Transcript

Hi I’m Carmen Sognonvi. For local business owners, getting customers to walk through the door is always a top priority. In this video I’m going to tell you about the single most important marketing investment you’re going to make as a local business, particularly if you’re a brand-new business. And if you get this thing wrong, you could actually be driving AWAY prospective customers.

So what is this marketing investment that’s so important?

Your website? Your logo? Your flyers?

Nope, it’s something much more basic. I’m talking about your signage.

If you want your local business to be successful, you have to make it a priority to capture the attention of people walking or driving by your business. And there’s nothing that does that quite like a good sign. But how do you make the most of your signage? That’s what this video is all about.

But before we get to that, let’s talk about why signage is so important.

I recently came across an interesting survey about signage that was done at the University of Cincinnati. When the researchers asked respondents if they thought they could tell the quality of a business from its signage, the majority said yes. Not only that – 55% of the respondents said that they’ve actually *avoided* walking into businesses because they had poor quality signage.

In other words, your customers right now are making assumptions about your business based on what your signage looks like. So if you want to attract more customers, and the right kind of customers, you’d better make sure you’re getting it right when it comes to signage.

That said, don’t get too hung up on looks. If you have to choose between having crappy signage or no signage at all, PLEASE go with the crappy signage because even that can take you far.

When Serge and I first started construction on Urban Martial Arts, we had two really inexpensive corrugated plastic signs made. They said “Coming Soon” and they had our logo, URL, and phone number. The same day those signs went up, we started getting phone calls and emails from people wanting more information so we were able to start building our prospect database right away. It was so exciting!

The building we’re in was a gut renovation and our landlord really dragged his feet on finishing the fixtures that we needed done before we could put up a permanent sign. So in the meantime, we simply took those same cheapo corrugated plastic signs, cut off the words Coming Soon, and pasted them back on our windows.

It wasn’t pretty, but it did the job. The calls kept coming in, people kept walking in, and students kept signing up. It worked so well that by our second or third month we were already making enough to break even on our expenses. That simply wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t had a sign. Were we doing other kinds of marketing? Of course! But in those early days, whenever we asked people how they heard about us, 80- 90% would say they walked or drove by.

One thing you need to understand as a local business owner is that people feel a really strong sense of attachment to their neighborhood, and because of that, they get really excited when new businesses open. If you don’t make the most of that initial surge of interest and goodwill, you’re missing out on a huge wave of momentum that can really thrust your business forward.

Ok, so how do you get the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to signage? Here are 5 tips.

Tip 1. Decide if the sign should be permanent or temporary

This is important because it’ll determine what you do and don’t include on the sign.

Your main sign will be the one that costs you the most money, so you want to avoid having to replace it for as long as possible. On this sign, you should of course, have the name of your business and include your contact information: at the very least, your phone number and website. I would also advise you though, to make it clear what you do and who you do it for. But only include the information that you don’t think will change for at least 5 years.

For example if you’re a dance studio, by all means say that you offer salsa and ballroom lessons for kids and adults, since those are such established dances that there will probably always be a demand for them. But you may not want to list your zumba classes on there since it’s so new, and it’s hard to tell right now if zumba is just a fad or if it’s here to stay for good.

For something like zumba – a product or service that you’re not sure if you’ll be offering 5 years from now — use temporary signage to promote that. Temporary signs are also great for promoting seasonal items, limited-time promotions, or anything else that’s ever-changing.

Here’s a quick tip: For our temporary signs, I like to have them printed on corrugated plastic, and we hang them inside the windows using suction cups with hooks. The plastic doesn’t get damaged from condensation on the windows unlike foamcore or other types of material, and the suction cups keep the signs steady without leaving any sticky residue the way tape does, and corrugated plastic is pretty inexpensive.

Tip 2. Use a mix of external and internal signage

External signage is a no-brainer, since that’s what you need to entice people who are outside to walk into your store. But don’t overlook the importance of internal signage.

Internal signs are especially useful for communicating with your existing customers. At Urban Martial Arts for example, we use internal signs to let students know about events we’re doing, about upcoming belt tests, tournaments, days we’ll be closed, and about specials or sales we’re running.

But you can also use internal signs to tie into your social media efforts. For example, you can encourage customers to “check in” to your location using sites like FourSquare or Yelp, to leave reviews on your Google or Yahoo pages, or to follow you on Twitter and like you on Facebook.

Tip 3. Decide on your goal and include a call to action

Every sign you create should have a specific goal attached to it. In other words, what do you want the person to do as a result of seeing the sign? Call you? Visit your website? Like your Facebook page? Walk into your store? Add your event to their calendar? Decide what your goal is and don’t be afraid to make your call to action big and bold.

On the sign that promotes our after-school program for example, at the bottom I put “Call us or come on in!” Because those are the 2 actions I want them to take. And just in case they’re seeing the sign during our off-hours, I include our website so they can go there for more information.

Tip 4. Keep it short and sweet

Put just enough information on your sign to generate the action you want. Anything more will just clutter it up and make it less likely your customer will take action.

Tip 5. Use basic design principles

When you create the sign, keep the user in mind. How far away will they be standing from the sign? Will they be able to see 10-point type from that distance? If not, bump up the size.

Signs are always easier to read if there’s a lot of contrast between the background and the text. You don’t have to go crazy with color here: black type on a white background never looks bad.

If you’re going to use photography, you’re better off picking one good photo and blowing it up big, than having lots of smaller crappier photos. One big photo looks clean and is more eye-catching.

And finally, try to use no more than 2 different types of fonts. And whatever you do, make sure you stay away from Comic Sans or what I call the Ching Chong font. They’re scientifically proven to repel customers.

Remember, if you want to make the most of your signage, keep these 5 tips in mind:

1. Decide if the sign should be permanent or temporary
2. Use a mix of external and internal signage
3. Decide on your goal and include a call to action
4. Keep it short and sweet
5. Use basic design principles

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What tips do you have when it comes to using signage effectively? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for watching!

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