Signs as Advertising

A few years ago, a sign manufacturer performed a study of its clients to find out whether their signs were bringing in customers.  The businesses surveyed were a year or less old and the surveys were conducted within 30 to 45 days after the installation of a new sign.  Thousands of shoppers were asked, “How did you learn about us?” 

 

The results, shown in Table 1, clearly demonstrate that the signs attracted half of the start-up businesses’ new customers – more than any other form of advertising the businesses used and even more than their word-of-mouth referrals.

 

 

Naturally, as your business becomes more established, more of your sales will come from repeat customers and fewer will be directly due to your sign.  But that does not mean the sign has become unimportant.  On the contrary, you must constantly remind your regular customers that you are there.  Even more importantly, studies show that on any given day, as many as 35% of the people passing your business have never seen it before and could become first-time customers because of your sign.