Have you ever thought specifically about why your business could use some good signs? You have many good reasons to invest in these marketing tools, but perhaps the most prominent is that outdoor signs are your best chance of making a good first impression on potential customers. Even if your business has great reviews online, passersby may never have seen them, or they might not be able to find your location without a little onsite help.
Grab Attention with Outdoor Signs
With this in mind, the outside of your store is a good place to start. An over-the-door awning or illuminated sign, with corresponding window decals to let people your hours, are pretty standard fare. So are large, colorful banners in the event of a limited-time sale or other special occasion. But have you considered some other attention-getters that could make all the difference in widening your brand visibility and drawing in consumers? These include:
- Frame signs, if your entrance is on a well-traveled sidewalk. (While a simple branded sign pointing the way to your location works perfectly well, it’s always fun to get one with some room to try out funny slogans.)
- If your business has a lawn, you might try a yard sign, either foam board or Ultrametal, depending on how permanent you want this form of advertisement to be.
- Rolling advertisements in the form of custom car magnets or decals can garner thousands of views per day as you take your car out on your daily business errands.
- A billboard on the nearest high-traffic road, even if only rented for a month, can raise awareness of your company exponentially from where it was before.?Â
Because consumers will need to process these signs quickly, aim for conciseness and clarity in your messaging. Aside from any images you may include to optimize their visual appeal, keep your color scheme restricted to two or three shades.
Use a very simple font to list only the relevant information. This should include your physical address and website at the very least — maybe your social media profile handles too, if there’s room. Assume that one inch of letter height is only visible up to ten feet away, and plan your text accordingly based on the total sign size. It’s better to lean toward a larger font size, to keep the sign from looking too busy.
Highlight Promotions with Indoor Signage
Well, so far your outdoor strategy has worked, and you have more shoppers in the door now. Don’t leave them hanging once they’re inside! Place directional signs to help them find the section they need, along with smaller hanging banners or floor graphics to point them toward special promotions. If your business presents a formal atmosphere, you might consider an etched-glass or acrylic sign with your name and logo boldly displayed to customers as soon as they walk in.
As with your exterior signs, consider the visibility of each sign. Approach them from several angles and distances to make sure they’ll be legible to even the most hurried patron. The brand colors and wording choices that you used for your outdoor promotions should also carry over into the design style of the signs inside.
Now that customers are inside, you have more freedom to write sign content that they’ll take a moment to stop and read as they browse. This is your chance to really unleash your brand voice—the unique tone that your promotional materials take as they engage with the public. Take some time to make sure your tone is consistent across the signs you put up, and that it matches the atmosphere that people already expect from your store and personnel.
Use Physical Media to Enhance Your Online Efforts
Both your indoor and outdoor signs should also serve another purpose: to increase your online engagement. The more buzz you can generate on social media and your home site, the more new people will find out about you. Ideas to get people connected might include these:
- Offering a small discount to new followers on Facebook and Twitter
- Featuring a “fan of the month” if they mention their shopping experience with you using a hashtag that you started
- Hosting a giveaway or allowing patrons to vote for new merchandise through your blog
You can accomplish all of these (and other ideas) by dedicating a portion of certain signs to directing people online. This might be through a QR code, or by simply listing your website URL and your social handles next to their appropriate icons. Many social sites contain built-in analytics or easy-to-install extensions that let you measure the success of your current campaign and make adjustments for next time.
How do you connect with your customers through signs? Have you learned a different lesson from the ones discussed here that you’d like to share? Tell us your thoughts below.
Katherine Halek is a Content Strategist at Signazon.com, a leading online printer that works with thousands of small businesses around the country. Katherine enjoys writing about small business, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Connect with her on Google+.