Digital signs and banners can work surprisingly well to improve sales. Image: Thinkstock.
Digital signs and banners can work surprisingly well to improve sales. Image: Thinkstock.
I'm a big fan of marketing strategies that are low cost and can be used quickly and digitally printed signs and banners fit this description perfectly.
Digitally printed signs and banners can be used both inside and outside many businesses.
And sometimes they work surprisingly well.
Here's a great example: Therewas a hardware store a few years ago that did a very interesting exercise to attract new customers into their store.
They put up a large banner outside their hardware store that said this...
Get $50 of hardware completely free: If one of our team doesn't professionally greet you within 20 seconds of you walking into our hardware store we'll give you $50 of hardware of your choice completely free.
People would be strolling along outside the hardware store, they would read this banner, and they'd think to themselves:
'$50 of hardware free if one of their team doesn't professionally greet me within 20 seconds. I think I will check this out. I might get $50 worth of free hardware.'
The hardware store had a buzzer system on the front door and every customer that came in set off this buzzer.
One of the staff members for the hardware store would then excuse themselves and say; "Excuse me a moment, I just want to greet this customer".
"Hello sir, hello madam. Welcome in, nice to see you. I will be with you in a moment."
So they always made it a point to greet every customer that walked in the store within 20 seconds.
With this new banner hundreds of extra customers began coming into the hardware store every week.
What do you do when you are in a hardware store?
You look around, go; 'Oh well I didn't get my free stuff but while I am here do I need anything?'
And sales went up dramatically.
One of the things about many retail type businesses, is they have what we call hidden products or services.
These are products or services that they sell that their clients don't always know that they sell.
It's quite helpful to have in many businesses helpful signs around the place saying things like:
'We offer this service, we offer this product'.
We all know that if we go into a tile shop, they sell tiles.
But they also sell grout which obviously you need to put between the tiles. So maybe a tile shop could put up a little sign that says something very simple like this:
Have you remembered your grout?
One of the great things about digitally printed signs and banners, is you can create them one at a time, you can make them look eye catching in terms of graphics, you can put them outside your business, inside your business, and also you can test them.
You might have a particular special promotion you want to try this week and the promotion could be only inside your store.
So you create an eye catching sign that says:
Special Offer: Spend Y dollars on ABC product, this week and get a free DEF product worth Z dollars as well.
A paint store put up an interesting digitally printed sign that said:
'Have you got your painting survival kit?'
They put this sign next to their cash register. .
And when people bought paint the person on the cash register would just ask them the question:
"Have you got your painting survival kit? "
When a person said "what is that?" They would explain that a painting survival kit is the small things you often need when painting but sometimes forget.
The paint shop person would say something like this:
"A painting survival kit has some masking tape to cover areas you don't want painted. It includes a small cutting in brush for painting in corners.
"It has some paint cleaner to clean your brushes when you have finished. Your painting survival kit is only $X and has all of these things in it. Would you like one?"
Sales went up nicely.
Digitally printed signs and banners can a great way to get new people into your business and can be a useful way to make brand new sales as well.
Digitally printed signs and banners may be worth testing in your business.
If you don't get noticed, you don't have anything. You just have to be noticed, but the art is in getting noticed naturally, without screaming or without tricks.
Action Exercise: Talk to your printer or sign writer about how digitally printed signs and banners might work in your business.
Graham McGregor is a consultant specialising in memorable marketing.
You can download his 396 page 'Unfair Business Advantage' Ebook at
no charge from www.theunfairbusinessadvantage.com
