When it comes to your brand strategy, are you using the right approaches to position yourself in the most desirable market or industry? From a marketing perspective, this means creating a clear image to convey to your target markets—and then using both new and existing resources to reinforce that brand position with customers.

In a changing commercial environment—especially in retail and service—many companies are shifting their marketing focus online. That’s a great way to expand reach, but there’s a real danger in abandoning more traditional, place‑based advertising. When companies fail to leverage their brick‑and‑mortar locations—or, more importantly, their business signs—they leave a lot of opportunity on the table. Think of your sign as the hardest‑working team member you have: it shows up early, stays late, never takes a vacation, and greets every passerby.

Let Business Signs Do the Work for You

If paid ads are the equivalent of rented billboards on the internet, your storefront sign is a paid‑off house in a great neighborhood. It’s just common sense to keep that asset in great shape.

When visiting a brick‑and‑mortar location, business signs are often the first exposure a customer has to your brand. Plenty of customers already know you, but a surprising number meet you for the first time at the curb. Independent industry research has shown that a significant share of customers become aware of a store simply because they saw it while passing the facility. That means your next best customer might be driving by right now, deciding whether to turn in based on what your sign says about you.

Shift your mindset: your sign isn’t a cost—it’s a one‑time advertising investment that works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. High‑quality, long‑lasting business signs keep delivering impressions and confidence long after installation. Studies have reported that digital signage can meaningfully lift brand awareness and even average purchase amounts. The point isn’t memorizing the percentages; it’s recognizing that decisions you make in your sign package can materially affect your bottom line—for years.

Consider Business Signs Part of Your Marketing Mix

The classic marketing mix—product, price, place, and promotion—still applies. Business signs influence place (where the brand lives) and the perceived product (what quality looks and feels like). In a retail or service environment, your signs shape the experience from the moment customers approach the building to the second they find the right counter, aisle, or service bay. That experience can either deepen loyalty or quietly erode it.

Want to learn more about how to select the right material sand finishes to communicate quality? Read more here!

Business signage is a cost‑effective way to extend your brand because it’s one of the first elements people interact with. Many sign conversations understandably focus on analytical goals—gross impressions, visual impact, color, lighting efficiency, highway presence, and so on. Those matter. But the best programs go further: they consciously express brand personality, promise, and positioning.

As a sign partner, it’s our job to discuss your brand position and find ways your existing or new business signs can serve it better—through message hierarchy, materials, visibility, and placement. When we understand your marketing strategy, we can turn signage into a strategic asset, not just a box to check.

Make Your Business Signs and Your Digital Marketing Work Together

Your customer’s journey bounces between screens and streets. Well‑designed business signs close that loop.

• Match the look & language. Use the same fonts, colors, tone, and tagline you use in your ads and website.
• Bridge with touchpoints. Add QR codes, short vanity URLs, or NFC tags that drive to location‑specific landing pages (menus, service schedulers, career pages, financing, etc.).
• Track without guesswork. Use unique QR/URL parameters per sign or entrance so you can see which placements convert.
• Leverage maps & photos. Keep your local listings updated with current exterior/interior photos that feature your business signs.
• Let digital signage extend your content. In‑store screens can echo your current campaign, spotlight reviews, or guide people to high‑margin services—live, local, and timely.

Measuring Business Signage ROI

You don’t need fancy models—just track the basics and be consistent. This comparison shows how “cheap now” often becomes “costly later,” while quality business signs behave like a durable, always‑on asset.

Metric	Cheap / Low‑Cost Business Signs	Quality / High‑Quality Business Signs
Upfront Cost	Low	Moderate to High
Lifespan	Short; materials fade or fail sooner	Long; durable faces, premium LEDs, better finishes
Maintenance & Repairs	Frequent service calls; parts fail unpredictably	Infrequent, planned maintenance; better components
Uptime (Outage Risk)	Higher risk of dark letters or full outages	High reliability; fewer brand‑damaging outages
Visibility & Legibility	Inconsistent brightness/contrast; poor night readability	Strong contrast, even illumination, readable at distance
Foot‑Traffic Lift	Minimal, inconsistent	Consistent lift; clearer “earn the turn” performance
Average Ticket / Conversion	Weak impact at point of decision	Stronger perceived quality → higher conversion potential
Wayfinding Efficiency	Confusing layouts; longer lines & misdirected visitors	Clear cues reduce friction and service time
Brand Perception	“Looks cheap/tired”; hurts trust	“Looks professional/modern”; builds confidence
Energy Use (Monthly)	Older tech; higher power draw	Efficient LEDs/drivers; lower utility costs
Compliance Risk	Greater chance of code issues or re‑fabrication	Designed to code; fewer surprises with permits/inspections
Warranty & Support	Limited coverage; slower response	Robust warranties; priority support options
Adaptability	Hard to update; redesigns needed sooner	Modular parts/digital content = easier updates
5‑Year Total Cost of Ownership	Often higher due to repairs, replacements, energy	Often lower despite higher Day‑1 cost
Payback Window	Long/uncertain	Shorter; performance and savings compound

How to track it simply:

• Log walk‑ins or store entries by week (baseline → after install/refresh at 30/60/90 days).
• Add a “How did you hear about us?” field at POS/booking with a “saw the sign” option.
• Use QR codes/vanity URLs only found on the sign to attribute scans and conversions.
• Track service tickets, outage hours, and repair spend by location.
• Compare energy bills pre/post LED upgrades.
• Run small A/B pilots across entrances or locations (brighter cabinet, bolder contrast, simplified copy) and compare lift.

Tracking sign ROI is especially important for brands with several or many locations. Launching a large-scale sign program can be overwhelming, so check out our key considerations for planning a multi-location sign program.

Brand Consistency Is Key

There’s no argument: business signs are essential. They drive awareness, foot traffic, confidence, and conversion. But the often‑missed piece is seeing signage as a necessary part of your marketing mix—not a separate facilities line item. When signage is disconnected from brand and campaign strategy, you risk breaking the conversation right where it should get strongest: at the door.

The key to a successful sign program goes beyond good design. It’s also about the project management process, fabrication quality, and maintenance plan. It’s also critical to the scalability of your brand. Without quality business sings to brand your brand to life, clients, customers, vendors, and even your own employees may have a hard time identifying with your brand. Partnering with a quality sign company can make or break the signage process. We always recommend finding a sign company you can trust who treats your brand as if it was their own, whether a local sign shop or a national sign vendor.

With over 90 years in the sign industry, we’ve learned how to help brands find their voice, then build business signs that share the brand’s identity clearly, beautifully, and reliably. When you treat signage as a marketing tool, you unlock more ways to connect with customers and more creative methods to deliver your brand promise—from the street, to the threshold, to the point of decision.

If nothing else, remember this: Ads invite. Business signs convince. Make yours impossible to ignore.