In a world filled with advertising and marketing, a business has to do all that it can to stand out and make itself be known – an outdoor sign is an excellent step towards that direction. Stepping out into the streets, signs are everywhere. They serve so much purpose aside from just guiding people where their businesses are and inform passersby about their brand. Some businesses can overlook the importance of the sign so here are six reasons why signage is important for businesses.
Branding and Brand Awareness
One way outdoor signs and signage is beneficial to a business is how it plays a key role in branding and brand awareness. A simple sign with the business name and logo is more than enough to incept the brand of the business in the minds of people. For example, a formidable tech company would have a very popular logo and name. Just seeing a sign of that company in front of a store will already tell everyone who sees it, “hey! We make great tech products!”
A good sign that reinforces brand awareness can also be accompanied by an effective store window displaying items that are representative of what the store has to offer. This is akin to passing by a bakery and seeing all the beautiful cakes and pies through their windows. You could consider hiring a branding agency in Hertfordshire to design you the perfect sign and differentiate your business.
Increase Exposure
Imagine a mental image of a busy metropolitan city or even your local downtown area. Chances are you imagined a lot of signs. In highly economic areas such as downtown, businesses are all jam packed together in a small area so a sign is a really easy way to distinguish one business from the next. In a world of competition, a simple sign goes a long way to stand out among the competitors.
In economics, similar businesses tend to be near one another for competition. This is why you may find several bookstores in proximity to one another, or perhaps fast food chains near one another. In this situation, businesses that offer similar goods have to stand out from one another and this is where signs greatly help.
Cost-Effective
How is a sign cost effective? This has to be compared to traditional advertising. Unlike advertising where a business would have to spend money to rent ad space, print out flyers, put up billboards, a sign is almost like a one time expense. Once it’s in front of the building or at the store front, it’s pretty much there to stay.
As a piece of advertisement, signs work both ways: they catch attention but also, people tend to look out for signs. When you’re looking for a restaurant or a store (or any business really), chances are you’d be looking out for the sign that tells you that’s what you’ve been looking for. Good signage can prove to be a worthy investment for your business
Build Client Relationship
Aside from being a tool for information and advertisement, signs are also by nature a piece of decoration. A nice clean sign that is pleasing to the eyes will generate way more popularity than an ugly one. This is why companies and businesses would spend a fortune hiring artists to make their logos because of just how important a good logo is.
So much science actually goes into making signs and logos, particularly psychology. Studies show that certain design elements like color and font style really affects how people perceive businesses. This is why the color red is often used in restaurants as the color red is said to make people hungry.
Speaking about how signs are decorational, an easy way for signs to build and improve relationships with clients is by decorating them according to seasons. This is very common during major holidays such as Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Just a few aesthetic decorations can really set a business apart as these simple decorations help people relate to these businesses more.
Generate Business
Signs are a great way to generate business because they can attract people by chance. Aside from people going around looking for a specific product or service, random passersby can actually see a sign and be swayed on the spot. A busy person may not realize they’re already hungry until they see the sign of a restaurant or someone realizes that they need some items for their household maintenance when they see the sign of a hardware store.
Signs can further generate business by attracting new customers. The modern day person is familiar with hundreds of brands and logos just by being bombarded daily by advertising and marketing. Seeing an unfamiliar sign can actually incite curiosity in people and get them to check out a business that they are unfamiliar with.
Guidance
Aside from the sign that holds the name of the business, there are other signs that one can find inside a store. These signs include entrance and exit signs, restroom assignments, and basic warning signs such as the wet floor sign or whether or not a business is open or not.
These signs are simple ways to help organize a business. A clearly marked entrance and exit helps reduce traffic inside the store. They can also help protect customers because a wet floor sign is an easy way to avoid accidents. These are especially important as these warning signs can actually protect people from lawsuits. Someone who had an accident inside a store that lacked precautionary signs can actually be vulnerable to legal action.
Conclusion
In this article, six great reasons why signage is important to businesses were given, from how they raise awareness and reinforce branding to how signage helps build relationships with clients and the general market. However, a sign can do even more than the reasons stated here. The bottomline is, a sign is an easy and simple step to improve a business altogether.
