You can use signs for such a wide array of purposes from advertising to conveying safety information. However, no matter how you use these products, certain features are almost universal among all the types.

These are the crucial aspects that signage needs to make it a success. You can arrange these in a variety of ways to suit your sign’s specific purpose.

Let’s look at six elements that you need to include on your signs. Together with this, we will cover a few more bonus tips for designing effective signage.

1- Text

The primary purpose of any sign is to communicate information to its audience. This is what makes it such a powerful tool in the hands of any business owner.

But how do you get this message across?

Yes, images can convey certain messages. But oftentimes, not as clearly as you can with words. It is up to a certain amount of interpretation. Therefore, the meaning an image conveys can be pretty ambiguous.

This is where using text comes in. Here are several reasons why words can be the ideal solution:

First, writing can help you to achieve the goal of the specific sign. What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to sell a particular product? Are you promoting a charity or cause? Use words when advertising something or describing something.

Second, you can use words to share crucial information about your business, like its name.

Third, you will often have to use text to communicate some terms and conditions or disclaimers.

The following are principles which you need to consider when it comes to text:

• Font: You need to choose the font carefully. Don’t choose one that is ornamental nor one that is too thin.
• Size: The text should be large enough that people will be able to read it from the relative distance.
• Amount: Keep it short and sweet. People are much more likely to read and remember a sign with fewer words.
• Complexity: Keep it simple. Go for clarity above anything else. Don’t use too many long and complicated words.
• Readability: All of these aspects boil down to how legible the words will be. There is no point to putting text on your size if people won’t be able to read it for any one of these reasons.

2- Graphics

Even though, the script is the key to conveying specific information clearly and unambiguously don’t discount images. Big or small, graphics are still an essential element of signs. It’s no wonder that most signs, whatever their goal, feature graphics of some kind or other.

Images are clearly the main alternative to communicating a message without any words. They are often the element that takes up the most space of any feature on the sign.

One critical use of images in advertising is to create an emotional appeal. This is key if you are trying to persuade an audience to take a particular action. Photographs often work best in this regard.

Graphics not only make a sign more interesting to look at but can also make it more memorable. All of this can help you to achieve your specific goals.

Another way in which graphics are used on signs is through symbols. Symbols are a mark or character used as a conventional representation of an object, function, or process. So these are images whose meaning will be recognized by most people.

Therefore, they are most often used on safety and warning signs like exclamation marks and also on directional signs like with arrows.

Whatever image you go with, try to make it as impactful as possible. You probably only have one chance to catch a person’s attention.

3- Branding

A third critical element on most types of signs is some form of branding.

But what exactly are we talking about here?

Branding is a practice through which a business creates a design, symbol or name that is easily identifiable as theirs. This is essential to help the audience recognize the company or other venture to which it is relevant.

People usually won’t have time to read your entire sign. So it’s better to play smart and make sure that the significant parts, like who your company is, are noticeable.

Here are ways you can incorporate branding on a sign:

• Logo: If your company has a well-established logo this should feature somewhere on your signage.
• Name: Otherwise, you could print your venture’s name somewhere on it. It should be legible. You don’t have to use both if one would be enough to tell people whose sign it is.
• Colors: Does your brand have a specific color palette? If so, it can be a good idea to incorporate this on the sign.
• Motto: A tagline can make your business much more memorable as long as it is catchy. If it fits the purpose of the sign, you could incorporate it too.

The board doesn’t have to be covered with features of your brand, but it should be noticeable.

Remember that your brand identity will be more effective if it is consistent. For this reason, you should keep it recognizable across all your platforms.

However, this aspect isn’t necessary for all signage. For example, there is typically no reason for a safety sign to show off a brand. As a matter of fact, many informational and directional signs won’t need to be branded.

4- Color

Few things in the world can have such a powerful effect on our minds as color can. It can be challenging to imagine signs without it. Even if you make your signage black and white, it is still an important feature to consider.

Color is a brilliant way to catch people’s attention. Bright and bold shades can help you make sure your sign stands out from its environment.

Additionally, you can use color to make small parts of the sign more visible. It can literally be the best highlighting tool. You can emphasize the most essential elements of the product by printing it in a different color or one that contrasts with its background.

Most of this boils down to creating the right aesthetic for your sign. You want to use the palette to your advantage to make it as appealing and impactful as possible.

Besides all of this, one of the most impactful uses of color is how you can employ it to affect your audience’s mood. You want to pick a palette that will evoke the right emotion and associations in people.

For instance, if you are making a sign to advertise a beach resort, you don’t want to coat it in red. Instead, use blue which can have a calming effect.

To use this effectively, you should learn as much as you can about the psychology of color.

5- Call to action

What is the point of designing and printing a sign if it doesn’t create the desired effect?

All types of signs are made to lead its audience to one action or another. Designers create advertisements to persuade people to buy a product or service from your company. These type of persuasive signs are probably the most flashy and exciting of all the signage products.

Not so differently, safety and warning signs are there to stop people from doing something that can harm them or others. And so forth.

No matter the sign, this is where the call to action comes in. This is any device which is used to prompt a response in the audience.

Nowadays, you will usually hear the term used to talk about digital sales and marketing. However, it is just as crucial in printed media.

A call to action should clearly tell the audience what you want them to do. It can be just a few words or a few sentences, but it should contain a verb of some kind. Words that you can use are:

• Buy
• Hire
• Call
• Click
• Donate
• Visit
• Share
• Register

These can work on both digital and printed signs.

Here are easy techniques you can use to make it more impactful:

• Create a sense of urgency. People are more likely to act if they feel they only have a short time to do so. That’s why limited offers and sales are so popular.
• Tell them what they will gain by taking action. Happiness? Excitement? Knowledge?
• You can make your call to action much more successful by using emotional appeal to persuade your audience.

For some inspiration, take a look at these brilliant examples of digital CTA’s. See for yourself just how effective they can be.

6- Interactive elements

Nowadays, another fantastic feature that you can include on your signage is interactive elements. These are devices that allow your audience to interact with the product physically. This adds a whole new level of depth to the experience.

Today, interactive features are one of the hottest tools in the industry. And for a good reason.

Research has shown that using them can lead to significant results. For example, the duration which a video holds your attention is increased by a whopping 47% when you add interactive elements.

What else do they bring to the table?

• They’re great at grabbing people’s attention. Besides this, it keeps your audience interested for longer.
• You don’t get much more memorable than interactive ads. The more time people spend with a sign, the more likely they are to recall it and your business later on.
• If you use them right, interactive elements can make your signage fabulously fun and exciting. Overall, this means that people are more likely to build positive associations with your brand.
• In digital products, you can use interactive features like a call to action. This can significantly boost responses to your ads.

Once again, this device can work wonders in both digital and printed signage.

You can make digital products interactive by adding links through buttons to creating virtual signs like banners. But this is only one potential application among many. The sky’s the limit to what you can do.

You also have more than one option when it comes to printed media. For example, an easy way you can implement this is to make signs that encourage people to take photos with it – like large frames. Another is to print QR codes on your sign that people can scan in order to find a link to your app.

Other tips to designing signs and their layout

But it’s not enough to simply throw all these elements together. Here are some pro tips on the design and layout of both your digital and physical signs:

• Save space: Don’t overwhelm your audience with new input. You really don’t have to fill every inch of your sign. Instead, stick to the essentials. Focus on making the critical message come across.
• Top to bottom and left to right: This is how we read, so it makes sense that the layout of your sign should match this style. Our eyes are trained to move this way. Therefore, you need to keep this in mind when planning the flow of the sign.
• Focal point: Successful signs usually have one primary central point. This can help you to grab people’s attention. Experts use lines to lead your eye to this center. On top of this, they use contrasting colors to highlight the point.

Holistic design

Intelligent design is becoming increasingly important in the modern world. The more saturated our environment’s become, the harder it can be to create a sign that will catch people’s eye. It’s all about putting the elements together to form a complete picture.

For more information read our article on the importance of good signage and the psychology behind how it works. And if you are having trouble choosing the right products perhaps take a look at the comprehensive guide to the different types of signs and their uses.

Learning from others who have done well promoting their business can be instructive. But, on the flip side, you can also learn from marketing ploys that just don’t cut it. One is a case of imitating what someone else has done right. And the other is a case of steering clearing of what others have done wrong. Save yourself time, money, and sanity by learning from the mistakes of others.

Today we offer some potential don’ts when creating promotional materials—things you may want to avoid as you promote your business. However, don’t forget that, to some degree, these judgments are relative. What may flop for one company, could be successfully carried out by another in some cases.

There aren’t always hard-fast rules. Be sure to deploy your own common sense and be forward-thinking. Keep in mind both your own thorough understanding of what you do as a company and of what your customers expect from you. That said, let’s dive into some scenarios you may want to steer clear of:

1 – To proofread or not to proofread—it’s not even a question

Enter a marketing firm that wants desperately to reach more clients in their local business district. They’ve set aside money in their advertising budget to rent a billboard to bring their message to nearby companies. The slogan?

Were reinventing businesses all over the city.  

The problem? Well, if you were looking for a marketing company to help you reinvent your business, you would want it to help create top-tier marketing material, right? And top-quality marketing material shouldn’t have glaring spelling or grammatical errors. Thus, omitting the apostrophe in their first word doesn’t exactly paint a promising picture of the quality of their services.  

The bottom line: Don’t forget to check (and maybe double check) your promotional materials.

2 – Not vetting for appropriateness

If you thought that think before you speak was advice that only children have to heed, you were wrong. The idea applies to marketers, too.

Imagine you’re the head of marketing at a medium-sized company in the foodservice industry. As such, you’re one busy manager and you don’t have time to tackle everything yourself. So you delegate promotional material creation to a star new hire who you recruited from halfway across the country.  This talented individual comes up with what they think is a perfect slogan for a new product launch.

Turns out, coming from hundreds of miles away is a bit of a liability in this case. Their slogan contains language that has a very different meaning where you live from its meaning in your employee’s home state. At the end of the day, you never noticed it, but the community sure did.

The whole thing blows up and the company trends on social media—but not for a good reason. Innocent mistake? Yes. Innocuous outcome? Not so much.

3 – Cracking bad jokes

A popular hotel needs a billboard along a nearby highway. When he’s not at his hotel day job, the in-house “graphic designer” happens to be a savvy political strategist. He knows a lot about what’s going on in city politics. He designs a billboard that incorporates a joke about a recently contested city statute. It’s funny, and he and a co-worker laugh uproariously at the creation.

Two days later, it appears on three billboards. Some viewers don’t find it funny. Incidentally, neither do the designer’s managers who now have to deal with the community fallout. One way to try to prevent this kind of situation is to vet all promotional materials before they go out. In fact, the company could decide to mandate that multiple members of the company have an opportunity to weigh in before promotional materials are disseminated.

4 – Being vague on important details

Let’s say a local gift shop just came up with a snappy ad that simultaneously promotes their weekend craft festival and their shop as a whole. It’s already making viewers chuckle and smile. And people are definitely interested in checking the place out.

However, there’s one slight problem. The ad doesn’t mention when the fair is, where it is, or even how to get in touch with the company. While interested participants can do some legwork of their own to find out more, the company may have just shot itself in the foot. What if some potential participants decide that looking up more info is just too much work?

5 – Stabbing blindly at promotion

A manufacturing company has a “meeting of the minds” for upper management. They decide that the company needs to do more to market itself. So they choose to put more effort and money into promotion.

They elect to use a targeted mailing, a billboard, and a series of in-person visits to potential clients to try to market the company. Six months later, they discuss whether the work has had a positive impact. The chairman asks if they met their goals for the promotional campaign. The room is silent until someone is brave enough to ask “What were our goals?” Uh-oh.

If you don’t know what you’re aiming for, how will you know when and whether you reach it? Undirected promotion might seem great in the heat of enthusiasm, but what you really want is promotion that’s actually effective. And how will you know if it’s effective until you determine what effect you actually want to achieve?  

Don’t fail—succeed

Now that we’ve run through some scenarios you should try not to repeat, don’t forget that there is a flip side to this coin. Thus, take some time to learn about what you should and could do. If signs are in your promotional pipeline, check out our Tips And Tricks To Creating The Most Effective Signs For Marketing. Then, head over to 3 Of The Most Creative Signs & Banners In And Around Detroit.

Small businesses are the epitome of a local and personal shopping experience. They are the lifeblood of many towns across the country. The U.S. Small Business Administration states that there are more than 27 millionsmall businesses in the United States.

One challenge that owners of these businesses face is how to compete with trans-national corporations. In the end, the solution boils down to attracting more customers to your store.

The 29th of March is National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day! So in honor of all the “mom and pop” store owners out there, we’ve created this guide on how to increase walk-ins to your small business storefront in Michigan.

1- Inviting storefront

The first step to drawing more customers to your store is to build an attractive storefront. Take a good look at the exterior of your business. Is it inviting? Does it look like a place that your target customers would like to visit?

This is key to attracting new customers as well as keeping established customers coming back.

You want to make them feel excited about coming into your business.

The following are some strategies that you can try for your window display:

• Keep it neat and uncluttered.
• Put your products on display. Choose some of your best and most popular products to show off.
• Don’t overcrowd the window.
• Design your storefront to suit your brand and style. Customers like stores that are unique and have personality.
• Don’t be afraid to make changes. If something doesn’t work, try something else. Keeping it new can also help keep customers interested.
• Use light cleverly. You want your store to appear well lit to passersby.

If you feel a bit lost, it can be a great idea to ask for some expert advice. A stylist or interior designer can be able to give you some tailor-made help.

Here are more ideas on how to create a welcoming storefront.

2- Curb design

Designing a storefront is not only about the window display. Another essential feature is to use curbside or A-frame sidewalk signs.

These traditional adverts can still be a fantastic way to increase walk-ins. It can help to catch the eye of passersby. Especially people who don’t know about your business.

Choose a beautiful sign that will add to the aesthetic appeal of your store. You want it to reflect the general theme.

One important use of these signboards is in advertising your promotions. This is a fantastic method for communicating deals and sales to existing customers and potential new ones. They will know about any specials before even stepping foot in the store. It can really help draw people in.

We have all seen those really witty curb signs. These are the ones that stick in your memory.  So try to make it funny. Put some personality into it.

3- Essential signs

You aren’t only limited to curb signage. There is a huge variety of promotional materials for you to choose from.

Here are just a few options for a small business:

• Vehicle signs
• Banners
• Pole signs
• Wayfinding signage
• Posters
• Illuminated boards

You don’t necessarily have to choose just one. Some variety can be useful to mix it up.

Put up these signs in your area to let people know about your store. Learn more on your target audience and try to figure out where they are more likely to see these signs. This can play a part in choosing locations for the ads.

But just having signs aren’t necessarily enough. You need to think carefully about their design and look. Keep them simple. Choose your words carefully. And make them pleasing to the eye.

It can also be a great idea to update the signs on your building. If your signage is old and outdated, new signs can really increase walk-ins to your storefront. Remember that first impressions matter.

4- Online presence

So far we have covered a lot of the physical aspects of encouraging walk-ins. But nowadays this isn’t necessarily enough. It is not only about the physical storefront. You need to have an online presence as well. You need to show some tech savvy.

People are increasingly relying on the internet for information. This is where people turn to find out about products, services, and businesses. Because of this, chances are higher that people will visit a store they found online first.

If you have been avoiding digital so far, you might want to jump on the bus.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to create an online store to reap some of the benefits of digital. You can build your own website, join online listings or create social media pages for your business.

Here is some of the crucial information that you should put out there:

• Share the physical location of your store. Make sure that is has been pinned on Google maps to make it available at the touch of a button.
• Tell people about the products and services that you offer.
• Notify people about your promotions.
• Let customers know when you have new things on offer.
• Upload photos and videos that show off your storefront.

5- Social media marketing

Say what you want about them, but social media sites can be a fantastic tool in any businesses toolbox. If you manage them carefully, it can be a great way to increase traffic to your storefront.

You can also use it to help build your reputation. Sites like Facebook have a review feature where customers can rate their experiences. They can also post photos of their experiences with your business.

A key to social media marketing is to use it to keep people up to date on your storefront. Tell them about any news or changes to your store. Do you have new products? Have you renovated your space?

This can build up some hype and get people to talk about the company.  

One tip is to use social media in your physical store. Work out a hashtag and use it in your store and your marketing materials. A prevalent trend is to create a selfie wall where people can take pictures and post them online.

You can create an entire strategy purely for your social media campaign.

6- Support other local businesses

Mom and Pop stores function best in a well-connected community. You can contribute to building this community by making connections with other local business.

With some teamwork, you can help make each other’s businesses’ grow.

The first step is getting to know other small business owners. Go visit their storefronts and tell them about your own. Try to build a positive and mutually supportive relationship.

If there isn’t one yet, you can also start a formal local business community. This can involve setting up a listing or directory. Or even hosting annual meetings. A meet and greet can be a great way to get this ball rolling.

This community can set the stage for collaboration. You can offer to put some ads or business cards in your store and ask them to do the same.

Another idea is to host events together. Work together to set up a market or something similar where you can showcase your products and services.

7- Smart promotions

A tried and tested method for attracting more customers to your storefront is to use specials and sales. But because promotions have become more common, be sure you use them strategically.

You could, for instance, work out event-related promotions like a sale for a National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day.

It is vital that you try to share any information about specials as widely as possible.

Once you have your social media pages set up, this is the ideal platform to tell people about any specials. These sites give you more exposure and a better chance to catch customers’ attention.

A great idea is to use promotions to encourage your audience to use your social media. For example, offer them a chance to win a hamper if they share an image of some of your products. Make this even more effective by asking them to share your hashtag.

8- Keep them coming

Although it is essential to connect to new potential customers, it is still crucial to keep your existing customers. They are the people that keep your business running. On top of this, they can help you to bring more traffic by spreading news of your store.

That is why you should prioritize trying to keep people coming back.

By offering consistent and high-quality services and products, you can make sure existing customers want to return. At the same time, you need to grow with the times and keep up with clients’ changing needs.

Also, ask yourself how you can reward customers for shopping at your store.

Nowadays, most box stores have a loyalty program. You can have one too. It doesn’t have to be complicated. You can work out a simple system. For example, give customers a free product for “x” amount of purchases.

9- Prioritize customer service

One of the fastest ways for a small business to flounder is if they have lousy customer service. News spreads fasts, and it doesn’t take much for your reputation to suffer.  Therefore, it’s essential for any company to be customer focused.

As a matter of fact, because of the more personal nature of Mom and Pop business, your customer service can be even better than that of larger enterprises. This is what draws a lot of people to smaller stores.

They enjoy being greeted by the owner. Or by staff who they eventually get to know.

You and your staff need to be appropriately trained to provide the best customer service possible. Courtesy is key. They need to know how to greet and address customers. Your personnel also need to know how to handle possibly tense situations with unhappy clients.

Above all else, you need to show customers that you care about them and their experience.

10- In-store-events

Are you looking for more ways to create a buzz around your business?

Well, one of the most effective methods is to host some in-store events. This is a surefire way of getting people to notice your store and to start talking about it. It can help to put your storefront on the map.

The benefit of holding an event in-store is that it gives you the chance to bring customers to your physical location. Now that they know where it is, they’ll be able to visit more easily in the future.

Don’t worry, the event doesn’t need to be huge. The point is to create exposure for your brand. You want your customers to enjoy the experience and to build positive associations with the business.

If you feel a bit lost on what event to hold, here are a few types to consider:

• Opening: If you are just opening, or if your business is relatively new, this can be a creative way to kick it off. Hold some kind of event to celebrate the opening like a cocktail party or competition.
• Launch: Consider holding an event for new products or services especially if they have been much anticipated.
• Host a class: An excellent way to draw regular traffic is to host repeat classes that are relevant to your business.
• Holidays: You can also organize events to correspond with specific holidays.

Research what types of events are popular with your target audience. Find out what kinds of activities are typically held in your area. Look to see if there is a gap you can fill by holding the first event of its kind in the area.

Use this opportunity to showcase what makes your business unique and promote your products or services.

Small changes, big results

These steps can all help increas walk-ins to your small business storefront in Michigan. As you can see, not all of them require tons of effort. But this doesn’t mean they can’t be effective.

One critical strategy is undoubtedly to focus on advertisements. Take a look at Signarama’s selection of indoor and outdoor signs to promote your store. While you are at it, read up on the sign policies and ordinances in Detroit.