Working on the marketing aspect of your business allows you to discover several effective advertising techniques to use. One such example is the usage of wayfinding signage.
Wayfinding signs refer to any kind of signage that aims to guide and give directional assistance to people. It utilizes symbols, spatial figures, or minimal words to denote direction without doing lengthy and complicated explanations.
Wayfinding does not necessarily need to advertise anything or act as advertisement signage. It can be used by municipalities, theme parks, museums, malls, and other populated or high-traffic locations.
An effective wayfinding sign needs to give an accurate and precise answer to these three questions instantly:
Where am I?
Where is my destination located?
How do I get to my destination? Or How do I get from Point A to Point B
Wayfinding signs have also been widely used by different kinds of companies as a way to advertise their businesses, which, surprisingly, works.
According to FedEx’s latest consumer survey, eight out of ten people entered a store for the first time because that store’s sign caught their eye.
Improve your offline consumer traffic by investing in wayfinding signage. Here are smart reasons why these signs are essential for your business.
1. Improve Brand Awareness and Recognition
Digital marketing may be the new trend in promoting brands and improving its recognition. But that is not enough.
Businesses need to employ the usage of old-school techniques in the print advertisement--such as using signage--to strengthen the efforts made by your digital team.
A high-quality, well-thought, and well-placed wayfinding signs will catch the attention of prospective customers, embedding your brand, products, or services into their minds.
Make an effective visual marketing medium by putting up your signs with your business’s brand name, logo, and easy-to-follow guide or direction.
If they don’t know you or your location, then how will they do business with you? These signs increase brand recognition and direct people right at your doorstep.
2. Direct Human Traffic
Wayfinding signages have four distinct types depending on their use and function. They are as follows:
Informational - gives the general and overall information regarding a large place or business (e.g., facility signs like bathroom, parking area)
Identification - tells a person where they currently are. This is the most common type of sign used by offices and municipalities (e.g., door plaque, landmark signage).
Directional - give guides on how to locate a specific area or get to a particular destination (e.g., directory sign, roads)
Regulatory - inform people of the safety and liability concerns in the area. It also enforces rules, gives safety advice and privacy information (e.g., access control, compliance standard)
Large businesses like malls greatly benefit from using all these types of wayfinding signs to direct human traffic to their respective places effectively. It maintains order and avoids a chaotic crowd.
Medium-sized businesses, such as a large retail store inside a mall, can also benefit from these signages.
It brings comfort and a sense of familiarity with customers. First-time consumers would feel at ease in navigating the store by the presence of wayfinding signs to guide them in their purchase journey.
Moreover, directional signages are efficient customer attractors for small and start-up companies. It can advertise your business from a mile away, guiding prospective buyers and leading them to your store.
3. Increase Employee Productivity
Having these signs plastered strategically within your store helps people find their destination by themselves without interrupting staff now and then.
This would allow your employees to focus their attention on their particular task at hand, without the constant barrage of customers asking for directions.
This frees up more of their time to do productive work on pressing matters and be an efficient worker all in all.
4. Quality Staff and Customer Experience
Your loyal and prospective buyers are not your only sources of money. Efficient and satisfied employees also play a massive role in your business’s sales and growth, and eventually, in its success.
Here’s how wayfinding signs benefit these two crucial components of your business:
Today, customers value experience more than the product itself. They give high regard to companies that put a value on customer service and user-friendliness.
Having signs around the store ensures that customers will comfortably navigate their way to and from or around your store. It eliminates stress and hassle, making it an overall pleasant experience.
Signs also benefit your employees as much as it benefits your customers. It helps them navigate the store with ease, going to their respective places without wasting precious time. This is especially true for large, story-wide businesses.
5. Great Return on Investment
Wayfinding signages might not be the same as wall signs or roll-up banners, but they are still signs. They will function 24/7, advertising your business day in and day out for an affordable price.
They will guide and lead customers to your store, increasing your sales and brand recognition in the process.
Wayfinding signs not only function as guides but also act as an excellent brand promoter provided that you use the right combination of logo, font, color, and graphics.
It will catch customers’ attention, piquing their interests, and imprinting your business onto their consciousness.
Moreover, It reinforces your other marketing efforts--both online and offline--creating a synergistic effect in increasing your sales and growing your business.
Lastly, it proves to be a fantastic and affordable investment for your company’s future contingencies like:
Expansion
Change in administration or selling your company.
Merger
Renovation
6. Safety
A unique benefit of wayfinding signs is its ability to control the crowd, maintain order, and ensure everyone’s safety in the facility or your business place.
It is an invisible commander who gives instructions to people during times of need or emergencies. It may be as small as a bathroom emergency or a large-scale catastrophe like a fire accident.
Conclusion
Wayfinding signs have a great deal of benefits to offer to any kind of business in any industry. It is a cost-effective addition to your business’s marketing efforts, which will definitely yield positive results.