Wednesday 24 February 2016

Designing Your Outdoor Sign: The Key Issues for You to Consider

Geography is an important factor in brick and mortar retailing. Your business is in one location. Your customers are located all over the city. Yes, there are roads that can bring them from wherever they are to the place where you are.

But how do you get them to travel? – by placing outdoor signs to remind them of who you are, and what you have to offer them. The outdoor sign, like a magnet, draws customers’ attention.

The effectiveness of this pulling power depends on how well the sign is designed and made. Here are the key issues you need to consider when planning the use of outdoor signage.

  • Design: The design is what makes the initial impact. A well-designed sign, though in a bad location, is certainly better than nothing. But a badly deigned sign even in a good location will create a negative image: that will be the undoing of your business. When finalizing the design, pay special attention to logo size, color and fonts.
  • Size: Check on the municipal guidelines on outdoor signs to ensure that you comply with them. It can be incredibly frustrating for you to have a great sign removed, just a day after its installation. You will feel bad when you are told it did not meet the specs of the local authorities. The despair will be intense, because you spent so much time and money on its creation. And the market will wonder why your sign came up and disappeared so soon. That is the kind of negative business image you should never ever send.
  • Height: Height is critical in terms of visibility. When you drive your car, you will see easily a sign, if it is pole mounted and above the tree line. Pedestrians can, however, see the signs mounted at lower levels. The abundant response of the main audience being the deciding factor, place your signs at the optimum height following, of course, the municipal regulations.
  • Mounting: The style, design and size of a sign are often dictated by the way it needs to be mounted. Better to know how the sign will be mounted, before starting to plan the design and size. Mounting considerations should not mandate last minute modifications that would impact,  for sure, the effectiveness of the signs. Moreover, any additional cost, wasted labor, or wasted time would certainly make you feel bad.
  • Environment: The sign must be durable with capacity to cope with environmental extremes like scorching shine and heavy rain – two things that can seriously affect the life and the quality of your signs.
  • Surroundings: The sign must be prominent and noticeable. At the same time, it should not clash with the surroundings, and stick out like a sore thumb and seem out of place.

Your retail establishment may be confined to only one location, but your outdoor signs will make your presence felt wherever they are placed; the message they send through the passers-by will travel in all directions. It’s of utmost importance, therefore, that the kind of your business image you try to create through them at these multiple locations should be very effective.

Your signs are the vital things that will improve your retail footfall, and your sales depend on how effective the signs are. That is why using the services of a professional sign making company is so important. They will be able to guide you on the type of sign, the size, the design and everything else that goes into making it an excellent marketing tool.