The Importance of Signage

Your Signage Largely Determines the Success of Your Business

Your signage is your voice on the street. It’s a primary means of communicating with customers. It attracts them, draws them through your doors, and encourages them to buy your products and services.

Your sign IS THE IMAGE of your business, at the very least it is the first impression that gets potential customers to come in the door. And if you advertise, or create a webpage or Facebook presence, you will feature your sign.

Individually lighted Channel Letters are the typical sign that adorns the front of most businesses. They're nice looking, adaptable to a large number of logos and letterstyles, and relatively inexpensive. Pole or Pylon Signs, and Monument Signs, amplify the storefront sign's effectiveness.

What image do you want potential customers to have? The quality of your sign should match the quality of your business to give potential customers the right first impression. Cheap, or professional? Basic, or interesting? Shoestring, or successful? Neglected, or attentive? Your sign conveys all of these messages, and more, to your potential customer BEFORE they become a customer.

Make sure you are marketing your business properly. The sign, if it's a quality sign, will be the only thing that sells for you 24/7 without any ongoing expense, or work, from you!

“A sign can make or break your business. Size, design and wording can be the deciding factor as to whether a new customer walks through the door or keeps driving to your competitor, according to a survey by FedEx Office^®.”

Almost 8 of 10 shoppers (76%) percent said they would enter a store they’ve never been in before based solely on its sign, while nearly 7 of 10 (68%) have actually purchased because a sign caught their attention.

While signs draw in customers from the street, they can also be good word-of-mouth marketing tools; 75% of those polled said they’ve told someone about a business simply based on its signage.

Again, 7 of 10 respondents (68%) said they believe a store’s sign is reflective of the quality of products or services that the business offers and 52% said they are less willing to enter a business with poorly made signs.

If you think a sign isn’t worth your investment, think again — 6 in 10 consumers won’t enter a business with no signage. " - Alicia Ciccone, Huffington Post

Of course the best, and cheapest, form of advertising is word-of-mouth. Consumers main reason for giving word-of-mouth mention is self-enhancement. (Mitchell J. Lovett, et.al. Journal of Marketing Research.) Remember that FedEx (above) found that 75% of consumers give word-of-mouth mention based solely on signage. Consumers MUST be impressed with your sign.

Signage is the most targeted advertising you can do according to the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA), which also states that 85% of a business’s sales usually come from within a 5 mile radius. Your sign constantly advertises your business to a potential customer who frequents the area where your business is located.

With 18.6% of the entire US population moving each year, your sign will be constantly seen by MANY potentially new customers.

“The average business gets over 50% of their sales just from their signage.” - Small Business Association

If a sign costs you money it is not doing its job. It should effectively advertise your company and earn you money.

“…research from the University of California at Berkeley found that 68% of purchases were unplanned during major shopping trips and 54% on smaller shopping trips. To take advantage…your business will need an effective sign to attract attention.” - The NewYork State Small Business Development Center

Good signs incorporate design and marketing decisions creating the message, look, colors, sign types, sizes, quantities, etc. to create the required impact. Again quoting Small Business Administration research, 89% of businesses that fail do so because of improper signage!

AT&T gave this advice to Yellow Pages customers, "If business is slow, what does your sign look like?" AT&T recognizes that you need Signs that Don’t Age^™to survive, or you need to replace your signage often. In other words, Signs that Don’t Age^™will make you more money than a “cheap” sign. (Visit each sign-type's Knowledge Tree^™tabs for more info about Signs that Don’t Age^™.)

We help you the most when your landlord and the City understand the importance of good signage and allow you to install creative signs that will help your business. Unfortunately this isn't always true. Choose your location(s) wisely (and receive your landlord's approval of your signage package BEFORE you sign your lease, if possible.)

And remember the axiom “Location, Location, Location!” The supreme importance of “location” is the numbers of potential customers that will see your sign...and be able to read and understand it. These are very important design and marketing considerations.

If you are located in the Dallas/Fort Worth "Metroplex" in Texas the Texas Department of Transportation has probably counted traffic in front of your new location. Go to https://trafficcounts.nctcog.org/trafficcount/ to see how many vehicles will see your signs every day! Other regions have similar information available.

Surprisingly 30% of traffic on almost all business streets occurs when it is dark; people see your sign only if it is lighted when it is dark out, including on dark days when everyone else's sign is lighted.

“To make your business stand out, be prepared to spend on your signage.” - Steve Strauss, USA TODAY

“Main identification signs for businesses, attractively designed and made so as to draw attention, don’t cost a penny. So long as they remain in good repair they earn you money. Anyone not recognizing this should not start a business.” U.S. Small Business Administration

The importance of signage in helping a business to survive was recently underscored when the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), with their NxLeveL for Entrepreneurs training program, which is available in 40 states, added an entire week to their program to present more deeply “…the importance of signs and their impact on a business…”

"Having the right image for your business is crucial to success. And having the right signage to show off your business is equally important." - Tri Lease

I've never once had a customer tell me, "I'm so glad I bought that cheap sign, it really helped my business!" - Bill Watson

If you want to be successful, look successful!

Additional References

"The successful businesses always have nice looking signs, I'm not worried about them. It's the other guys that don't understand how important their signage is, those are the guys I need to focus on."

Jeff Skibell, Quine & Associates (discussing the existing signage that his tenants have and how they need to refresh their look so it doesn't hurt their business)

The Importance of Signs both Night and Day

The importance of day/night signs to you cannot be overstated. The difference is truly night and day!

In today’s business environment the need to use both light and color to attract attention during the day is becoming more critical. A simple set of channel letters won’t help your business survive anymore; sophisticated shoppers expect more.

North Texas averages 5 hours of bright sunlight, 7 hours of reduced sunlight, and 12 hours of no sunlight daily. With the controlled lighting in our Sign Lighting Laboratory and Showroom (see Home page Knowledge Tree^™tabs) we can show you how a sign looks during full daylight, on the cloudy days, and at night.

Together with our IMAGEKRAFTERS^™ Design Consultants (see Knowledge Tree^™ tabs) we will create a sign using lighting and colors to help you earn a living 24/7.

NO OTHER SIGN COMPANY CAN DO ALL THIS; we’ve done it over 100,000 times now. Our base team has been together more than 40 years.

“We prosper because of our sign. Signs Manufacturing’s unique understanding of the use of colors and light both day and night causes our business to always be the most visible. No one else could work their magic!” – the 407 club

The “Google® Effect”

As Google^® and others develop virtual reality 3-D images of business districts, for use with virtual-reality glasses, the importance of signage will be magnified.

Consumers will enter a product or product category, and Google^® will show them, virtually, where this product can be purchased. No longer will the business’ signage only compete for attention with neighboring businesses, storefront images will be compared for every competitor in the entire DFW Metroplex, in 3-D (with motion?)

Business’ with eye-catching signage will find it easier to succeed in the future (lots more free advertising.) Other businesses will find it harder. Actual physical location will remain important, but be less restrictive to success.

Your Success will Probably be Signage Driven

Celebrating 35 Years Unless you are introducing a never-seen-before product that doesn’t require money to obtain, a new business, school, or church must take customers and money from pre-existing established competitors in order to succeed.

Recall that over 50% of the average business’ sales are proven to be generated just by their signage. The attention-getting appeal of signage in attracting customers is historically proven. You must look better than your competitors; and your competitors are everyone else.

Don’t shoot yourself in the foot.

Can your Business Survive with a Cheaper, Less Impressive, Less Durable Sign?

Maybe, certainly some have. But knowing the probable effect a sign will have on your success, is it a gamble worth taking, especially considering the minuscule cost of a good, properly made sign when spread over the lifetime of the business? Most probably, this is the most important investment you will make, good or bad.

“A good sign advertises success.” – Profits in Everyday Business

Signs are Like Boats

There are $50,000 boats and there are $400 boats. Technically both are boats, but don't expect that $400 boat to keep your business afloat. The devil is in the details.

If a company goes to the cost and effort of adding value to their product (types and amount of lighting, paints, protective coatings, etc.), they're going to talk about it. Pay attention to what they aren't telling you.

Our websites, literature and proposals describe in detail what we are quoting, and why.

Nobody ever includes quality and features in their products that are not described in their literature and quotations.

Have you had a different experience?

Consider how important a quality sign, being the first thing your customers see of your organization, is to your success.

Buyer Beware! Nothing hurts a business more than bad signage.

Why use Signs Manufacturing™?

Do you want someone to just make your sign cheaply, or would you prefer to have someone make sure it will help you be successful now, and be built to help you remain successful in the future? And still be cheap!

We’re not just a sign company, we’re a sign manufacturer. And apparently our customers appreciate our help because we’re the largest custom sign company in the DFW Metroplex. And, the largest sign builder here, too.

Many, many details in this website tell you how we intend to help you be a success, but you may find the following Knowledge Tree™ pages particularly useful:

The Knowledge Tree™
Design Services
Marketing Services
Potential Business Pitfalls
About
Shopping for Signs
Shopping for LED Signs
Showroom - Don't buy a sign from a drawing, a slick website, or photo-shopped pictures when you can see and side-by-side compare real signs.
Sign Cost
Tax Provisions
Types of Signs
Home Page
Literature

We're ready to begin! Contact us when you are.

“Signs Manufacturing & Maintenance has a BuildZoom score of 127, which places them above 99% of the 222,249 contractors (all contractors of all trades) in Texas.” – BuildZoom

FOR ORDERING OR ASSISTANCE CALL:

877-SINCE79 toll free

Signs Manufacturing & Maintenance Corp.
4610 Mint Way, Dallas, Texas75236, US
214-339-2227 | sales@signsmanufacturing.com

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