Your sign is your voice on the street. It communicates with passing pedestrians and motorists. It convinces them to come through your doors and do business with you.

Did you know?

• Signage is the least expensive but most effective form of advertising.
• Signage can be responsible for half of your customers – that’s right, 50 percent!
• Signage is so important that without it you may not get a loan for your business.
• Signage is an investment that will pay a return many times over.
• A well-designed, well-placed sign can generate huge profits, especially when part of an overall marketing strategy.
• Signage can no longer be an afterthought. Businesses can no longer afford to just “hang up a shingle” or throw up some plywood with painted letters. In order to compete in today’s competitive marketplace, you must think of your sign as a sophisticated, powerful marketing tool. It should work for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, creating the first impression of your business, telling people who you are, where you are and what you offer.

You might be thinking…

• What are the elements of good signage?
• What kind of sign do I need?
• What do I need to know before buying a sign?
• Where do I get a sign?
• Where can I find a sign company?
• How can I reap the benefits of good signage?
• How can I maximize signage benefits for my business?

ISA can help guide you through the sometimes tricky aspects of finding the right sign for your business.

• Signage is the least expensive, yet most effective, form of advertising for independent and national retail businesses.
• You pay for the sign once and it works for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for years. Use of other media requires paying month after month and you never have the benefit of ownership.
• You also have no assurance that you’re reaching potential customers. From a business owner’s perspective, a sign should not be viewed as an expense, but as a capital investment. When you factor in your return on investment, signs are not expensive. An effective sign will most likely pay for itself many times over.
• People often judge a business by how it looks on the sign.
• Many merchants increase their business measurably just by adding a good sign. Conversely, many have gone out of business because they simply were not identified well, so not enough potential customers knew of their existence. As one sign industry professional put it, “A business without a sign is a sign of no business.”
• We live in a mobile society. According to the United States Census Bureau, 18% of households relocate each year. As your customers move, you need to replace them by attracting new customers