Archive for January, 2010

Outdoor LED Signs ROI

Published by david on January 29th, 2010 - in Signtronix Signs

The Return on Investment (ROI) of adding an outdoor LED sign to your business.

Signtronix: On-premise signage is both effective and economical. It is a powerful marketing tool for making the most of advertising dollars to reach potential customers.

Our final case study comes from Southern California and the Rossmoor Car Wash. In this instance, they had plenty of signage that was visible and readable. But they were still looking to increase sales. So they invested in a two-line, 12-foot, double-sided monochrome electronic message center. In the first year after installing the EMC, they washed an additional 8,500 cars. At an average sale of $20 per customer, that’s an increase in sales of $170,000. The sign paid for itself in four short months.

The owner, Brad Hooper, was astonished by this increase and wanted to see just how good this new marketing tool was. In his own words…

Brad Hooper: In order to test the effectiveness of the message board, we decided to put a non-traditional offer up there. We’re obviously in the car wash business but we also have an ice machine. So we decided to get some bags and fill them with ice and see if we can put an offer up there on the message board, not advertise it in any way, shape or form within the operation itself to see how effective that board would be. So we put an offer there for the cheapest bag of ice in town at $1.79 and threw it up on the board, and at the end of the year we wanted to see how many bags we had sold. What we found out we had sold I believe it was 600 or 700 bags of ice in one year’s time. The only way of knowing was the signage. So people had to come and do a car wash to buy a bag of ice. So it’s kind of a fun way of seeing how the effectiveness of the board had worked in a non-traditional way.”

Signtronix: Now that he has realized the value of this kind of signage, the owner is advertising and selling not just car washes and ice but detailing services and gift shop items, and he’s anticipating another record year. The final bonus that even made it more worthwhile…

Brad Hooper: We feel that our traditional forms of advertising weren’t being as productive as they used to in years past and found that we’re much more effective just by putting our advertising message up on our Electronic Message Board. As such after about six months the new signage in place, we decided to cease all forms of traditional advertising and saving thousands of dollars a year in advertising cost.

Signtronix: The message center is so good at its job that it has allowed him to stop all other forms of advertising, thereby reducing his expenses and increasing his profits even more.

Brad Hooper: I really consider it an investment in purchasing the sign, not an expense.

Siogntronix: It’s difficult to quantify the exact value of signage, but when a sign can increase revenue while cutting costs, it’s worth every penny and more.

Those are just a few examples of how the right use of signage can benefit business. The value of signage lies in its marketing ability. When a sign is viewed not just as a marker but as a powerful marketing tool, its hidden potential is tapped and its full value is realized not just for the business that owns it but for the customers that communicates with and to the city where it’s located. Thank you.

Signtronix Video

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Advertising Techniques for Small Business

Published by david on January 21st, 2010 - in Sign Industry

Most people think of a sign as little more than a painted board marking a business location. For business centers who think the same, the do so at their own detriment. In 98% of all USA retailing, the business sign is the basic link to the public; attracting new customers, branding the business and creating impulse sales.

By example, McDonald’s has 26,000 locations and spends about $40,000 on signage per store. That’s $1.40 billion worth of signs. Why would fast food restaurants spend so much on signage? Because a one-year survey revealed that that $40,000 worth of signage was responsible for over $600,000 in sales.

There is incredible value inherent in signage, especially when it is viewed as a way to market a business. When used as part of an over-all strategy, its full potential can be realized, increasing sales, cutting costs, helping businesses grow. This in turn can create jobs, improve communities and promote tax revenue for cities.

Signtronix says, “The more you Tell, The more you SELL!”

We’ll start by looking at why signage is so important to the retailers and the value it brings to a business. For almost all businesses, the most efficient form of advertising is the on-premise sign. To confirm this, one only has to look at the results of what is to our knowledge the largest, most extensive and ongoing survey every conducted in the sign industry. Over 10 years, nearly 800 business and some 12,000 customers have been surveyed. These businesses had just installed a new sign and the customer surveyed where there for the first time. These first-time customers were asked, “How did you learn about us?” Almost half, 45%, said the reason they came through the door was because of the sign. Not newspapers, not radio, not TV, the sign.

The significance of this cannot go unnoticed. This is why signage is so important to a retailer. As for its value, consider this, businesses stand a much greater chance of thriving in a competitive market if they can increase their customer base while cutting costs. Here’s how signage can decrease advertising expenses. The most basic way to evaluate any marketing method is the cost per 1,000 exposures.

Signtronix Signs are one of the least expensive, most effective forms of advertising for the a small business retail location.

The price and life expectancy of signage varies wildly but let’s assume this business is one of those fast food franchises that invested in a sign costing $33,000 that should last seven years. If the business were located on a street with 60,000 people passing each day, the cost per 1,000 exposures would be only $0.22. The same $33,000 spent on outdoor advertising for 1,000 exposures would be $1.65. A similar expenditure in newspaper advertising would cost $3.13, while television advertising for 1,000 exposures would cost $13.20.

Only 1% of first-time customers come in because of a television ad. But if you remember, 45% come in because of the sign. If a business is only spending $0.22 per 1,000 exposures to get that 45%, that’s a good use of their money. On-premise signage is both effective and economical. It is a powerful marketing tool for making the most of advertising dollars to reach potential customers.

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