Signs are undoubtedly a useful and imperative method of communication between the business and the customer. Signs build awareness, create interest and sell products and services. Nothing speaks louder to a potential buyer than a bold display.

The mission of signs and graphics is segmented into a three-part process: attracting, informing, and directing.

Attraction is the most important step in the process. If a main street or thoroughfare location is important for your business, then signs may be the best media for your business to reach your primary mobile market. Hotels, banks, shopping centers, auto dealers, restaurants, casinos, service stations and theatres use signs to attract new customers that may otherwise drive or walk by. Your advertising success with this mobile market depends upon the reach and frequency of your promotional message. Every time people pass your sign they save information on their “hard drive“. The mere repetition of the message will help them remember your business or brand name and use their memory when a purchase occurs. Research indicates that the average consumer is bombarded with thousands of visual messages per day. The shopping experience can be cluttered, confusing, and unappealing, yet dozens of decisions are made in a matter of minutes. Your challenge is to stand out from the crowd, capture the consumer’s attention quickly, inform the targets that they need what the sign is communicating, and close the sale.

Informing is thus the second step in the process of successful visual communication. The information to be displayed on the sign must communicate. It must articulate and be tangible. Have the sign speak in terms that will be understood. Imagine what kind of questions qualified buyers might have and answer them. Since you want your displayed information to be up-to-date, it is important to be able to change that information quickly and easily. The most expensive type of a sign that lets you change the information displayed on it quickly is a led electronic display. These are followed by the rotating displays that can display one to six different ads one by one at the same time. Third, the cheapest and the most cost-effective is a manually changeable light sign with an easy opening profile that lets you change the information displayed on it in few seconds. During the last two years the “easy-open” light signs have become the most effective and efficient means of commercial communication because they are inexpensive, available, practical, easy to use, always on the job, and directly oriented to the trade area of your business. By periodically changing its content, a sign can continue to attract interest and be informative.

After the customer is attracted and informed, the buyer must be directed. Directional signage is quite popular when dealing with large exhibits and retail situations. Used to help organize and direct the flow of consumer traffic, directional signage will guide customers in a more orderly fashion and make for a much more successful selling environment. Directional signs make businesses easier to find. If customers can't find you, they can't do business with you.

So, next time think about the signs! Signs are one of the most efficient and effective means of communication. They are the most direct and only form of visual mass communication available to everyone. Signs are long-term investments and should be one of the most permanent parts of your business.

A business without a sign is a sign of no business!