The Right Sign for Your Business

Successful signage involves more than creating an attractive arrangement of logos and slogans. It is also a blending of complex elements such as marketing, demographics, and understanding the local business environment. Complicating the task is the fact that the reader is usually moving, and the sign must be seen, read and understood in an instant.

No matter how good your product or service is, if your sign does not make people stop and shop, you will not be able to compete. In our highly competitive and media-rich world, an investment in professional sign design is worthwhile. Trained designers understand how to get the consumer's attention. Most importantly, they know how to get the consumer to respond.

Remember, every major chain that exists today started out as a small business. Your long-term success can be shaped by the effectiveness of your street presence if it is professionally designed from the very beginning.

The right sign for your business must send the right message to your potential customers.

Marketing to your Customers

Different types of businesses have different signage needs because they serve different purposes and reach out to different customers. To make sure your signage is specifically marketing to your customers you must first determine your category of business.

At one end of the business category spectrum are companies that satisfy specific and infrequent customer needs. At the other end are businesses that fulfill general and frequent needs.

An effective sign will employ different marketing strategies depending on the type of business and the needs of its customers. When businesses fall in between the two extremes, they will need to use a combination of methods.

Businesses that offer products or services that meet specialized or infrequent needs must develop top-of-mind awareness so people remember the business when those needs arise. Examples of this kind of business include veterinarians, appliance and electronics stores, locksmiths, medical and dental offices, real estate offices, and accounting and bookkeeping firms.

These businesses must focus on branding their site. To reinforce this effort, the signage itself must be designed to project the right image for the business and have that image be recalled.

When a customer walks through the door of one of these businesses, it is likely he or she has already noticed the business's sign, developed an opinion about the business, and remembered the business when it was needed.

Businesses designed to meet frequent or impulse needs must reach out and pull people in on the spot. Examples of these include grocery stores, gas stations, hotels, video stores, restaurants, convenience stores, and car washes.

Many of these business's customers need to make a quick decision to stop. Therefore, their signage should be eye-catching with a brief, simple message that can be read and understood quickly. The businesses must be noticed and recognized at precisely the right time by those ready to buy. Often these businesses rely heavily on attracting tourists and need to be sure those unfamiliar with the business can tell right away what is sold there.

The typical McDonald's is a good example. The "golden arches" are such familiar icons that the McDonald's sign can be easily recognized long before the sign's lettering can be read. This gives a driver plenty of time to notice the sign, make a decision to stop, and safely maneuver through traffic. An independent fast food restaurant with a poorly-designed sign that is hard to see, hard to read, and hard to understand, will have great difficulty competing for the frequent need customer even if the food, service, and pricing are superior.

If your sign is going to convince the impulse customer to stop at your business, it must be designed so that the important information is easily recognized at a glance. People driving down the street can take in a great deal of information. Seventy-five percent will pick out the key word on a sign the first time they pass it. Make sure the first time someone reads your sign they immediately understand the most important information – what you are selling. Any additional information should be designed to keep your repeat customers interested in your sign and your business so they remember to come see you again.

Because we read from the top down and left to right, the key word, graphic, or logo should be located at the top of the sign and read from left to right. Otherwise, the reader can get confused and take longer to understand the sign's message. This delay can mean the person who is seeing the sign for the first time is unable to read and react to it before driving past your business.

Naturally, as your business becomes more established, more of your sales will come from repeat customers and fewer will be directly due to your sign. But that doesn't mean the sign has become unimportant. Actually, you must constantly remind your regular customers that you are there. Even more importantly, studies show that on any given day, as many as 35% of the people passing your business have never seen it before and could become first-time customers because of your sign.

In a recent study people were asked "How did you learn about us?" as they exited a large retail store.

Number of Customer Responses

• On-Premise Sign - 1,234  
• Word of Mouth   - 820   
• Newspaper – 212
• Yellow Pages – 165
• online ad- 139
• TV – 32
• Radio - 38

   -Damian

Check out our next posting to find out more about what it takes to get a good, effective sign for your business. 

 - Give us a call and we'll help you with the right sign for your business

Unlimited Signs

www.unltdsigns.com

203.546.7267