We live in a world where new products, services and innovations appear at an ever-increasing pace. The market has grown accustomed to this bombardment, and expects it to happen regularly and easily.

A small business or retail establishment just cannot afford to lag behind in this race: there is a constantly-increasing need for it too, to change and evolve its business strategy to keep up with market expectation.

A status quo is no longer profitable. In business, change is the only constant. But change in itself is not enough. You need to let your market know about it – in an effective manner. So, Ring in Your New Sign, and Ring out the Old!

Upgrading is not enough

It is essential for you to renovate regularly your retail space, and the products and the services you offer. But by itself, this is not enough, for the simple reason that your competitors too, do the same. Even if you fare much better than all your competitors in business, no impact will be perceptible unless you tell your market about it – and do it effectively.

A really great new product or showroom will not bring in more business unless people know that you are offering it. Advertising is important, but it is costly and has its limitations. An ad, whether in print or electronic media, has a fleeting presence and even the best of them have only limited recall value. And how long can you afford to keep putting out your ads?

Your sign: the cost-effective messenger

An ad, after repeated viewings, becomes dull, boring and even irritating. Think about the numerous ads that irritate and repel you? How often have you seen them? Is their regular repetition a major cause for your disliking them? Large corporate houses have huge advertising budgets, and can keep on churning out new ads on a regular basis. Small business owners just cannot afford to do this.

The use of a sign as the cost-effective messenger is an entirely different proposition: it has an aura of permanence and ever-lasting impact. It can, over time, become a prominent landmark of a trade area, and turn out to be both a conscious and subconscious constant reminder of your brand. It has even the potential of a standalone trademark.

Signs rarely become irritants. If a sign you see regularly on your drive to work disappears, perhaps you may feel that something is missing. In terms of cost effectiveness, there is nothing that can beat a well-placed and well-designed sign as your brand ambassador.

The old cannot support the new

The permanence of a sign is definitely a most positive virtue; however, an old sign cannot support a revamped business or new product line. Stability and permanence are great assets that inspire confidence in customers. But they cannot counter the attraction and effect of something that heralds a new order.

When you are ready to launch new products/services, you need to tell the market about them. That means your great ambassador – the old sign – necessarily has to undergo transformation. That requires a balance between reminding customers of who you are, and at the same time telling them that an old trusted friend now has something new to offer them.

Yes! Investing in new signage does involve considerable expense. But it is, at any time, much less than other ways of spreading the word about your new line of products/services. An investment in new signage to support the changes you have made in your business is certainly worthwhile: it will surely bring in the best returns.

There is no cost-effective way of providing information to your market other than a sign. While the information the sign offers is crucial, the way it is presented is equally important. A professional sign-making company will be able to create the right type of sign to spread word about the changes you have made in your business, and attract the walk-ins and trade enquiries your business needs.