You spend hundreds of dollars through digital marketing driving customers to your business, but what if you’ve overlooked the critical conversion in the last 500 feet? With rising inflation, higher cost of goods and labor shortages, business owners are cinching their wallets and looking for cost-effective ways to get more people in the door. In an overly crowded market, your business visibility is an absolute necessity. And in a digitally-driven world, it’s important to remember that the digital realm has to work hand-in-hand with the physical realm when it comes to brand visibility.

That’s where custom signs come in as an ideal tool for marketers and business owners. According to a National Opinion Poll of adults 18+ conducted by FASTSIGNS, 72% of people say signage would interest them to visit somewhere they were not yet familiar with. It’s a delicate science of design, dimension and illumination to ensure your business sign attracts onlookers and promotes your business at any time of day. With that in mind, here are a few of the various key sign foundations to create visibility for your business.

Optimize Your First Impression with Custom Signs

When you want to build a business sign that grabs someone’s attention, a strong foundation of signage design principles is necessary for success. You only have between three and five seconds for a first impression and to capture someone’s attention with business signage.

A study on whether graphic design impacts outdoor enthusiast behavior shows that when managers even minimally attract visitors’ attention, the likelihood of influencing their behavior dramatically increases. Furthermore, when visitors resonate with the signage's messaging in particular, the odds of influencing their behavior go up even more.

The study also showed that language is only one communication element of many, and that supplementing the persuasive message with graphic design is pertinent to capturing attention.

The Power of Clarity, Contrast and Clutterfree Design

In an effort to create clearer messaging that drives behavior, a first design element to consider is contrast. People’s eyes naturally gravitate toward contrast, and this can include color variations such as black on white as opposed to yellow on white. Contrast also helps ensure distance readability.

Distance viewing can also be impacted by a second design element –font type, which includes font spacing and font size used. Non-legible fonts don’t just make a sign hard to read; they can also frustrate customers and erode trust and engagement with your message. The importance of legibility cannot be stressed enough, since every brand visual includes important messaging to be conveyed.

A third design element to keep in mind with sign visibility is incorporating white space to cut back on clutter or lack of readability. If there is too much going on, your viewer will get overwhelmed and move on.

"A sign's design is critical to a business's success because it serves a variety of strategic purposes. Whether a sign's goal is to promote a service, ensure ADA compliance, or provide directional guidance, the design is what determines its effectiveness,” said Patrick Finn, manager of production training at FASTSIGNS International, Inc. “FASTSIGNS’ graphic designers pay close attention to details like color contrast, font legibility and brand consistency to ensure the sign not only looks good but also functions perfectly. A great design can entice customers and increase sales, while a flawed one can lead to expensive mistakes and missed opportunities. Ultimately, a sign's design is the key to clear communication and achieving a business's unique goals."

Does Your Custom Sign Pass the Impact Test?

According to the International Sign Association, the more readable your business sign is at a distance, the longer someone will view it, making a better impression and creating engagement for your brand. Larger-than-life signs can become a unique and memorable landmark for potential customers and anyone passing by your business.

Types of Impactful Signage:

From the first moment someone enters your business location or surrounding area, you have the power to truly impact brand recall. An established entrance sign made of durable materials can communicate your professionalism and permanence, while beautiful floor to ceiling graphics can create perfect opportunities for user-generated content across social media channels.

Wayfinding Signs: Large wayfinding graphics guide customers, visitors or guests seamlessly in, around and toward your location.
Monument Signage: An attractive welcome sign sets the state for a great first impression with your business.
Wall Murals: This creatively colorful sign type not only increases visibility but helps your customer engage on a deeper level with your brand.
Outdoor Signs: Exterior mounted business signs attract attention and convey permanence to customers.
Channel Letters: Dimensional and fabricated signs provide depth and interest to the eye, underscoring a premium look and feel to a custom sign.
Large-Format Visuals: These highly visible options create a lasting connection with your brand.
Digital Signage: This dynamically effective option has been proven. A study by Nielsen has highlighted digital billboards to create high recall with ads.

Discover How FASTSIGNS Enhanced Visibility for Wash N’Roll

Create Visibility in a Variety of Conditions

Today, there are a myriad of sign types to assist with conditions that might affect visibility. From lit signs to accessibility visuals, you can ensure that your business is staying top-of-mind at any time of day and for all types of potential customers.

Lighted Signs are Brilliant Investments

Adding light to outdoor signs is your ticket to marketing day and night, instantly elevating your sign’s visibility. According to the same national poll conducted by FASTSIGNS, 64% of people shared that a “sign not sufficiently lit at night” would lead to it being hard to read. Types of lighted signs you can incorporate into your overall signage plan include everything from backlit channel letters to lightboxes and more.

While illuminated signs are valuable tools for night viewing, they also help a business stand out from its surroundings and enhance visibility with overcast weather. By illuminating your business visuals, you can create a brilliant reflection of your brand.

Create Visibility for All

While having a sign that is blocked or not well illuminated negatively impacts your business, a custom sign that is not legible and compliant will exclude a segment of your customers. For signage to be ADA-compliant, it must meet visual requirements such as high contrast, sans serif font and low glare to name a few. It must also include tactile requirements such as proper Braille and raised characters with adequate character depth and spacing. Not only is this legally required, it communicates respect to your customers and signifies that accessibility is as important as visibility.

ADA-compliant signs not only create accessibility but also speak to your care for your customers.

Activate Your Secret Visibility Salesforce

An effective sign is your secret salesforce directing potential customers to your business. Create these dependable brand ambassadors by following the keys to visibility from contrast to scalable graphics, as well as visuals that are adaptable in any situation.

Make visibility one of your number one marketing priorities in the next quarter. When digital ads are based on a budget, custom signs are working all the time. Let’s discuss your visibility challenges and determine the best signage solutions to create ideal foot traffic. Contact FASTSIGNS today!

Is Your Business Getting Seen? Keys to Ultimate Sign Visibility