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United States Small Business Administration (SBA) 1. Those who invested in an Outdoor LED Sign saw average business gains of 15%-150%. 2. 89% of Business Fail due to improper signage. 3. Outdoor LED Sign can successfully gain customers at about 10% the cost of TV, Radio or Newspaper Advertising, While Increasing Sales 15%-150%, 4. 50% of sales come from signage, and signage is only a one-time cost compared to continual marketing dollars for traditional forms of advertising. 5. On-premise signage is the most cost effective advertising as expressed in cost per thousand impressions (CPM). 6. "Signage is the least expensive, yet most effective form of advertising available to your business. 7. Research indicates that 85% of your customers live or work within a five-mile radius of your business. 8. Signs are always "on the job" for you, advertising 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 9. Signage is a one time investment lasting 10 or more years while other forms of marketing stop working as soon as you stop paying 10. How much are your customers paying for Yellow Pages, TV, Radio and Newspapers, where 90% of the advertising is wasted on a broad area. 11. LED signs have produced some of the most dramatic sales increases for businesses and at 90% less cost then other marketing methods! 12. The business “owns” the form of advertising. 13. The LED advertising works for the business 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Outdoor LED signs acts as the "salesman on the street" attracting customers into the business. 14. The Sign Guy.Net provides leasing programs, which include service and maintenance, thereby providing another option for covering the cost of usage. Advertise specials while also displaying public service information or other items of public interest. 15. Quickly "brand" your business site in the local community. 16. Best and most cost-effective forms of paid advertising. The only form of advertising that may be more powerful is word of mouth. 17. LED signs allows you to market your products and services to your immediate trade area and prevent wasteful advertising expenses. 18. Change the message as needed to provide information to specific retail customers, and can be used for political, social or community 19. Software is available that enables a business owner to display sophisticated logos or images on LED signs precisely as planned. 20. Before you wonder how much a business will spend on an electronic message center, first determine how much will be spent overall on marketing and advertising. 21. Merchants who do understand the value of signage view it By contrast, as an investment that will pay a return many times over. They know that a well-designed, well-placed sign can generate huge profits. And when signage is part of an overall marketing strategy, the increase in revenue is even more profound. 22. Study shows LEDs are six times more effective than traditional billboards. 23. 96% of people passing mobile billboards can recall them while only 43% can recall non-moving billboards. 24. Sales increased 107% for products shown on mobile billboards and 54% on static signs. 25. Department of Energy estimates LEDs could save national energy consumption for lighting up to 29% by 2025 26. That equates to $125 Billion in savings on U.S. household electric bills alone 27. - U.S. Government United States Chamber of Commerce: 1. "Signage is of paramount importance yet few really understand its potential". 2. Surprisingly, the value of on-premise signage has not been fully realized by the small business community. Most owners barely think of signs at all. If they do, they are an afterthought, a necessary expense but one that is rarely part of the budget. 3. Increasing profits is one way that signs improve your bottom line. Another way is by decreasing expenses.(other advertising cost) 4. It can be responsible for half of your customers - that’s right 50%. And many loan companies think signage is so important that if they don’t see it included in the budget, they won’t issue a loan Cutting Costs A number of surveys have been conducted before and after installing signage to determine effectiveness. One of these, from late 1996, involved a Los Angeles auto dealership. Three previous auto dealers had failed at the location. The new owner, Aztec Motors, spent much time, energy and money improving the building and lot. Once renovations were complete, the new owner invested $7,400 in replacement signage that entailed one wall and one double-faced pole sign. A survey found the new signage, not the renovations or other advertising, was responsible for a minimum of ten new walk-in customers per week, resulting in at least six additional sales per week. It took less than a month for the new signs to pay for themselves, and the owner was able to reduce his advertising budget from $16,000 to $4,000 per month an annual savings of $144,000. As part of your advertising you’re probably considering one or more of the following: TV, radio, newspapers, Internet, direct mail, etc. The most basic way to evaluate the cost effectiveness of these or any marketing method is the cost per 1,000 exposures. Here’s how business signs measure up to other media. The price and life expectancy of signage varies widely depending upon the type, but let’s assume you invested in signage costing $16,500 that should last seven years. If your business is located on a street with 60,000 people passing each day, the cost per 1,000 exposures would be only 11 cents. The same $16,500 spent on outdoor advertising (i.e.,any sign that is not appurtenant to the use of the property, a product sold, or the sale or lease of the property on which it is displayed) for 1,000 exposures would cost $0.83. A similar expenditure in newspaper advertising would cost you $1.57, while television advertising for 1,000 exposures would cost $6.60. If you’ll remember from Table 1, only 1% of first-time customers come in because of your television ad. But 50% come in because of your sign. If you’re spending only 11 cents per 1,000 exposures to get that 50%, that’s a good use of your money. Attract New Customers Research indicates that 85% of your customers live or work within a five-mile radius of your business. But according to the U. S. Census Bureau, 18.6% of the population relocates annually. Which means every year you’re losing customers that you must replace with new customers, just to break even. Who’s in business just to break even? If you only want to sustain your business then just maintain your customer base. But if you want to grow your business, you must increase your customer base. The quickest, easiest and most economical way to attract new customers is with signage. If you’ll recall from the previous section a small, 7% increase in sales produced over 124% increase in profit. It is for this reason that attracting the new customer is essential to your profitability. Brand the Business When your business is the first one that comes to mind as a place to find a product or service, you have achieved what is called “top-of-mind awareness.” Top-of-mind awareness is built and reinforced through repetition. As mentioned, 85% of your customers live or work within a five-mile radius of your business. When driving to and from work, school and shopping, they pass your location some 50 to 60 times a month. Your sign should be designed so that it commands their attention every time they pass. That’s how signs help build top-of-mind awareness and brand your business. To further this effort, make sure your sign is included as part of your overall marketing strategy. For example, a Volvo dealership in Portland, Oregon always includes in its radio ads its address, followed by the phrase “under the big blue Volvo sign.” When people see the big blue Volvo sign they remember the commercial. Additionally, the name of your business, your logo, company colors, catch phrase, etc., should be consistent on your sign, your letterhead, business cards and print ads. All these coordinated efforts build recall and recognition and help brand your business in the mind of the consumer. Create Impulse Sales Even though many of today’s consumers have the financial ability to spend money, few have the time in which to do that spending. They’re certainly too busy to search for you or wander around comparison-shopping. They are more likely to stop at the first convenient place they see that seems to be selling what they need. Who hasn’t been driving down the street, stopped at a store and made a purchase, merely because they saw the sign? Best Buy discovered that about 17% of its customers were people who did not intend to stop there but did so specifically because they saw the sign. Another example of how signs can be very effective at influencing a customer’s buying habits is the Belmont Auto Spa in southern California. The business was profitable but not as much as expected. Unfortunately, the original sign, although expensive and well placed, was poorly designed. Its lack of color contrast prevented it from standing out from the background and it couldn’t be seen or read at a distance. Further, since the sign didn’t have any of the characteristic visual features one would expect for a car wash, drivers didn’t recognize it as one and drove right on by. The owner invested $15,000 in a new pole sign that was well-designed. The strong, first-read pictorial graphic immediately identified Belmont as a car wash and the colors were contrasting and lively. A reader board was also added to highlight specials such as detailing. In its first year, the new sign produced a 15% increase in overall business, which translated into an additional $135,000.00 – nearly nine times the cost of the sign. Infrequent Needs -- Branding Sites Businesses that offer products or services that meet specialized or infrequent needs must develop top-of-mind awareness so people remember the business when those needs arise. Examples of this kind of business include veterinarians, , appliance and electronics stores, locksmiths, medical and dental offices, real estate offices, and accounting and bookkeeping firms. These businesses must focus on branding their site. To reinforce this effort, the signage itself must be designed to project the right image for the business and have that image be recalled. When a customer walks through the door of one of these businesses, it is likely he or she has already noticed the business’s sign, developed an opinion about the business, and remembered the business when it was needed. Studies show that electronic message centers and variable message displays increase memory of a business. People are curious to see what the sign will say each time they pass it, so they keep looking at it. When a sign is a source of information people want, it takes on more significance in their memory, branding your site. Signs as Advertising A few years ago, a sign manufacturer performed a study of its clients to find out whether their signs were bringing in customers. The businesses surveyed were a year or less old and the surveys were conducted within 30 to 45 days after the installation of a new sign. Thousands of shoppers were asked, “How did you learn about us?” The results, shown in Table 1, clearly demonstrate that the signs attracted half of the start-up businesses’ new customers – more than any other form of advertising the businesses used and even more than their word-of-mouth referrals. Table 1: How did you learn about us? Number of Customer Responses On-Premise Sign : 1,234 Word of Mouth : 820 Newspaper : 212 Yellow Pages : 139 TV : 32 Radio : 38 A actual In store survey: summer 2007 Results of my in-office survey: How did you come to The Eye Doctors? 1. Referred by friend or family- 31% 2. Drove by & saw sign- 26% 3. Insurance provider/list- 16% 4. Other (most recorded they were prior patients)- 15% 5. Phone book- 11% Take care- Scott Naturally, as your business becomes more established, more of your sales will come from repeat customers and fewer will be directly due to your sign. But that does not mean the sign has become unimportant. On the contrary, you must constantly remind your regular customers that you are there. Even more importantly, studies show that on any given day, as many as 35% of the people passing your business have never seen it before and could become first-time customers because of your sign. YOUR SIGN IS YOUR IMAGE! Did You Know? Adding ANY sign to a business will increase gross sales by 3%. The addition of a pole sign will increase gross sales by 15.6%. Other studies indicate that signage can increase sales in excess of 30% and in some areas, over 100%! Research indicates that 85% of your customers live or work within 5 miles of your business. Furthermore, according to U.S. census, 18.6% of the population relocates every year. Part of your customer base is moving every year. To maintain a business you must maintain your customer base. To INCREASE your business you must increase your customer base. Statistics indicate that the most cost effective way of doing this is with signage. Resources: The Signage Foundation, University of San Diego sign study. Entrepreneur.com concluded in their study of signage: Most Signs are well proportioned, carefully balanced, tastefully drawn and perfectly color-coordinated. In other words, utterly predictable and effectively invisible. The five most common mistakes in business sign design are: 1. Attempting to be understated or elegant. 2. Attempting to “fit in” or blend into the surrounding environment. 3. Under-spending; 4. Including too much information; 5. And placing the sign too high; |