All businesses small and large need to advertise to customers and consumers, and there are all kinds of ways to do this. A lot of research and a lot of money is spent every year to figure out the best ways to advertise a brand name or company name, and the results show that a combined approach is usually best. On one hand, the company can reach out to many consumers far and wide with ease via the Internet, with ad videos, social media profiles, and email lists. On the other hand, physical business signage has not become obsolete. In fact, it can provide a welcome break from constant digital media use, and this ranges from church marquee signs to LED signs in a window to metal and plastic signs over a business’s front door. Many studies confirm that is is a lucrative effort, and often, businesses draw in customers simply because there is a prominent sign on hand.
The Advertising Power of Signs
Statistics can make it clear just how effective these church marquee signs and retail signs can really be, and this is including billboards. Around 35% of people only found a business because of its on-site sign, and 32% of poll respondents say that they would first see a business’s billboard ad, then visit the business itself later that week. Also, around 85% of all of a typical business’s customers live within a five-mile radius of that business, so signs and ads placed in that area can reach out to ideal customers with ease. A person may see that business’s name and logo 50 to 60 times per week, in fact. Also, 71% of people report looking at messages on roadside billboards (counting both digital and traditional), and ads can even be placed on buses or taxis for mobile exposure. Put another way, the value of on-site signage is the same as 24-full page newspaper ads per year.
It is clear that signs are a good way to advertise or send a message. Now, what do they look like, and where should they be placed?
Church Marquee Signs and More
Some sign are placed on a building or atop a pole, while others are free-standing signs on a property’s front lawn. Take churches and schools as an example, which often set up marquees on their lawns. Such church marquee signs may be either digital or use plastics, and the sign may have visual appeal with a flower bed around it and a low brick wall. Some of these signs can have a message installed when black letters are arranged on their faces, and others are digital signs that can have messages programmed into them. For a church, these messages range from uplifting quotes or ideas to updates on upcoming Bible study sessions or other activities. A high school may use signs like these to share information about upcoming sporting events and the like.
Other signs are placed right over a business’s front door, and this is common for shops found in strip malls. These signs are often made of plastic and metal, and they have plastic faces that can be lit up with light bulbs inside for visibility at night. Other, larger signs can be placed atop the business’s roof for more prominence and room, and some establishments, such as restaurants or auto shops, place their signs atop tall poles for even more visibility.
Digital signs cost more to rent or buy, and they need electricity, but they are great at attracting attention. Their glowing screens can show a variety of animated visuals, or they can present a slideshow of different images and messages, thus acting as many signs in one. Digital signs are easy to see even in rain or low lighting levels, too.
Some signs are more modest, but no less effective, such as those used by small coffee shops or sandwich shops. Their signs are free-standing chalkboards, often with an A-shape and a board on each face, set up near the front door or in the middle of the sidewalk. The chalkboards can have any sort of messages and visual written on them with colorful chalk, and this makes them easy to customize and update. Consumers may also like the novelty and personality of those little signs.
