Help Choosing The Right Business Signs To Advertise With [Free Guide]

If you’ve recently started a business, you probably want help deciding which type of business signs to advertise with. There are literally hundreds of signs to choose from. This article will guide you and help you decide which signs are the best for your kind of business or event.

Not every business is the same, and all businesses do not have the same needs. The following guide will help you identify your signage needs the right sign to meet your specific business goals.

Keep in mind that advertising doesn’t only include the use of business signage. Your advertising should also include such things as the usage of decals, business cards, vehicle wraps, advertising flags, and even a website.

The primary focus of this article is strictly about business signs.

Primary usages of commercial business signs

Brand Recognition

Promoting brand awareness is one of the most important factors to sustaining a log term business. Without brand awareness, customers have a hard time remembering you, or recommending you the next time they need your services.

Have you ever asked yourself “what’s the name of that business we used last time?” There’s no doubt that you probably answered yes.

If brand recognition is one of your current advertising objectives, consider the following: 

Signage used for brand recognition would include banners, awnings, lawn signs, street advertising signage, billboards, custom crafted wood signs, and lobby signs. You can also use non-sign products like vehicle wraps, vehicle graphics, and custom decals to influence brand recognition.

Promotions & Sales

There’s a significant group of signage products that are primarily focused on driving sales and promotions. Promotional and sales-driven signage greatly capture people’s attention, many of them are reusable, and they can also be used to promote brand awareness.

Signage us for sales and promotions can include vinyl banners, storefront window graphics, backlit signage, point of purchase signage, street signage, vehicle graphics, custom decals, lawn signs, advertising flags, event displays, and billboards. You can also use non-signage products like vehicle wraps and social distancing decals for promoting and advertising too.

Reusable promotion and sales signage include lawn signs, flags, window graphics, cutout displays, billboards. Vehicle wraps are used to advertise for as long as the wrap is on the vehicle.

Directing and Way-finding

Direction signage are effective at providing necessary visual information to customers and employees.

The type of signs used for directing and informing the public would include directional signs (parking lots, social distancing), real estate and for-sale signage, A-frames, backlit signage, handicap signs, no trespassing signage, directional arrows, etched-glass, billboards, construction site signage, and window graphics.

The good thing about direction and way-finding signage is that they can also be used for brand recognition, promoting sales, general advertising and for directing people.

Way-finding and direction signage are useful in such places like commercial and corporate buildings, airports, schools, malls, hotels, retail stores, and tourist areas. They can be placed at entrances and exits, in lobbies, elevators, bathrooms, indoors and outdoors, and virtually anywhere they’re needed to help people find their way.

Events and Conferences

The various signage products that are used at events and conferences include flags (indoor/outdoor), vinyl banners, cutout displays/props, custom displays, pennants, balloons, stair wraps, floor graphics, marketing balloons, way-signs, signposts, and entrance signs.

Events and conference signage are useful for birthday parties, graduations, business conferences, class reunions, church events, weddings, funerals, concerts, open houses, and any other important gathering of large groups of people.

A lot of this type of signage cannot be reused (e.g. graduations, weddings, birthday parties) so its important to properly recycle the material when it’s not being used anymore.

Signage for official business conferences etc. can be reused, and should be stored away from sources of light until it’s needed again.

Things To Consider Before Choosing Your Signage

The production of your signage should have a clear goal in order to make it affective and ensure a return on your investment. There are a number of factors to consider from the creation of your design, right up to where you should instal your signage.

• Determine where you’ll mount your signage
• What distance do you want your signage to be easily viewed?
• Do you need the approval my your landlord or local sign code authority?
• Do you want lit or non-lit signs?
• Do you require permanent or temporary signage?
• Do you want indoor and outdoors signs?
• Whose attention do you want to attract? (e.g. current/new customer, both)
• Should you coordinate your graphics with the other signage?

Starting a business is sometimes hard, but choosing the right signage shouldn’t be. Your local sign shop will be able to guide you through the process, answer your questions, and make professional suggestions that will help you get the most bang for your buck.

The right signage should generate more sales and increase your customer base, so before your signs go into production remember that proper planning is the key to making an effective impact on your audience.