, you might find yourself a new customer.
Want design tools and help with your marketing materials?
Explore Signature Design Solutions
Now that you know how to use white space in print marketing, you may be considering creating a new campaign. If you need an expert designer, a printing company, or delivery service to get your message sent out, Signature Graphics offers comprehensive solutions in the Spokane, Washington and Portland, Oregon areas and more. With all-in-one services including design and pre-print, print, packaging and delivery, we’ll get your message out the door in no time.
Explore Print Marketing Solutions
©2025 Signature Graphics | All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Minneapolis Web Design by BizzyWeb
