The Complete Guide to
promotional solutions
Bring your favourite restaurant to mind, and you’ll probably unwittingly conjure an image of a promotional sign.They’re a mainstay of the high street, found outside your favourite bars and breakfast spots in the form of café barriers and as point of sale stands with offers that entice you inside.
With the advent of online shopping and ecommerce, competition on the high street is fiercer than ever – but promotional signage is a vital tool all businesses should use to cut through the noise.The primary function of promotional signage is to advertise an offer, event or opening a business wants to promote, but can also add a much-needed dose of creativity and personality to make your brand stand out.
Solutions comes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, from café barriers, posters, and floor stickers to banners, flags and pop-up stands – and their applications are pretty much endless!
Are you planning an event or promotional offer in your business? Read on to learn how promotional signage will add an extra buzz and help you achieve your business goals.
What will I learn in this guide?
- What are promotional solutions?
- Why is promotional signage important?
- What are the benefits of promotional solutions?
- What are the different types of promotional solutions?
- Key things to consider when designing promotional signs
- FAQ
What are promotional solutions?
Promotional solutions, also known as promotional signage, are used to advertise a specific event, offer or opening a business wants to promote. This can be as simple as a ‘50% off end-of-season sale’, or as complex as an international sporting event with thousands of attendees. Promotional signs are typically seen before and during an event they promote, helping to create a ‘buzz’, inform people of the relevant dates and details and, crucially, entice them to join the action!
Why is promotional signage important?
The main reason promotional signage is so important for businesses is its ability to help increase footfall and, ideally, revenue into your business.
It does this by:
- Cutting through the noise to differentiate you from the competition.
- Creating a sense of urgency with an appealing and/or time-sensitive offer or event.
- Reinforcing your offering so potential customers will think of your business if/when they require your products or services at a later date.
What are the benefits of promotional solutions?
Increase brand awareness: Promotional signage is an opportunity to showcase the best of your brand. Whether exhibiting at a trade show or promoting a specific product, it enables you to create a miniature and often portable gallery of your brand – including your name, logo, brand colours and associated design and photographic elements – to get in front of new and existing customers.
Boost traffic and footfall: As a complementary addition to your permanent signs and graphics, promotional signage lets you invite people into your business with a friendly call to action, attractive offer and/or experience. Also, having high quality and up-to-date signage demonstrates to your customers that you care about what they think of your business, and can increase their sense of your credibility, authority, and expertise – all beneficial for increasing footfall through your door.
Advertise cost-effectively: Promotional signage solutions can be tailored to suit your needs and budget. This makes them a cost-effective way to advertise your offer or event to the surrounding community. Some solutions also offer the option to update them yourself, such as poster and chalk A-boards, reducing the overall spend if you have offers that frequently change.
Strengthen customer relationships: Promotional signage gives you another valuable opportunity to speak directly to your customers and strengthen your relationship with them. With the use of inviting and positive language, and a sense that you are providing an opportunity to have something at a discounted price or a special event, it can help you share positive sentiment and build loyalty with your existing and potential customers.
Flex between temporary & permanent solutions: Promotional signage comes in a variety of sizes, shapes, and materials. You can choose from numerous ‘soft sign’ types – like flags, banners and pop-up stands, or from a wide variety of more durable materials that can offer an even more long-lasting solution to weather outdoor conditions, such as floor stickers, pavement & A-board signs.
What are the different types of promotional solutions?
Roller Banners
Custom roller banners make the most of your time and money at in-shop events, exhibitions, or trade shows. All you need is an eye catching graphic and your portable, free-standing display can be set up in minutes.
Café Barriers
Café barriers offer a cost-effective marketing opportunity, differentiating your premises when enclosing a pavement or pedestrian area. Ideal for creating an outdoor area for eating or socialising outside your café, bar, or restaurant.
Flags
Extremely versatile and eye-catching, we offer a range of flags that can be used both within indoor and outdoor promotional spaces. Whether you need to be noticed on the high street or seafront or in a shopping mall or festival, flags always ensure that your message and brand are on display.
Barrier Covers
Barrier covers are a great addition for any event where maximum brand exposure is the key. Commonly used at festivals, concerts, sporting events and nightclubs plus many other public events.
Floor Stickers
Floor stickers (often referred to as floor graphics) are specially developed stickers with a hardwearing, textured non-slip surface. Floor stickers are suitable for almost all indoor floors such as vinyl, ceramic, tiles, wood laminate flooring, smooth-polished concrete etc. We also offer a material suitable for short term outdoor use on smooth floors.
Posters & Point of Sale
Promote your products and special offers by using eye-catching and enticing point of sale posters and displays. An ideal component to aid merchandising, point of sale should be bright and bold to draw eyes to your product or service.
Banners
Whether you want to display promotional offers outside your store or promote your brand at an outdoor event, banners are an effective solution. Printed banners are ideal for grabbing the attention of passersby, substantially boosting your brand’s visibility.
Stickers & Labels
Branded stickers can be used for advertising, promotion, information, and directions plus much more. Custom labels and stickers allow you to instantly add text or graphics to a surface, making them a great solution for conveying key information to your audience.
Pavement & A-Board Signs
Pavement and A-board signs are a perfect way to offer a promotional offer or event to passers-by walking past or near your business. Many can be easily changed to accommodate changing promotions and events, such as poster and chalk A-boards.
Key things to consider when designing promotional signage
It’s estimated that we see on average 5,000 marketing messages daily; promotional signage is all about your business staking its claim in the noisy world of advertising that bombards your customers every day. So, it’s no use blending in, your signage needs a clear thought-process and striking design to make an impact.
Make it targeted
So, you’ve decided you want some promotional signage – but why? What do you want to achieve? Increase footfall, generate revenue, leave a lasting impression… All of the above?
The most successful promotional signage is targeted. Before pressing the big green button on your signage order, first get clear on your ambitions and target audience to ensure your promotional signage will hit all the right notes by asking yourself:
- What 2-3 things do I want to achieve with my promotional signage?
- Who is my ideal customer – what are they like?
Make it valuable
It’s essential your customers understand the value of your promotional offer, opening or event. Will they receive a complementary drink on arrival? How much money are they going to save? Is it a newsworthy event they can’t afford to miss? Will a special guest be attending?
It’s about creating an emotional connection to your offer or event. Words are good but images are better when appealing to your customers’ emotions, so make sure this is also a consideration when designing your signage.
- How will my offer or event improve my customers’ experience?
- What is the most important thing I need my customers to know about my event/opening/promotional offer?
- Why would customers choose my business over one offering a similar offer?
- Can I communicate all this value through a photo or image?
Make it memorable
Given it's often temporary nature, promotional signage is a great opportunity to go outside the boundaries of your brand and get truly creative to stick in the minds of your customers for months to come! You can use humour, an intriguing piece of information or just something to brighten their day.
- What one thing do I want customers to remember about my business – and can I communicate this in an unconventional way?
Make it concise
The time people spend looking at your sign is limited. So, any information you want to convey must be crisp, concise, and cut all unnecessary fluff. You’ll only get their attention for seconds – so make each one count! Ask yourself:
- Can I reduce the number of words to communicate my offer/event?
- Which images will support my message and communicate it more clearly?
Make it urgent
It’s important to pay attention to the language you use on your promotional signage. Push people to act with language that conveys a sense of urgency and scarcity – is it a limited time only? An event with a quickly approaching date? Have 50% of the tickets already sold? Is it a once in a lifetime opportunity…?! Ask yourself:
- What makes my promotion unmissable?
While these questions aren’t a blueprint, we hope they’ll prompt some interesting responses to inspire you to push the limits with your promotional signage and make something that generates the results you’re looking for.
FAQ
- Q. What is promotional signage?Collapse
Promotional signage, also known as promotional solutions, is used to advertise a specific event, offer or opening a business wants to promote.
- Q. How will promotional signage benefit my business?Expand
Promotional signage solutions are a functional and cost-effective tool to attract attention, increase brand visibility, and drive sales and revenue. They inform customers of promotions, special offers, events, openings, and new products, with the end-goal of boosting footfall and revenue.
- Q. What types of signs are used by businesses to promote special offers and events?Expand
- Q. Which kind of business will benefit the most from promotional signage solutions?Expand
All businesses looking to promote a special offer or event to their customers can benefit from promotional signage. They are most commonly seen outside high street businesses, but can be found in shopping centres, at attractions and parks, at exhibitions and business expositions.
- Q. What should I consider when choosing a promotional signage solution?Expand
- Audience – who is my target audience, and what themes, imagery and messaging will resonate with them?
- Location – where will my promotional sign be placed, indoors, outdoors, at height?
- Budget – how much do I want to spend on my promotional signage?
- Materials – which materials match my signage needs – soft materials like fabric, or more durable materials like vinyl and rigid substrates to withstand outside elements and footfall?
- Design – will my promotional signage align with my brand guidelines, using the correct fonts, colours and branding?
- Q. Can I reuse promotional signage?Expand
Yes! Many types of promotional solutions can be used for numerous applications, such as soft signs like banners, pop-up displays, and flags which can be rolled up and stored until they are needed again. Some types of promotional signage solutions can be updated with new content when required, such as poster and chalk A-board signs.
- Q. Why choose Signs Express for my promotional solutions?Expand
Established for 35 years, Signs Express has 60 locations across the UK and Ireland, with a broad expertise across all types of promotional signage. Having worked with companies of all sizes and industries, we offer a consultative service to first understand your needs, evaluate, and identify the right promotional solutions to meet your requirements. We design and manufacture your promotional signage from our vast catalogue of solutions and complete the installation at a time that keeps disruption to your business to a minimum.
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