2.5.2014
Outdoor Signage Tips to Start 2014
We conducted office celebration dances did last month when the thermometer stopped displaying a negative sign next to the day’s temperature - in Fahrenheit. It was like the new year started again. And with the second chance to start the year off right, we started going over the steps our clients take annually to make sure they’re instantly seen, recognized, understood and respected by the outside world.
Here are a few of the things we go over with them to make sure their outdoor signage continues to provide these enviable features in 2014 and beyond:
Inspecting current outdoor signs / signage in the winter
Anything worth having is worth taking care of. This sentiment was typified after the horrendous January 2014 storms that put 400 US counties under severe weather warnings before delivering high winds, subzero temps and over 1’ of snow. Performing preventative maintenance on a business’s outdoor signs after such a storm is just common sense. Therefore, it makes good business sense. Here’s a recent article that further details inspecting outdoor signage in the winter
Visibility check
As much as it can feel like, “the more things change, the more they stay the same,“ the truth is that things such as landscapes change over time. A tree grows up here; a building goes up over there. If your signage shares real estate with other entrance signs, you could be losing visibility to new a new tennant’s new sales truck. There are countless possibilities. The few minutes it takes to perform visibility checks from close up and far away can save headaches your clients might experience if something has changed. Also, visibility checks are also a great way to see if there are opportunities to improve visibility and, with it, exposure. We invite you to read a piece we recentely wrote on environmental and logistical issues affecting signage.
Client vision checks
We cover client visual acuity and signage on another post. Here’s the short version: if your clients have good visions and you have small budgets, there could be opportunities for either your next sign to be a touch smaller while providing essentially the same benefits of your current sign.
Call-to-Action: instantly understood messages
We love Call-to-Action. It is essential in this business. We cover it often because it is so absolutely critical to effective signage. It should come as no surprise that CTA should be factored into your inspections as well. As we talked about in Visibility Check section, the visual landscape changes over time. If you’ve seen a dip in business or individuals walking through the door and believe that all other aspects of your business have been the same, changing up the Call-to-Action of the signage could help shake things up and spur additional revenue.
In order to see more business coming your way...
...they have to be able to find you, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Keeping vigilant with inspections and checks help maintain your presence. It can be as overlooked as taking out the garbage yet it as vital as point of sales displays. It helps maintain the integrity of your physical traffic flow. If your customers have to walk through the elements to get to you, doesn’t it make sense that they’d expect you to walk outside and make sure your store is ready to receive them?
