Signage, more specifically banners and outdoors signs, are an affordable way to communicate a message to potential buyers. Just think about the last time you walked or drove past a business with a sign in front of their storefront; chances are that you glanced over and read it. Even if you were simply passing by on your way to another commitment, you saw what that business was trying to communicate.
While putting a sign out in front of your business may seem old fashioned, there is a reason that people continue to do so – it works. Of course you can’t rely solely on signs as your form of communication, but here are 3 ways storefront signage works to help you get your message to customers:
1. Passerby Novelty
We humans are pretty well trained to notice new things. Your daily commute is likely very similar every day, but it’s the abnormalities that draw your gaze. Maybe it’s the construction on the side of the road, or a building getting a new roof, either way, we notice new things in a familiar environment. This natural tendency is a powerful reason that signs work.
Adding a sign in front of your business will draw the gaze of those passing by, if not only for the fact that it is something new. For you, this means you get prime real estate to communicate a message about your business to local residents.
2. Campaign Channel Support
For your more significant marketing campaigns, it’s likely that you are promoting your campaign through multiple marketing channels. Your website, social media, direct mail pieces and in-store material should all be preparing your customers for your campaign. By the time your campaign special or event is occurring, potential visitors should have been made aware of it. However, in our busy lives, it’s easy to forget.
Signs and banners are a great way to remind your customers of your campaign. A customer may had seen on your social media earlier in the month that you were having a big sale, but forgotten by the end of the month. However, driving past your store, they see your banner hanging announcing the upcoming sale that upcoming weekend.
Signs offer a very easy marketing touch to a large number of people. Using them in conjunction with other marketing channels multiplies the effectiveness of your campaigns, giving you a better return on your marketing dollars.
3. Special Events Draw
For many small businesses, their locality hosts at least a few special events throughout the year. Conferences, music events, sports events, marathons, etc, all draw a large crowd of people to an unfamiliar area. For your business, this represents a potential for some extra revenue.
The problem of course, is that these visitors new to the area don’t know your business and are going to search out what is easiest for them to find. Hopefully your business is easy to spot already, and the name clearly denotes what your value proposition is. Even if that is the case, signs and banners in front of your business can help to more easily attract these out-of-the-area visitors; a simple banner stating what it is that you sell or welcoming the visitors of the event can go a long way.
