Introduction
For any business, LED signs are an effective part of their advertising strategy, and works well towards creating brand awareness and attracting passers by to turn into potential customers. LED signs are also very cost effective, portable and easy to install. However, all these benefits can only be redeemed if you use your signage correctly. Here are some Do’s and Don’ts for indoor LED signs to be followed by your business in order to make the most of your indoor signage.
Do’s
- Select the right placement for the sign
For a sign to be successful, it is important to determine how your message will be seen and who is your target audience? Does your organization have busy counters with queuing up customers? Does your business require customers to wait to be served? Does your business sell products which boast a lot of features that customers should be aware of? With this information, you can figure out which part of your store or service-oriented organization should you place the indoor LED sign. It is also a good idea to test the signage for any visual obstructions.
- Use suitable colors and fonts
You color palette is meant to complement your content. Study the color wheel for hues that work well with certain emotions and use your colors accordingly. Foreground and background contrast also has to be chosen carefully. White on black or black on white are safe contrasts as opposed to blue on green or yellow on orange.
As for fonts, the one rule that should apply is legibility. Fancy fonts can be hard to read, which will make your signage go for a complete waste. Hence it is best to play safe and use simple fonts that are easy to read.
- Keep messaging brief and concise
Businesses doing regular print and web advertising often make the mistake of using the same content for their digital signage. But the amount of text, images, and messaging overall may be too much to be displayed on an LED screen. Although you may come across software which will automatically transform this content for your digital screen, it is best to do this with the help of a graphics expert and see the result. There is a ‘message preview’ feature that you can use to see how the end result of your content will look.
If you are looking to create content from scratch, remember – relevant, brief and concise – are three important criteria to keep in mind. Viewers are not going to read more than a headline if they see too much text on the screen; they will just move past it without a doubt. If you want to engage viewers, your content MUST be relevant, brief and concise.
- Be creative
Custom LED signs are the best way to be creative and attract a larger audience. Don’t go for generic signs that read ‘restaurant’ or ‘bank’ as these won’t help your business as much. Although custom signs are more costly, it brings in a lot more revenue for your business, and that is definitely worth the price you pay. When people see a generic sign, it won’t attract them that much because there is no incentive for them to enter your business.
- Use high-quality components and graphics
You want a sign that is going to last a long time and plastic LED lighted signs will do just that. Although LED signage is a heavy investment, don’t think twice about purchasing high quality components because these will last for at least ten years, with minimum maintenance required.
In addition to the components, it is also important to make sure the content is aesthetically pleasing. Only someone with a designing background will have that knowledge. Go that extra mile and make a great sign if you want it to be a big success!
Dont’s
- Place the sign too high or too far away
Within your indoor space, a digital sign should be placed at eye level as people are usually walking about from one place to another. If you place your sign too high, it will go unnoticed. It is also no point placing the sign in a faraway area which is not visited by customers, visitors, or staff. Make an observation of where most foot traffic occurs, and mount the sign at a decent height in that area.
- Don’t add unrelated information
Relevancy is key. Excess information will end up being unrelated. Hence it is necessary to prioritize what information is important and mention only that. For example, the business name is a must, but in the case of indoor LED signs, address, email, website and phone number is not essential because at that point, the customers are already inside your store. In fact, just a quick online search will provide them with all this information.
- Don’t use low quality signs
Businesses investing in an LED sign must not make the mistake of compromising quality for price. With low quality materials, there is a higher chance that your sign will not last for that long. The LED lighting may fade away, there may be other electrical and flickering problems and as for the sign itself, the frame may begin to chip.
In fact, indoor signs are the first thing people see when they enter your store/organization. Low quality, cheap and broken signs will create a bad first impression and will not show professionalism. Visitors will think that you are not putting much effort into making your business look good.
- Don’t blend in with surroundings
In a mall for example, almost every business has their own indoor signage. If you want your signage to stand out during day time and at night, make sure it is a well lit sign and has high levels of brightness. Look around and see the colors that are more commonly used by your competitors. Try to use different colors in your sign design so that customers spot your sign first.
