The top priority for any business is maximising both customer engagement and satisfaction, and one of the best ways to go about achieving this is via marketing investment.
Knowing the ins and outs of marketing investment is what will help take your business to the next level, and within next to no time, you’ll be wondering why you hadn’t thought of it before.
So What Is This Marketing Investment That’s so important?
Marketing investment isn’t just about your logos, website, and flyers.
In fact, it’s something much more basic: signage.
Your signage is the first port of call for any potential drive by and foot traffic, which is why making your signage a priority is so vital.
Having signage which stands out and represents who you are as a company is crucial to your business, as there are few things which can capture the hearts, minds and imaginations of your potential clients like great signage can.
Why signage is so important?
A research study from a Melbourne–based neuroscience research company called Neuro-Insight used an eye-tracking and brain-imaging technology to analyse the brain’s neural response when looking at advertising on OOH signs.
There were 2,000 people who participated in the study and their responses to over 800 classic and digital signs. The outcome was fascinating, and it showed that a mere single glance one glance at a sign was enough to elicit an emotional response that encoded into long-term memory.
This means that the signage that your potential clients see is what will create a lasting impression on your business; which is why it’s so important to make it an impressionable one!
Reference: shopping centre news
Another study conducted at the University of Cincinnati asked the respondents if they thought they could tell the quality of a business just by looking at their signs.
The majority of people answered affirmatively in saying they could.
Beyond that, a further 55% of the respondents said that they’ve also avoided walking into businesses due to poor quality signage.
This means that right now, your customers are making assumptions about your business based on the way your signage looks like, and if they want to bring their business through your doors.
So what is the solution to all of this? You got it: Great signage! But it’s not a competition to see who’s signs are the loudest and brightest; it’s about what signs best suit your business.
Having signage will ensure that you are creating a presence which speaks for your business, and over time, your signage will involve some redesign as your business evolves.
Getting started is what matters, as having some signage is better than having no signage at all.
How do you get the most out of your signage?
Tip 1: Decide if the sign is permanent or temporary
Deciding between these two factors will determine what you do and don’t include on the sign.
Your main sign will be the one that speaks the loudest for your business and will cost you the most, so you want to avoid having to replace it for as long as possible.
When it comes to what your signage should include, it should have the basics: the name of business, contact information, and a clear description of what you do and who you do it for.
Making sure that the information you put on your signage isn’t constantly changing will be the most cost effective measure you can take when it comes to who you are as a business.
If you are making additions, no problem! Whilst you are waiting on adding more exciting elements to your signage, then a good idea would be to print out temporary signs, which can be made out of corrugated plastic which are then hung inside the windows using suction cups with hooks.
Corrugated plastic ensures that it will remain damage proof from condensation on windows, unlike foam-core or other types. The suction cups also keep the signs steady without leaving any sticky residue the way tape does – as another bonus, corrugated plastic is also largely inexpensive.
As we have said before: It’s better to have some signage than no signage at all.
Tip 2: Use a mix of external and internal signage
Whilst external signage is what you need to entice people who are outside to walk into your store, it’s wise not to overlook the importance of internal signage.
Internal signage is especially useful for communicating with your existing customers, such as upcoming products, new loyalty programs, new events, sales, promotions, and so on.
Internal signage can also be extremely useful when tying it into your social media efforts.
For example; you can encourage customers to “check in” to your location and follow you using sites like Google, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter – and the best way to get them to do this, is by having appealing signage.
Tip 3: Decide on your goal and include a call to action
Every sign you create should have a specific goal attached to it.
In other words, what do you want the person to do as a result of seeing the sign? Do you want them to call you? Visit your website or Facebook page? Walk into your store? Add an event to their calendar? There are limitless options you can give your customers, which is why narrowing them down to specifics are important.
The best way to do that is by deciding what your goal is – and when doing this, don’t be afraid to make your call to action big and bold.
Statements which are full of energy and enthusiasm, such as “Call us or come in!”, not only give off the excitement that you want your customers to feel when they are around your business, but are also effective because those are the two actions you want them to take.
Tip 4: Keep it short and sweet
Keeping your signage short and sweet is highly recommend, as you don’t want to overload your potential customers with too much information right off the bat.
You want to put just enough information on your sign to generate the action you want, and anything more will clutter it up and make it less likely your customer will take action.
So keep this simple principle in mind: less is more!
Tip 5: Use basic design principles
When creating your signage, keep your potential customers in mind by asking yourself some basic questions: How far will they be standing from the sign? Will they be able to see the 10-point type from that distance? If not, bump up the size.
Another great thing to consider is the background of your signage, as igns are always easier to read if there’s a lot of contrast between the background and the text.
This means that you can experiment with colours and see what makes your signage stand out. Not that big a fan of colours? That’s fine too, as black type on a white background is a classic that always works, so don’t be afraid to use it.
If you’re going to use photography, you’re better off picking one good photo and blowing it up, as having one great picture creates a cleaner look and is more eye-catching than having several smaller images which can overload your signage.
Finally, try to use no more than two different type of fonts – but when it comes to fonts, try to stay away from Comic Sans or more complex looking fonts which are harder to read.
Both of these types of fonts have scientifically proven to repel customers, so don’t use them.
So remember, if you want to make the most of your signage, keep these 5 tips in mind.
- Permanent or Temporary
- External and Internal
- Call to Action
- Short and Sweet
- Design Principles
If you ever need consultation and signage from our staff at Orange Signs feel free to submit your details to us and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. as we would love to partner with you on your next signage adventure!
