One of the best ways to get attention and spread your message or your brand is to use the right kind of LED sign. Signage, from the church marquee to the electronic message boards for schools to the scrolling marquee signs for businesses, is an effective way to reach a community. Here’s why, and a few tips on how to design just the right message.
Why Signs Work
Studies show that 35% of people would never have discovered a business without the sign, and other studies have shown that adding or improving signage for businesses results in direct sales revenue improvement. Just adding a sign to the wall in front of a store is associated with nearly an 8% increase in revenue. And since 85% of the average business’s customers are living or working five miles around it, it pays to reach those people with great scrolling marquee signs or other eye-catching outdoor LED signs. When asked, 71% of people say they often look at roadside signage of all kinds, and 37% say they look at outdoor advertisements nearly every time they pass one. Make sure they’re seeing yours!
Know Your Audience
As you design the right message for your scrolling marquee signs, it’s crucial to think about who is going to see it. Are you playing to pedestrians or to drivers, or both? Are there any points near you where traffic stops? You’ll also need to know the speed limit outside your location, as speed determines how large a sign needs to be and how long a message can be in order to be read. You also need to make sure that you haven’t overlooked a visual obstruction of some kind that could make it hard to read your sign. Don’t forget: trees grow and seasons change. Periodically check that it’s still easy to read your sign.
Design Content Sized for Your Sign
With scrolling marquee signs, the temptation is to put in too long a message or too many graphics. It’s important to remember that computer displays are different from LED. What looks great on a computer screen with millions of pixels may not even be recognizable on your LED screen. Also, remember that with some scrolling marque signs it’s possible to have two different messages on the two sides. If one side has traffic stopped at an intersection, you could have a longer message there. If traffic on the other side doesn’t stop, consider using multiple lines of static text instead of a scroll, as this will be easier for drivers to read.
Use Automatic Brightness
Don’t make the mistake of trying to remember when and how to turn up and down the brightness of your sign. During the day, the sun will wash out dimmer settings, but at night drivers will come away annoyed with a sign that’s glaringly bright. Let the sign adjust to the brightness it perceives around it. This will not only maximize the effectiveness of your signage but also maximize the lifespan of the sign and its bulbs.
Vary Your Message
You can schedule special messages for certain times of day or for specific days. This can be really helpful if you want to reach a target audience, such as the sort of people who are up and about early on a weekend morning, or the people stuck in rush hour traffic during the week. It also allows you to serve the community by updating things like temperature or time, or by offering support for local teams, events, or even charities. And whatever you do, make sure you’re updating the messages on your signs regularly! Stale content makes your organization seem out of touch. Be sure especially to remove outdated information, like sports scores, yesterday’s weather, or holiday greetings, in a timely fashion.
Your signage is a great way to engage with the community and get your message out there. A good LED sign company can set you up with just the right display for your organization. Once you have it up, follow these tips to make sure your message is clear and fresh.
