Every business storefront usually has a sign on the front of their facade, but what sets apart a good sign from a bad sign? More than likely the design and placement. These two are the most critical to sending the right signal to all those that drive by your sign. For instance the Flamingo Bowl (Picture on Left) was taken by me to display how an effective sign can lure customers. It was colorful, playful, and told me what the business was. It was also placed in a manner that I noticed the Bowling Alley from block away in downtown St. Louis. Does your sign lure customers into your store? If not then lets take a look at some steps to take to help your storefront.

First, prepare and do homework about your architecture and zoning laws in your area. Some towns have many restrictions on where the sign can be placed and the size. It is better for you to know the laws than build a nice fancy sign that has to be taken down once the city inspector comes around. Knowing the architecture will help you feel out the proper shape and size for you sign that will help compliment your storefront sign.

Second, creating a simple design that is eye catching but still stresses the message of your store. This is a tricky item, but after looking at a few sketches and surveying a few people the right sign should become fairly obvious. Make sure that you survey a variety of people and not just your friends. Survey people you don’t know, because they have no idea who you are and what kind of business you do. You need a blind eye to understand the message. By the way if you are having someone build you a sign they should have a program that gives you a visual of how the sign will look in front of your store. If they don’t have this software move on to someone else who does. Having the visual will save you time and money down the road.

Third, make it the proper size that anyone can read it. Your sign will more than likely be driven by so you want the text font to be large enough that anyone driving by can read it. For this I recommend you do a dummy test by driving by a few other signs and see what size font they are using. Once you find out utilize the information for your own sign.

Fourth, placing the sign is vital. Make sure nothing obstructs  the viewing of your sign. The last thing you need is tree leaves in the spring obscuring the view of your sign. The other example is placing a sign that appears not to be blocked from a close distance, but if you’re standing a block away another sign blocks the view of your sign. Make sure that the sign is offset from other signs around you so you can be seen from a distance.

The last tip, is lighting on your sign. Good lighting can be a huge asset to marketing your business at all hours of the day. Even when the store is not open for business it should be working for you. The way to do this is lighting up the sign to be a billboard for your business. If tourist are coming in from out of town and touring the city at night you want them to see your sign. This way when the next day rolls around they will stop by your store instead of your competitor.

Keeping these tips in mind could provide more traffic to your store, which hopefully will help you generate a little more revenue. Remember a sign can be huge marketing asset for your business if done properly.

If you have more questions on how to do this or need help marketing your business please let me know. Or if you have anything else to add please comment or email me. Thanks for your help! 

Email: questions@businessonthemound.com.

Tags: Marketing, Signage, Store Front

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 2:51 pm and is filed under Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.