How to choose the correct outdoor sign

Custom outdoor signage services have been around for 100’s hundreds of years, why? because it allows businesses to showcase exactly what they sell as-well as their brand image.

Now as the years have gone on, brand image has grown more and more important for lots of businesses as we delve into the modern age of technology as everyone wants to be seen as the “best” and can you blame them?

This article will go into may different factors when considering outdoor signage and how you can save yourself from spending hundreds of hours chasing your tail not knowing which one to go to. Some might say this is your definitive guide to outdoor signage in 2024.

So what is outdoor signage? Outdoor signage is any signage that is installed on the exterior of your business, or in another location. This could also be placed on a billboard or hoardings as part of an advert or marketing campaign, or used at an event.

Now id you don’t want to read any further but want to speak to a professional, give us a call on 01902 791553 and speak to Sean our managing director with over 10 years of knowledge he can put you in the right direction. Before you ask, no he doesn’t bite, we’ve added a face to a name below.

In this amazing guide, we will show you everything you need to consider when looking at having your first outdoor signage or even roadside signage to save your £££’s in time, resources and you guesses it money.

Step 1. Understand your outdoor signage requirements

Now, this might sounds very self-explanatory but to many they don’t know where to begin. When you are considering having outdoor signage completed or even road sign signage that are key fundamentals you need to consider.

1. To create an effective sign, prioritise its placement for maximum visibility, ensuring it stands out in shape, size, and colour. Drive past your business from all angles to determine the best location, and have impartial observers conduct drive-bys to assess its effectiveness.
2. Make sure your font is large enough to be easily legible from a distance, with mixed-case letters for optimal readability. Aim for 1 inch of letter height for every 10 feet of viewing distance.
3. Choose contrasting colours for high visibility and recall, considering both your brand’s colours and the desired psychological response. Incorporate 30% to 40% white space to prevent visual clutter.
4. Keep your message short and concise, aiming for three to five words per headline. Avoid unnecessary details, and save specifics for when customers are inside. Minimise the use of abbreviations, as they slow down reading speed.
5. State clear benefits to the customer to capture their interest, using personalised language such as “you” and “your.” Provide context through familiar logos, images, or phrases, and incorporate creativity and humour to make your sign memorable. Yes humour really works!
6. Create a sense of urgency with time-sensitive offers to encourage immediate action. Highlight your business’s strengths with customer testimonials, reviews, and awards to build credibility and trust.

Case Example: Hollywood Hills

One of the best examples we could give for outdoor signs is probably one of the most famous signs in the world, which is the Holly Wood Hills sign, why? you might ask, well this sign combines some of the points listed above into one of the most effective ways possible.

Locality the sign is on the side of Mount Lee, and with a predicted 50 million people annually seeing the sign its become quite an attraction, for all the right reasons. Although, they haven’t used contrasting colours, a striking white is all you might need for a simple but modern sign for your business.

Step 2. What message are you trying to deliver with your outdoor signage?

Briefly discussing this in step 1, understanding the message you are trying to get across to your customers is half the battle. Without proper understanding of your target audience this task might be a bit tricky.

Not to worry though because we have created a short list of things to consider when trying to find out your target audience.

1. Understand Your Customers: Analyse your existing customer base through social engagement or surveys to determine demographics, interests, and preferences.
2. Market Research and Trends: Study industry research to identify service gaps and trends, aligning your product’s unique value proposition with emerging market needs.
3. Competitor Analysis: Learn from competitors’ strategies to understand their target demographics, preferred channels, and messaging approaches.
4. Create Personas: Develop detailed personas based on data and insights, representing different segments of your target audience with unique characteristics and needs.
5. Define Exclusions: Clearly delineate who your target audience isn’t to avoid wasting resources on segments unlikely to convert, ensuring focus on high-potential demographics.
6. Continuous Revision: Regularly update personas and strategies based on new data and customer interactions to refine targeting and improve results over time.
7. Utilise Google Analytics: Leverage Google Analytics to gain insights into website visitors, including their channels, preferences, and engagement behaviours, guiding informed decision-making in media planning.

By putting this into action you can begin to understand your message and how you want it to sound as it will be different depending on age, gender, industry and many more.

Once, you have your message, you need to work out how you are going to deliver it. If you are a shopfront and your showcasing your brand, how do you want to make the customer feel looking at your sign.

Let’s have a look at one of our customers signs for reference.

Valley Centre Dental Practice Outdoor Signage:

VCDP came to us for exterior signage as they needed a new look for the outside of their business premises. Here at The Print Box, we handle interior and exterior signage so this was right up our alley. Using what we have already mentioned, what is the message?

For a customer looking at your signs you want to answer their question as quickly as possible. This means that you need to display what your services are in as minimal words as possible, now there is leniency with this as not every business is the same, so you do have some wiggle room.

The reason we say as minimal words as possible is because if you are searching for a particular word or phrase in a massive paragraph it will take you significantly longer than if it was on one sentence this is because of the mass amount of words you are trying to take in.

So by having your services neatly organised like the sign above you can help the reader identify if you offer the services they need.

Step 3. What are the different types of outdoor signs?

There are many different types of outdoor signage that you can choose from here is a quick list of them below:

1. Building Signs
2. Aluminium Signs
3. Acrylic Signs
4. Pan Tray Signs
5. Correx Signs

For an in depth guide on what each sign is have a quick look at our signage page for all exterior signs. https://www.theprintbox.co.uk/signage-services/

To help you cipher through all the different outdoor signage, we recommend Aluminium Composite Signs, Acrylic signs and Pan Tray Signs. We do have access to others and we can help you nail down which one you would really like in our discovery meeting.

Step 4. What are the typical prices for outdoor signage?

The price can vary drastically with signage depending on what you have, the size of the sign and the material.

As we all know signage is crucial for businesses, right?

The right design, size, and placement can bring more foot traffic to your shop. Signage costs range from £150 to £3,000. The final price depends on the material or execution. 

It’s important that you have a budget in mind, if you need help understanding what is right for you, our experts are always on hand.

Step 5. What to do when you have find the sign for you?

Simply, contact a company that can help!

Yes, it is really that is easy, what is even more easier is contacting us.

We have gave you the blue print now you just need to put it together, thats where we come in.

Contact us today and let’s show off your business today.

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