New Year, new marketing strategy! You spent the holiday season taking notes on your latest signage designs and you’re ready to try something new. But if it ain’t broke, why fix it? We’ve got some tips to help you evaluate how effective your current signage is and help you decide whether to make adjustments.
Take a look at your current display of signage. You painstakingly designed a cohesive collection of signs to advertise your latest sale. Colour-specific, easy-to-read fonts and simple use of words are all there. Is your design working? Could it be improved? Embark on a serious evaluation by taking notes as your event unfolds. Keep your memo pad (or app) handy and get ready to make notes as you talk to your customers.
Casually ask customers what prompted them to come into the store or to pick up a certain product and find out whether their actions were sign related. Ask them if they have any questions; if you’ve answered those questions via signage either inside or out, note that down. At the end of your event, tally up your feedback and notes to look for trends.
Display signage: This includes in-store signage for anything from sales to product information, additionally special event and trade show/convention signage. Watch how customers flow through your display. Do they stop to read any 
signs? What is their reaction? Where do they look after reading the signs? Where do they look if they glance over the signs? If customers tend to follow directions on signs, or ask you questions related to the display, you’re signs are doing well. If they aren’t you want to pay attention to customer behaviour to give you a clue on how to initiate a redesign.
Roadside and Building signage: Short and sweet is everything with these kinds of signs. As few words as possible in as large, simple font as possible with colours that don’t blend in with the immediate area. If you’re putting up a SALE sign outside incorporate your logo or your brand colours if possible so that passersby can quickly figure out who is hosting the sale. Ensure that your building sign clearly displays your logo and company name to make it easy to find. If you chat customers up and discover they had trouble locating your unit, or didn’t realize you were hosting a sale until they got inside, you may want to make some changes. Ask customers what it was they were looking for.
Audience and design are the 2 major factors to take into consideration if your evaluation shows that your signs could use some improvement. Signage needs to be tailored to attract the right customer. If you talk to someone who comes in regularly and find out they didn’t notice your big SALE sign out front that’s not a problem because they were coming in with a mission in mind and may not have been open to spotting a sale.
Evaluating your signage can be overwhelming. Grand River Sign Design has extensive experience designing effective marketing and building signs for all situations and locations. Book a consultation to find out how we can help you improve your signage by calling 519-740-7272. Stop by our showroom at 25 Struck Court Unit 5 in Cambridge, Ontario.
