Advertisement today can be done through a variety of mediums, with the most common contemporary ones being Internet ads, television ads, and print magazine or newspaper ads. This can spread a message far and wide if the company making the ad has the budget for that marketing campaign, but for smaller businesses with just one or two locations, it is neither necessary nor price-efficient to launch this sort of campaign. What should they do instead? Signs, physical signs that people look at when passing them by in everyday life. It may sound antiquated, but in fact signs are more effective than ever, and can by far be the best advertising strategy for any small, local business promoting an opening sale, deals, discounts, new items, and more. A custom display board, banners, real estate signs, and custom wedding signs, among others, can all be powerful advertising tools today.
Various studies and surveyed have shown that physical signs have great effect for advertising. Often, 85% of a business’s customers live within five miles of the company’s location, and this means that advertising to them through the Internet or TV is not needed; in fact, those customers will see the company’ signs about 50 times every week. This can work for repeat and new customers alike, and it has been found that around half of all customers who enter a business did so because of the effective, attractive signs in place, and similarly, 70% of consumers think that a business sign’s quality reflects the busines’s own quality. On top of all this, it has been determined that on-site signage has the same advertising value as 24 full-page newspaper ads every year, and this can be much cheaper since a sign is bought, and then it simply stays in place, no ad space costs required (with the exception of billboards).
Different signs have various shapes, sizes, and messages based on where they go and what they are advertising. Real estate signs, for example, may stick out of the ground and will show the real estate agent’s face, name, and contact info, and perhaps their agency as well. Most adults know what real estate agencies are and how they work, so in this case, only advertising the agent’s name and contact info is really needed, along with a pleasant photo of what they look like. Posters are often large and are used inside stores to promote upcoming events or deals, and they are also common in movie theaters, where they simply advertise upcoming movies and their release dates. Billboards, meanwhile, are very large and are often seen by people driving by them, whether in cities or along country roads, and this involves purchasing ad space, and an empty billboard will advertise its own available ad space. Billboards may also have lights on them to illuminate the message during dim light conditions.
More custom signs can be used for small, independent shops and may in fact be homemade, based on personal taste and budget. Such signs can be placed on the sidewalk or right above the doorway to the business itself, and they can use pleasant colors, designs, and fonts to attract attention and make them stand out from regular commercial signs and advertisements.
Signs may also promote personal events, such as weddings. Here, custom wedding signs can be either bought or hand made, and the material, size, and message of custom wedding signs can all be adjusted according to taste. Such custom wedding signs will of course have the names of the couple being married, and probably a general message along the lines of “Celebrating the marriage of John and Jane”. These custom wedding signs can be big or small, and may include attached lights for extra effect, especially for evening weddings. The custom wedding signs used for these ceremonies can have their materials fit the theme of the wedding itself, since weddings are often based on themes. A more rustic, rural style wedding may have a sign made from rough wooden planks with white painted letters, while a more Victorian style sign will appear elegant and may have Gothic font. Colors like gold, eggshell white, lavender, forest green, and silver may be popular for custom wedding signs as well.