Your business needs signage, it’s a given. You can stock your shelves with must-have items but this isn’t enough to get customers streaming through your doors. They need to know your business exists. A sign above your door is a great start. At least customers will know that at the right place.
But what about potential customers who aren’t regularly in the area? How do you get them to stop in and hopefully make a purchase? A sign company in Houston, TX can make some recommendations but it always helps if you know a little bit about signage and how it can help your business grow.
The Multiple Purposes of Signage
Business signs do more than announce customers are in the right place. Exterior signs can grab potential customers’ attention. Interior signage can display promotional information or advertise a specific product. Retail signs can also act as a guide helping customers navigate your shop.
Signage can make it easier for you to establish brand recognition. This is something you don’t want to ignore. Consumers may be okay with trying out a new brand but most prefer sticking with one they recognize. Getting your brand out there often makes a huge difference in your business’s bottom line.
While outdoor signage promotes your business and even lets customers know where your store is located, interior signs typically serve a different purpose. These signs are typically used for advertising. Indoor signs can also make the customer’s experience more enjoyable. The signs can direct customers to specific products and guide them to the restrooms and check-out counters.
Your indoor signs can even help customers with visual impairment. Instead of using images or text, the message can be in Braille.
Surprising Benefits of Business Signage
You already know retail signs can boost brand recognition, improve the customer experience, and make your brick-and-mortar business easier to locate. While these are great benefits, it’s not all you can get from business signs.
Reduce Advertising Costs
Yes, signage can be expensive but it’s also a cost that pays off in the long run. Unlike some other forms of advertising, signage can be a one-time cost that continually pays off in increased sales.
Print ads may seem relatively cheap at first. However, you need to continually pay for another week or months’ worth of advertising. Print ads can quickly become outdated which means you’re back to the drawing table creating yet another advertisement.
With a business sign, you don’t need to continually pay a fee. This can free up your cash flow for other investments that benefit your business.
Improve Customer Communication
Your floor staff is busy taking care of daily tasks that keep the business running smoothly. They’re stocking shelves, cleaning up aisles, and ringing up customers. This doesn’t leave your team a ton of time to answer customers’ random questions. Since you don’t want to leave your customers feeling frustrated, it’s bad for business, you can turn to indoor signage.
Your signage can communicate quickly and efficiently with consumers. The signs can point the way to the sale aisle or even the restrooms. Signage placed near specialty items can help encourage impulse buys and this is always good news for your business’s profit margins.
Getting the Most Out of Your Business Signage
Since you probably don’t want to miss out on any of the benefits you can get with business signs, it helps to know the best practices. Don’t worry, nothing is too complex and your signage provider can help you figure out what’s best for your business.
Use Simple Messaging
Consumers have short attention spans. Think about how long you spend reading a business sign. Do you only pay attention to a few keywords like the business location or its hours?
If you answer yes, you’re like most other consumers. On average, consumers only spend about 5 seconds or less looking at a business sign.
To ensure you’re getting your message across, keep the wording short and sweet. If there’s more you want to say, use visual images. Sometimes you can say more with an image than you can with a long string of words.
Be Specific
Your business sign shouldn’t leave consumers with questions. A great tactic to use is narrowcasting. This fancy term refers to using concise language and specific details in your messaging. The goal of your sign is to inform potential and existing customers. Whether it’s your location, hours of operation, or products. Be specific in what you’re telling consumers.
So, if you’re using the signage to advertise your products, keep it specific. Instead of promoting various hair products on your shelf, group them into a category. Not only is this easier for consumers to figure out what you’re selling, but it also helps cut back on advertising costs. Expenses tend to go up when signs are lengthy messages.
Font Size Matters
Most Houston area sign companies give you options on font size. This is a great time to go big. Remember, you want your sign to be visible from the road. What font size works best for business signs? Go with headline text. The large font is easy to read, even at a distance. Besides, it also gives your sign a more professional appearance.
Another good tip is to include a call to action (CTA) on your business sign. Your CTA can be anything: from Come Visit Us Today to simply announcing Yes, We’re Open. You can get as creative with your CTA as you want. Just make sure your messaging is clear.
Make Your Sign Pop
You don’t want to spend the money on business signage only to learn it’s barely visible. Pay attention to the lettering and color.
You may want to use brighter colors either for the text or the background. Including your brand logo is another way to make sure that your business sign stands out in your area while also building up that much-needed brand recognition.
Are you ready to finally boost foot traffic coming into your business? If you’re struggling to attract consumers, consider the benefits of business signage.