Wednesday 28 January 2015

Using Signs for Business Promotion

Thinking that signs are only useful for direct product or service promotion is a common mistake with many small and medium businesses. Signs have multiple purposes and when properly used they can have a positive impact on almost every area of a business. Generally speaking there are two main types of signs – business signs and advertising signs. Between them they tell people who and what you are, where you are located, how you can be contacted, the benefits of dealing with you and lots more. Put all this together and signs become a mirror that reflects an image of your business.
What a Sign Should Convey
Simply placing signs that basically say “buy from us” will never work. Yes, you are telling people where they can get the goods or services they need. But why should they come to you and not go to someone else? The sign could mention prices, if they are among your positives. But only mentioning prices could result in the goods being considered as “cheap”, i.e. of low quality.  Customers today consider quality, durability, warranties and after sales service as being as critical as the price point. Obviously you cannot have signs that have hundreds of words in it, telling people about the product or service in great detail. No one will read it.  This is where the wording of the sign plays a huge role. Anyone who has done online marketing knows about the importance of “keywords.” These are the common words that people use when searching for information online. A website with these words in it will appear high in the search results. The role of keywords in signage is somewhat different. With signs, keywords are those words and/or phrases that are associated with a product or service and which, when seen, trigger a memory or response. That is what an effective sign should do – trigger a response that will attract potential customers.

Using the right words, in the right combination is the key. Finding the right keyword depends on the product and the target market. For example, a sign about high end furnishing fabrics should not focus on the price factor – that is not a key consideration with the people who buy these products. Instead the sign should focus on quality, variety, uniqueness and other things that those buying high end products look for. These will trigger the kind of response and interest that will bring people to your business.
Use Only Quality Signs
We take it for granted that using electronic and print media for business promotion will be expensive.  So when it comes to signs, there is a tendency to cut costs as much a possible. This is a mistake for many reasons. Firstly, as mentioned earlier, the sign reflects the image of the business. A cheap looking sign will create an image of a “cheap” business. Secondly, signs do not have a fixed life. As long as they look good, they can be relocated and reused almost endlessly to maximize coverage. And signs do not become stale. Business promotion on other media demands almost total viewer attention and will become irritating after repetition. Signs do not make this demand. They are a part of the scenery and the message they convey can be subliminal and not obtrusive. This means that repetition does not become irritating and repeated exposure to a sign only reinforces the subconscious message which will enter the conscious thought process when a need for the product or service arises. 

The business and science of signage is a specialized one. The best way to maximize the benefits from using them is to work with a professional signage company that will provide your business with signs that convey the right image, provide the market with the relevant information and ensure that the return on your investment in signs is maximized.