How much of an impact do your retail store’s signs have on sales? The right signage can have a significant impact on your store’s bottom line, generating foot traffic for your store and sales for customers already inside it.
Many retailers make the assumption that bigger signs are more effective than small signs – an assumption that, like many, doesn’t completely match reality. Small signs can, in many cases, have just as big of an impact as signs with larger dimensions.
From the message of your marketing copy to the design of your signs, a large range of factors can determine whether or not your signage is effective in increasing your store’s foot traffic and generating sales.
Would you like to ensure your small signs have a big impact on sales? From location to copy, read on to learn five simple but effective ways to increase the effects of your small retail signs on foot traffic, visibility and sales.
Use signs as directional markers within your store
Once customers are inside your store, how easy is it for them to find the products they’re interested in? Signage doesn’t just draw people into your store – it can also help them find their way around once they’re inside.
Use small signs as directional markers within your store to help people find popular products. By directing people to your most popular products, you can guide them in a path towards the products and offers they’re most likely to respond to.
Keep your message simple and focused on action
How long does it take to read one of your retail signs? Most people will only want to spend a couple of seconds reading each sign they notice, making a short and simple message more powerful than a long and complicated one.
Make sure your signs clearly communicate your marketing message in five seconds or less – ideally two or three seconds. This means customers can easily identify and understand the message you’re delivering, giving them time to respond to it.
Make sure each sign has a clear and actionable goal
What is the goal of each of your retail signs? Many retail business owners make the mistake of investing in signage that doesn’t deliver a firm, concrete message to their store’s customers.
Each and every sign you hang inside or outside your store – whether it’s focused on bringing customers in or directing them to certain products – needs to have a clear, actionable goal in order to be effective.
Test different signs to see which one is most effective
Your signage might be effective, but could it be better? A/B testing – the process of testing one version of an item against another – is a mainstay of online marketing, but it’s rarely practiced in retail.
Apply testing methods to your retail signs and pit one sign against another to see if one performs better than the other. You can measure sign performance by checking the number of sales of items in the area surrounding each indoor retail sign.
Over time, you might discover that one sign’s design or copy greatly outperforms its alternatives. This data can allow you to make optimizations that improve the results of signage throughout your entire store, significantly increasing revenue.
Use signs to “close the deal” and create confidence
Signs can guide people into your store, direct them to certain products and – when worded correctly – even encourage them to make a purchase. By increasing overall confidence in a product, you can “close the deal” and increase sales.
Use signs to increase a customer’s confidence in a product by mentioning the great guarantee you offer, your financing deals and other useful information. Using signs to build confidence can encourage customers to take action, improving your results.
