Good signage earns attention, and it doesn’t bully your audience. But how do you know what a good sign looks like?
Know your objectives
It’s always tempting to put brand awareness top of your list of objectives, but how do you intend to measure what that looks like? Instead, bind your objectives to clear metrics that allow you to measure success – or failure.
Identifying your target audience allows you to create signs that are relevant to your customers. It’s that relevance that drives action, whether that’s reaching out or making a purchasing decision. Be clear on your customer profiles, from their fears and desires to their emotional profile and spending habits, and let objectives and profiles inform placement, design, message and timing.
Know your location
The placement of your signs will differ depending on customer profiles and type of content. So an interactive sign aimed at women aged 40-55 will require a different placement to a point of sale promotion aimed at 18-25 year old males. Don’t equate footfall with relevance, and always take accessibility into account when locating your signs.
Understand design
The design of your signs should always complement the message. While the Stroop test shows that some level of disruption can force the brain to pay attention – when the word blue appears written in green, for example – be wary of splitting your audience’s attention as that can delay comprehension of the message. When the time to make an impression and impart information is already limited, it doesn’t make sense to slow comprehension any further.
Send a clear message
Your signs should prioritise a simple message delivered as effectively as possible. A simple message demands your focus and a response, and that counts when the human attention span is just 8 seconds – lower even than a goldfish. The point is that signs and signposting are very much a medium that is glanced at and they need to stand out from the visual noise of our modern marketing environment. Don’t make an impression without making a real impact.
Get the timing right
Timing is dependent on both the location of your signs and the medium you use to convey the message. A static sign is entirely appropriate for a roadside drive-by location, but won’t earn attention in a static location. Get the balance and timing wrong and you’ll frustrate your customers by failing to get your message across.
Good signage puts the customer first
Advertising often gets a bad rap, but it’s not the marketing channel itself that’s at fault, but irrelevant and intrusive content that turns consumers off. Consumers are responsive to well designed and relevant content – in a survey 77% of respondents said they wanted the ability to ad filter rather than flat out ad block – but you need to ensure that you’re giving your audience that optimal advertising experience. Make your content engaging, relevant and meaningful. Make enhancing the customer experience central to every piece of signage you create. With entertaining and interesting signage from The Sussex Sign Company, you’ll impress and engage customers in West Sussex and beyond. Call or email us today for more information.