What Makes Business Signage Effective?

No business owner ever wants to spend money on something “just because they should.” They want to know what the return on investment will be. What will this marketing budget yield? Why should X amount of dollars be invested in custom lighted signs for your storefronts? These are perfectly reasonable questions. As it turns out, signage does have a measurable impact on a business’ success. How do you know, though, if signage is actually effective? If it meets the following criteria and you see that foot traffic is picking up, then your sign is doing its job.

Attention grabber

This is the most obvious reason for investing in an outdoor sign, certainly. Why does one even have a sign? To tell people, “Hello! We’re over here!” That’s why just slapping plain black lettering on a white background doesn’t work unless you have a very distinct high concept brand with a font that is associated with you. You know, like a multimillion dollar international fashion house. For the rest of us, we have to be a bit more creative with our sign elements. Eye catching colors, unique design, and a size that’s big enough to be seen by passing drivers are all important when trying to attract customers who may be hurrying by during a commute or looking for a different store entirely. Businesses cannot rely on customers who leave the house with the intent to visit your business alone. It’s all about turning heads and getting people curious.

Brand signaling

Your signage is a tremendous part of your business’ brand. In fact, it’s arguably the biggest part of your brand as it’s the quick visual, front facing part of your business. Many business owners choose to model their official logos after their sign or vice versa in order to maintain brand consistency at a visual level. While your sign isn’t the only thing that makes up your brand identity, it’s a huge part of your first impression signaling. Of course, your customer service reputation and product or service quality will also be major contributors to how your brand is seen by the public. Choose a sign that reflects what you want to convey about your brand.

Loyalty

This may seem a little outside of the box, but we’ve seen that people can have some interesting habits when it comes to how they spend their money. Your signage can play a big part in how loyal people are to your brand and how often they will shop with you, even if they didn’t specifically make the trip to visit your business. This is an extension of brand loyalty, of course. But, we know that a recognizable sign triggers something in people’s mind that makes them want to go into a store, even if they had no expressed intention of going in. Companies like Best Buy have noted that a sizable share of their customer traffic comes from people who just saw that famous yellow sign hanging up and decided to stop in on their way to somewhere else. While your business may not be a chain of that scale, you may be striving to be. And, developing that recognition now is still a great way to bring in foot traffic to your one or two locations.

Perception is everything

Finally, there is the matter or perception when it comes to your business. This ties into your brand. Signs have a tremendous impact on how customers or potential customers view your brand. 70% of consumers believe that the quality of a sign reflects the quality of the business in its entirety. Nearly as many people say they won’t even step foot into a store if they get the sense from the signage that the business is of a low quality. On the flip side, 67% of consumers say sign quality influenced their purchasing decision. If they feel good about the brand, they feel good about their purchase. Of course, happy customers also mean more word of mouth foot traffic.

Conclusion

The signage you choose for your store has a lot more value than simply telling people what the name of the business is, though that’s pretty important, too. Choosing the right sign is an important task. Not only can your sign influence many aspects of your business, but it’s a big investment as well. A high-quality sign that will move metrics for you doesn’t necessarily come cheap. That’s why you want assurance that you’re getting the best work at the best price. At Signdealz, we understand you’re making a major investment when committing to outdoor signage. Contact us today and one of our representatives will go over your options with you and help you come up with the best signage solution for your business needs.