In our most recent blog we told you all about the advantages that an indoor sign has and how customers interact with it visually. First of all, you want to do everything you can to have your sign impress your customers, because they often feel that the quality of the sign directly corresponds to the quality of the company. You also want to have a great sign to remind customers where they are, because they’re not always going to remember the difference between your business and the one down the road selling similar goods or services. Keeping your logo in front of them is a great way to burn that image into their brains (in a good way, of course!).
But your interior sign isn’t the first sign that customers will see. In fact, your interior business sign is more of the final destination when it comes to customers; first you have to get them in the door. Perhaps it’s a website or an ad that gets customers to your parking lot. And that thing that finally gets them in the door (or catches a passerby’s attention) is your exterior sign. Let’s take a look at what an outdoor sign needs to do for your customers.
It Has To Be Readable…
This first point is certainly the most important. Your outdoor business signs should be completely readable, because a customer who’s looking for your business doesn’t want to have to hunt for it. After all, you can’t afford to have someone driving by your business wondering if it was the one with the sign they couldn’t read because of the strange font.
It Has To Stand Out
Let’s say you run a nail salon. If you do, you’re not in direct competition with the dog groomer or the computer repair shop on either side of you. But you still need your sign to stand out from all other signs around you. You want it to be as attention-grabbing as possible to tell people exactly what you do.
Have Your Directions Covered
It’s important to have your business name on every side of your building. While many businesses think they only need their business name above the doors through which they’d like the customer to enter, you have to think of it from the point of view of someone looking for your store. Drivers can’t be looking behind them for your business sign, so you need to have outdoor signage on every exterior wall that’s available to you.
It Should Have Some Connection To Your Business
As we said above, your sign needs to be very readable. Many times that will mean that the logo you spent so many hours sweating over will have to give way to a simple font that is readable from across the parking lot. (A simpler custom sign will probably be cheaper as well.)
But that doesn’t mean that you have to give everything up. Consider having some connection between your business’ branding and your outdoor sign. Color is one of the most common ways to convey this, or you could have our sign shop create a small version of your logo to go beside your business name. Tying everything together is important for branding purposes, so make sure your exterior signage conveys that.
It Should Be Big
A big sign will almost always be better than a small one. You want a customer to be able to see it from as far away as possible. Bigger is also better because those with bad vision will also have a better chance of making out a big sign better than a small one.
It Should Be Lit Up
In most every case, you’ll want some sort of illumination on your business’ sign. This most common option is lighting that is inside the letters so that they glow all night long. This helps customers find your business when it’s dark and also tells them that yes, you are open.
When it comes to exterior business signs, we’re ready to tackle any job you bring our way. We have master designers in our sign shop who can create an effective sign at the right price. Check out the custom exterior signs we’ve done for other businesses here, then contact us today!
