News & Insight

Marketing Functions of Signs

Signs serve multiple marketing functions that are easily overlooked by Business schools and retailers. Signs serve as communication, enhancing, and branding the site. This article is about the different marketing functions that on-premise signs serve for a business.

Communicating the Location

Signs tell people where a business is located. When placed on a highway, signs serve as a great waypoint for consumers. It tells people where to exit, how far to go, and exactly where the business can be found. Highway signs are important for the impulse buyer as it sparks a reason to go shopping.

The results of the following study by a sign company in 1997, as modeled in the graph below, show where 165 independent merchants acquire their new customers.

Of the 2,475 people that purchased an item from the stores, 50% said they initially entered the store due to the sign. That number might have been higher if the number of people who entered the store without a purchase were included. So signs are an important instrument to let people know where to find the business.

Enhancing Store Image

Enhancing the store image is another key marketing function for a business. The outside of the store has to be just as appealing if not more appealing to the eye than the inside. Signs can help enhance the storefront by giving it a welcoming feel. McDonalds uses red and yellow to display a family friendly restaurant, as well as a sign that compliments that feeling. A business’ storefront might be different depending upon the type of business and the psychological feeling the business owner hopes to elicit from his or her customer base. Sign designers create sign specifications that evoke those psychological feelings. Since decision making is largely emotional, proper design impacts sales.

Branding the Site

Branding is essential to any successful business. It comes in the form of symbols, logos, performance, packaging, and names. Signs are a good way to make the brand of a company memorable. Take Apple as an example. It is a popular brand that most people in the world recognize. Whenever a person sees the sign they know what that logo represents. The sign is part of what differentiates businesses. Without them people would not know what store they are entering and what to expect inside. If a business wants to cater to their destination shoppers, signs are the best way of doing it.  Therefore, the sign attributes are key to branding the site.

Marketing Functions Summary

There are many ways that signs help with marketing efforts. Three especially relevant functions are Communicating the Location, Enhancing Store Image, and Branding the Sight. The marketing value of signage does not end there. Reference to my other blog, ” 3 Benefits of Business Signs” for more ways signs can benefit a company. So consider a sign for your next marketing effort.  And design it to attract your customers.

“Data and text retrieved from On-Premise Signs as Storefront Marketing Devices and Systems“