Go Big or Go Home: Do Large-Scale Visuals Really Boost Sales?

APRIL 8, 2021| SpeedPro

In the world of signage, bigger is often better. From wall murals and window graphics to vinyl banners and floor decals, large-scale marketing visuals can add significant value to your business. They can create a welcoming environment for your clients and provide an excellent opportunity to promote your products and services. Large-scale signage is also a great way to grab your guests’ attention and help them find their way to you.

But what many business owners and marketing departments want to know is how these visuals affect sales. As it turns out, large-scale signage can help boost your bottom line while simultaneously improving customer relations in several ways. Let’s dive into how they can get more people into your stores and more money in your cash registers.

How Do Large Visuals Affect Sales?

First, let’s take a look at the numbers. Studies conducted by the Sign Research Foundation revealed a variety of interesting statistics regarding signage and its effect on sales.

They found roughly 60% of businesses across industries reported an average sales increase of about 10% when they modified their signage, with 60% reporting improvements in transactions, profits and staffing as well. Removing signage can be harmful, as one motel found out when it moved its highly visible sign to a less conspicuous location. Occupancy rates lowered by 36%.

Signs can significantly influence how people perceive a business. People feel that signs can convey the personality or character of a business, and more than three-quarters of people say signage is one of the first things they notice about a new or unfamiliar establishment.

Here are some of the concrete ways large-scale visuals can help your business, and how to make the most of your signage.

Increasing Visibility

Large-scale visuals play a crucial role in helping people find your business — especially ones that customers need quick access to, such as auto dealerships, retail stores and restaurants. One of those Sign Research Foundation reports tells us that due to small or unclear signage, 50% of American consumers have said they’ve failed to find a business. Why lose out on half your customers because they can’t find your building? Some people prefer variety, some prefer uniformity, but one thing is for sure — legibility is a must. People need to be able to find their way to your building, and readable text is a necessary part of that. Creating your signage with wide-format printing can help you make text that is large enough for passersby to read. Large-format printing is a straightforward and effective way to avoid drivers missing your signage and help ensure you’re getting high foot traffic through your doors.

SpeedPro follows the 10-by-1 rule, which is a graphic design trick for properly sized letters and font spacing. It states that every one inch of the letter scale can be read a maximum of 10 feet away. This rule can help you determine how large your text needs to be so that the public can easily read it.

Creating an Active Response

Sure, signs can help direct people to your business – but they’re also a powerful tool in communicating with customers once they’re inside. People who view posters are already actively engaging with their surroundings. A well-designed poster with an eye-catching call-to-action or a service or product promotion propels the viewer to take action as soon as possible. This is an important part of the sales funnel, and it could mean the difference between making a sale or your customer walking away.

Enhancing brand perception

Chances are, you’ve invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in an attractive building for your business. Your products and services go through rounds of testing for quality control. You and your employees make sure you’re presentable and professional every day. You take all these measures to enhance brand perception and convey that you run an exceptional business, with a quality product and people.

While those components are all essential, it turns out appealing signage plays a vital role in helping attract and retain customers. More than one-third of American consumers reported they have made quality assumptions about a business based on attractive, easy-to-read signage. Large-scale visuals are an affordable, high-reward way to instantly enhance your brand perception.

How Can I Make the Most of My Large-Scale Visuals?

As with any business investment, it’s critical to weigh the relative costs and benefits of your marketing efforts. Fortunately, unlike other marketing collateral, you can reuse your signage for years. It offers benefits that last long after the initial investment. Whether you’re showcasing recurring promotions, or simply using it for business décor purposes, you can get a lot of mileage from your large-scale visuals. Still, there are different ways you can maximize your investment, and make sure you have them displayed effectively for a high ROI:

• Integrate signage into design strategy: Signage can contribute to a layout and location’s value, increasing ROI based on sales in dollars per square foot. Signage is often an essential part of developing the look and story of your company. You can use it to further solidify your company colors and imagery throughout your building, contributing to the personality of your business. By integrating signage into your overall design strategy, you’ll make the most of your branding efforts, build relationships with your customers and provide them with an outstanding in-store experience.
• Use vibrant colors: Eye-catching colors and visuals are the best way to draw attention to your signage. Depending on the tone of your company, large-format printing is often an excellent opportunity for bright and bold design that attracts the viewer’s attention. But, make sure you’re using your branding colors, or hues that complement your existing brand.
• Invest in lighting: You can improve visibility with lighting while giving your sign an attractive glow. Whether it’s through external lighting setups, dimensional lettering or backlit graphics, you’ll especially want to illuminate your signage if your business operates at night. It may seem like a no-brainer. But, all too often, business owners invest in signage, only to have it visible solely in daylight.

Adding signage to your business can make a marked improvement on your ambiance – and your profit margins.

Large-Format Printing With SpeedPro

When it’s time to outfit your business with wide-format printing, your local SpeedPro shop can answer the call. We partner with long-term clients from a wide variety of industries to help them boost sales and market directly to their shoppers with large-scale visuals. You’ll find everything from architectural signage and vehicle wraps to point-of-purchase displays, directional signage and floor graphics in our arsenal.

Your local SpeedPro team can help you get set up with the best signage and other wide-format printing products to bring customers to your door and drive sales. Find a studio near you to start working with the experts today.