Does Your Business Need a Signage Plan? Key Things You Should Know

Signage is the art of making people aware of your business and what is happening. It can be used as a visual representation to showcase your products or services, and it can also be used to advertise certain events that are going on. Today, it is a popular medium for businesses to design and implement because of the number of advertisement choices available and how easy it is to obtain.

What Do You Need to Consider Before Creating a Signage Plan?

Even though there are many advantages to having a signage plan in place, there are also many disadvantages. So how do you know if your business needs a signage plan through a Kansas city sign company? Read on and find out.

1. Know Your Business

It is important to remember that your signage should not be too overwhelming. It should not be so bright or so big that it distracts from the main purpose of your business. To decide whether or not you need a signage plan, it is important to understand your business's needs first.

2. Think About the Audience You Want to Reach

If your business wants to promote a specific service or product, you should consider the audience that will benefit from it. If your target audience is mostly adults, having obvious and colorful signage that will catch their attention is a great idea. If you target children and families, having more subtle signs is better.

3. Decide on Your Budget

Once you know what you are looking for, next up is to set a budget for your signage. It is recommended to start small because you may not know everything that goes into creating a signage plan. This way, you can try it out and see how well it works for your business. If it does not work out the way you want, you can always adjust according to the needs of your business.

4. Consider the Material

It is important to set a budget for your signage so that you know what kind of materials to use. When considering this, it can help to determine which materials work best. For instance, you may want to choose a material that is easier for people to see through or have more durability or other qualities that will allow for easier maintenance.

5. Know Your Location

For a business to be effective, it must be located where the public can easily access it. For this reason, you should know the layout of your business so that you can map out where your signs should go and how you should place them. When considering this, think of where there are currently signs in the area and what kind of signs they are.

6. Choose Your Signage

By now, you should know what kind of signs you need for your business and how you want to place them. The next step is to choose your signage. Choosing the right material for your signs can help them last longer and show better results. This way, you will already be prepared with a backup plan if something were to happen to the signage.

What Are the Benefits of Signage?

In the modern era of competition, a business without a signage plan can be the difference between success and failure. This is because not everyone has the same idea when it comes to advertising. For this reason, it is important to have your individualized signage so that you can stand out and make a lasting impression on your customer. Here are some great benefits of having a signage plan in place for your business:

1. More Traffic to Your Location

A good sign can help guide customers straight to your location. This can help ease traffic loads and prevent customers from getting lost on their way to your business.

2. You're Smarter Than Your Competitors

You must make a good first impression on your customers. A good sign can do this for you by helping you to brand yourself and make it easier for your customers to remember you. This way, they will come back for more over time and trust in what you have to offer.

3. It Makes Your Business Look Professional

A professional business image can help you gain more customers and make you look like a more trustworthy business person. It is important to remember that what you put out there is the first thing that people will see. In addition, it will give off the vibe of your business and make your company better than others.

4. Easy Access to Information

Signs can easily give out important information such as store hours, store locations, and contact information. This way, you will not have to worry about answering the same questions over and over again to your customers. It can save your business time and money by decreasing the number of calls and emails you need to respond to.

5. Lesser Costs for Advertising

Signs are much more affordable investments compared to other advertising methods such as radio, television, or newspapers. This is because you can spread out different signs to reach an entire area instead of just one specific location.

6. Easily Gather Feedback from Customers

If you have a sign asking for feedback, it will be easy to find out how your customers feel about your products or services. This way, you can easily adjust your strategy and improve the quality of the product or service.

7. Increase Your Reputation

A great reputation will make it easier for people to trust you, and they will spend more money with your business. This is because they will be more likely to spend their money with you. After all, they will know that you are a reputable Kansas city sign company.

Conclusion

Besides a good reputation, a signage plan can help your business keep its identity and quality in the minds of your customers. This can help to improve sales, brand awareness, and customer loyalty. It is important to remember that a signage plan is just as important as other advertising methods, so it should be taken seriously when creating one.

The 10 Best Sign Design Ideas to Make Your Storefront Pop

If you want to make your storefront popup, using the best sign design will help you to achieve that goal. It should be done as early as the product launch or introduction of your brand. Whatever goal you might have, using the right sign will make your shop pop up and be known to your target market.

People are visual by nature, and getting their attention is the best way to grow your business. It will help your brand to be associated with an image that consumers will remember. These visual tools will communicate with potential customers. Using custom outdoor business signs is an important part of the marketing process.

The 10 Best Sign Design Ideas to Make Your Storefront Pop

Custom outdoor business signs are great tools for your brand. It will help your business to become well known and popular. Using the best sign design will get the attention of consumers. It will make your business more popular than not having the right sign design.

1. Use a Creative Name

Having a creative name is one of the most important elements of a sign design. It's where everything will be based. Think of a creative store name that is easy to remember. Avoid using words that are hard to read. Make it memorable for everyone who will see your business name.

The sign design will be more effective if you use a creative name. It should be memorable even for the passersby. Using a unique and creative name for your business will help a lot with marketing. Make it sound intriguing so people can't resist checking out what you have to offer.

2. Make Use of Symbolism

Symbolism is another great way of making your business appealing. Make sure that you will use the right symbol for your store. It will avoid misunderstandings if you choose the perfect symbolism for your brand. Find something that will describe your business even without using letters.

Make the symbol bold and huge to catch a lot of attention. If you plan on using symbolism for your storefront, make sure that it will describe your business well. It must be something that people will remember when they see a specific image. People should think about your brand when they see it.

3. Wordless Sign

Using an image alone can make your storefront pop even without the texts. If you want people to remember your business, try using a wordless sign. Make sure that the image will suit how your business operates. Make it colorful and artistic to catch the attention of your target market.

4. Image Reflection

Use a sign design that will reflect the image of your brand. Avoid using texts alone since some people are visual beings. They can associate your business with the image reflecting the name of your brand. Make sure it's clear, easy on the eyes, and catchy. This sign design should make consumers walk inside your store.

5. Take Advantage of Every Side

If you have more than one wall facing the road, take advantage of this opportunity. It's important to have your main sign in front of the public. But if you can have two or more, it's best to make use of all the sides of the building to display your brand.

It will allow you to market your business in every direction possible. The outdoor signs should be on every wall facing the traffic. It will cover a wider area to tell people that you're ready to do business. Use bold colors that will attract more attention and make the letters of your sign stand out.

6. Wall and Sign

It's a good idea to make your sign become the wall of your storefront. This clever design will make your business have a sign and wall in one. It looks creative as well and will grab the attention of the passersby. Use bright and bold letters to complete the look of this design idea.

7. Simple Symbols

Depending on your business, using simple symbols can go a long way. If you prefer to have your sign design simple, use contrasting colors. Make the texts easy to read so that they will still become memorable. Even with simple symbols, your storefront will stand out if you use the right colors.

8. Illuminate the Sign

If your business operates at night, illuminating the sign will make it pop. The lights will be easier for people to locate your business. It will also make your business name easier to read. Using lights will also make the sign more appealing and enticing.

Illuminating your sign is also helpful if your business is located in a dark area of the street. It will help people to find your business easily. Have the letters illuminated with a brightly colored background? That will help your sign to stand out in a dark location, even if it's the nighttime.

9. Match the Architecture

If your business is located in a building, make sure to match it with the architecture. The sign must look unique but should not overpower the building design. Take advantage of your location and make the sign look like a part of the building.

Matching the building's architecture will not only make your store look classy. It will also make people curious about what you have to offer. Choose a sign design that will make your business stand out without being an eyesore.

10. Have an Evocative Sign

Make sure that your business sign will look evocative. It should trigger memories and feelings when somebody looks at the sign. Use a simple but memorable design to make your business stand out. Solid colors and highlights on the text are also recommended. The storefront will still pop with a simple yet evocative sign.

Conclusion

Using custom outdoor business signs will make your brand have its own personality. The sign design doesn't have to be grand. Make it memorable to keep customers from coming back. It's another way of marketing your business, and having an excellent sign is essential. If you’re in the market for a new sign, contact us for a quote today! 

7 Tips for Maintenance and Upkeep on Your Company's Signage

Your business signage plays a major role in attracting and guiding clients to your location. So it's important to maintain your signage by following the advice below. Do you dread the idea of having to maintain your company's sign? You might be surprised how easy it can be with these tricks for taking care of signs that work! 

There are several ways to care for your signage, but it's important to know the basics before you get started. 

If you know what materials make up your sign, you can take proper steps to clean and protect it. Most signs are made with either plastic or metal components and have a vinyl face with a protective coating applied. This coating is often referred to as a "laminate" because the protective material is laminated between the vinyl and metal. 

Follow these 7 tips from our Midwest sign company in Kansas city for caring for, storing, and cleaning your sign, so you can save some time and avoid a costly mistake down the line.

1. Use the Right Cleaners

There are several cleaners for signs that you can find at your local hardware store. These cleaners come in all different shapes, sizes, and formulas to fit your individual needs. Some come in spray bottles, while others are packaged in a foam or soft pad. If you are concerned about the strength of the cleaner on your sign, be sure to test a small area before applying it over the whole sign. 

A test patch is a great way to check the strength of the cleaner and gauge how well it will maintain the integrity of your sign. Many cleaners come with a polishing pad that you can use to get in between all of your letters and artwork, making it easier to get every inch of your sign clean. 

Some materials, such as vinyl and metal, do not respond well to harsh chemicals like ammonia-based cleaners. If you are trying to clean these materials, be sure to have an ammonia-free cleaner on hand. Some cleaners may not be as effective as they claim to be, so test them with a small area first.

2. Know Your Signs

The type of sign you have can make a big difference in how it will respond to different cleaners. Because the materials are typically different, the cleaner you use might react differently to each type of sign. 

You should always read the label carefully before buying and using any brand of cleaner for your sign. Different materials tend to respond better to different types of cleaners. If you are concerned about your sign, be sure to check the label of any cleaner before using it.

3. Watch the Weather

If you have a long-lasting sign, you'll want to use extra caution in cleaning and storing it during various weather conditions. Signs can weather when left outside in the sun and rain over many years or even months. Even if you manage to clean your sign well, keeping it off of your building can help prevent weathering. 

In case it starts to show signs of weathering, you can use a soft cloth or towel to gently wipe the surface. If you see any scratches or scuffs on your sign, try to clean them with a fine-grit sandpaper or emery cloth before restoring the shine.

4. Know Your Materials

Before you start cleaning your sign, make sure you know what type of material it is made from. If it's vinyl, use a vinyl cleaner designed for vinyl signs. If it is metal, use a metal cleaner designed for metal signs.

 Be sure to test any cleaner on a small area of your sign before using it on the entire sign. It can also be helpful to look at the material that your sign is made from as well as where it's located. Some signs attach directly to buildings or fencing, and others are placed out in the open, exposed to the elements.

5. Be Patient

If you're a little hesitant about cleaning your sign, remember that yours is the one that's most visible to your clients. You'd want others to have a well-cared-for sign that lasts as long as possible, so make sure to be patient if you find it difficult to clean or store. If you're having trouble with your sign, look for a professional to help.

6. Clean the Signs Regularly

You can find a multitude of cleaning products for signs and other outdoor materials. These products come in spray bottles, pads, wipes, or other types of solutions that help you to clean your signage. You should follow the directions on the label before using these cleaners on your sign or other metal surfaces. 

Letting your sign sit in one place for too long can cause it to fade over time. Thankfully, you can clean these areas with a soft cloth to bring them back to life. You can also use some vinegar and water to remove dust or fingerprints from your sign. 

If you have a graffiti problem, consider using a product designed for graffiti removal from surfaces such as glass or metal signs. The product should be able to remove the graffiti easily without damaging the surface of your sign. The product might not be long-lasting as the original vinyl on your sign, so it may look dull after using it to remove graffiti.

7. Clean the Areas Around Your Sign

A sign needs to be properly cared for, but so do the areas around it. It's important to clean up any dust and leaves before they accumulate on your sign. If you allow dirt or leaves to collect on your sign, it could result in damaging streaks. While you're busy cleaning your sign and getting rid of any particles, look at the areas around it as well.

Choose Midtown Signs

Midtown Signs is a Midwest sign company in Kansas City, and we are your best option for any sign service you need. We will make sure your signs still look great and last as long as possible by providing our maintenance and upkeep services. From changing light bulbs to buffing out scratches, let us help how we can. 

Contact us today for all of your signage needs! At our Midwest sign company in Kansas City, we also offer complete signage projects, including design, printing, and installation.

How to Use a Custom Sign to Create Ambiance for Your Restaurant

Does your restaurant have a story to share? When you create an ambiance for your restaurant, people tend to immediately think about art, color, flooring, furniture, and so on. However, it's important not to neglect signage. Your restaurant sign is a critical component of your restaurant's overall décor package.

You must have heard the saying, "if these walls could talk…." Guess what? Walls do talk, and everybody listens.

Midtown Signs is a commercial signage company that helps to raise its customers' revenue by creating the best commercial signage in Kansas City as well as the midwest. And your walls (both exterior and interior) are excellent places to share your story with people. Therefore, if you set the scene right and make good on your promises to customers, delivering the goods and services they expect, then your restaurant will be set up for success in your community.

Why Invest in Restaurant Signs for Business Ambiance?

Think outside the box! Allow your brand colors and story to spill over onto the walls, around corners, and across the floors. A commercial signage company will help you set up your business in the following ways:

• Customer experience

• Values

• Brand personality

• Identity

• Messaging

Your brand is unique, after all. Also, what a brand represents is usually intangible. Oftentimes, it's only a feeling. Midtown Signs will manufacture, build, and install the best commercial signage that perfectly encapsulates your restaurant's personality in a physical, three-dimensional, and colorful way.

When you invest in the best restaurant signage, it's a win for everybody – the diners, staff, and restaurant owners. That's because having the proper atmosphere in your store will encourage customers to stay and drink more, eat more, and spend more time in your restaurant.

Additionally, they'll be motivated to share their experience on social media, recommend your restaurant to their friends, and become repeat customers. Word of mouth is the greatest method of marketing at your disposal because it gives your business a more permanent place in your community. In other words, it adds longevity.

Here are more benefits of investing in commercial restaurant signage:

• More foot traffic into your restaurant

• More chances of getting shared across social media

• Better tips from customers

• Happier employees

• Making full use of empty space

• An excellent way to generate word of mouth advertising

• Increase your following on social media

• More drink and food sales

• High-quality design that reflects well on your business

• A high-quality sign will engage and excite customers.

Put Yourself in the Customer's Place

Lots of restaurant owners believe that all that's required is to put up a few signs outdoors, and everyone will just rush inside. However, customers today are too smart for that. While it's true that the customer experience starts in the parking lot, it also will continue once they exit the building (and even when visiting the restrooms).

Ask yourself what you think your customers are feeling when they enter your restaurant? How would you feel when entering a restaurant similar to yours? What sort of things are your customers expecting? Do you meet and exceed their expectations, or just do the bare minimum that's necessary?

Here is a list of signs that are both functional and decorative:

• Floor signage

• Interior signage

• Wall graphics

• Custom outdoor signage

• Façade signage

• Exterior signage

• Hanging signage

• Environmental graphics

• Wayfinding signs

• Ground signage

• Window and door signage

• Storefront signage

When your restaurant's environment matches your branding, its personality will be expressed via color palettes, graphic elements, typography, and brand assets. When used appropriately on the surfaces in your restaurant, diners will feel encouraged to interact.

Dazzle Diners With Colorful Restaurant Signage and Décor

Now, after you've put yourself in your customer's position and thought about some potential types of signage you could use, it's time to get into the nitty-gritty. Let's talk about color psychology and why you should consider the benefits of digital signage for creating ambiance in your restaurant.

Your décor and signage are an excellent method of calling attention to your restaurant as well as conveying what kind of ambiance it has. While décor is nearly always used exclusively for ambiance purposes, signage is used for both decorative and functional reasons (like showing diners how to navigate throughout your restaurant). However, regardless of whether your signage is decorative or functional in nature, ensure that the signage is consistent with the rest of the ambiance you're trying to promote.

The Psychology of Colors

Think of the usage of different colors as a form of subconscious communication with your diners. According to research, colors do affect drinking and eating behaviors. Here's how:

• Orange and yellow make people feel happier and less guilty about eating sweets.

• Blue makes people feel thirsty and encourages ordering drinks.

• Green encourages healthier eating and promotes the use of natural ingredients.

• Red makes people feel hungrier and want to buy more food.

You might think that it's easier said than done to change your restaurant color theme. After all, your restaurant would need new paint, flooring, lighting, and decorations, including furniture. Thankfully, there's a shortcut to doing this, and that is digital signage.

Digital Signage for Creating Restaurant Ambiance

Digital signage is an economical solution, especially for smaller-sized restaurants. It's an easy and quick way to set and change the color theme of the restaurant. Place the signage somewhere that's visible to people eating in the restaurant, at eye level. Doing this removes the need to color the entire restaurant.

Besides the cost benefits, there's another advantage of utilizing digital signs in restaurants. Rather than just plain colors, you can show an array of vivid images belonging to a specific color theme. For example, if using yellow, a smiling girl holding up a bunch of bright yellow balloons will fill people with joy as well as a craving for sweets.

To start with, you can create some digital signage campaigns with both video and music and then play them in your restaurant to witness the effects they have on diners as well as the restaurant staff. These days, digital signage from a commercial signage company will allow you to schedule the campaigns you created for use in playlists! That way, you can play each one at the right time and the right place. 

Why You Should Revamp Your Business This New Year With a Custom Sign

Create the Best First Impression

Usually, your sign will be the first thing a new potential customer will see. Take advantage of this and make the best sign possible. The better their first impression will be, the more likely they will remember your business in the future, and therefore the more likely they will come back again.

1.) Help Customers Find You Easier

Obviously, customers need to be able to discover your business, to begin with. A big sign will attract more people and help them remember where your business is. This will also lead to more repeat business. Your sign should be large and easy enough to read from any viewable angle.

According to a study from BrandSpark/Better Homes and Gardens, 54% of shoppers in the study admitted that they drove by businesses they didn’t know about because the business signs were too small or difficult to read.

Don’t lose out on these potential customers! Get the affordable help of a custom sign company to make you a big, professional, and memorable sign!

Here’s the kind of signage you can expect from a custom sign company like Midtown:

• Large letters that are spaced out properly and in a color that contrasts well with the background. Larger letters that are spaced well are much easier to read compared to smaller letters that are too close together.

• Is positioned in an ideal place. The ideal spot is prominent and easy to view.

• Will be well-lit at night.

• The font will be suitable. It will be easy to read and not over-the-top for your business/industry.

• It will be different from the signs around you to help you stand out from the competition.

• There won’t be any distracting visuals in your sign.

2.) It Can Be the First Indicator of Quality

The aforementioned BrandSpark study also found that 33% of the shoppers mentioned that a high-quality business sign was the main thing that drew them into a store they had never been to before.

Also, 38.5% of shoppers have made assumptions about whether a store was good or not just based on the sign alone! Unclear or unattractive signs repel many new customers every day.

So, ensure that you give potential new customers the best possible first impression of your store. Your product or service might be the best in the world, but if your sign looks ugly and like it was made by amateurs, then customers will likely assume that this applies to your business, too.

 3.) It Pays for Itself

Your business sign is a long-term investment. It pays for itself, and cheaper, low-quality signage will be a net loss in the long run. In some cases, having no signage at all can be preferable to having very low-quality signs.

Even if the cheaper sign is brand new and looks good, after being exposed to the elements for a few years, it’ll show its age. It will look old, dilapidated, and deteriorated. High-quality signage, on the other hand, will still look incredible for much longer than a few years.

4.) Increase Your Brand Exposure

The sign you choose says much about your brand. That’s why a good sign is one of the best ways to show your brand to the public. It’s crucial to make it stand out from the other signs your competitors use and get the attention of potential customers. The goal of your sign should be to communicate a friendly, welcoming, and enticing message from your company.

For your sign, be sure to include your brand colors and get in touch with expert installers so that they can mount it securely, evenly, and with the appropriate amount of spacing. With that, your business sign will make your business stand out and bring more new and repeat customers to your doorstep.

As we said, whenever people look at your sign, they will make some assumptions about your business. You want those assumptions to be positive ones. It’s all about evoking positive emotions such as professionalism, friendliness, reliability, dependability, and confidence.

5.) It’s Cost-Effective Advertising

It’s one of the best ways to cost-effectively advertise your business. While you may think the initial investment is a lot, it’s still better to invest in a quality sign for the reasons mentioned above.

After the sign is created and installed, there aren’t that many upkeep costs required. If the sign was made well and is high quality, then it shouldn’t need that much maintenance, and it will last for several years.

 6.) You’ll Have Constant Passive Marketing 24/7

Everyone loves passive income; well, how about some passive marketing? That’s what quality business signs do. They work for you all day, every day, don’t need to be paid, you get the idea. Your business is being advertised non-stop to anyone who passes by.

Since you’ll want to take advantage of this excellent form of marketing as much as possible, keep it well-lit during nighttime and on darker days.

7.) A Custom Sign Company Can Make Any Customization for You

This may seem like an obvious point, but there are a great many implications and possibilities for custom business signage. We’re talking about almost any layout, color, design, or style you’d like to have – it can be made for you.

You can let your creativity shine through as much as possible or be more conservative in your signage design. Regardless of which approach you prefer, the key is to be different. Most customers who were surveyed preferred to see a greater variety in signage and did not want to see every sign looking the same.

A custom sign company with a team of professional designers can be a great help here. If you plan to keep your business open for many years to come, paying extra for someone who can design an eye-catching and effective sign will be worth far more.

The Difference Between Customizable and Custom-Made

Usually, a business sign is non-customizable after it’s already been made. But, if you instead opt for a customizable custom sign (digital signs, for example), then you’ll be able to quickly and easily change the sign whenever you’d like!