As a business owner, when you hear the words digital marketing, what comes to mind? Google, Facebook, search queries, PPC, and more advertising lingo, right? Well, it turns out that even though your outdoor sign is considered traditional marketing, it actually has a lot in common with your digital marketing efforts.
1. Both Brand Your Business
Your online presence contributes to your overall brand A LOT. Think about the way your website is designed, the tone of voice your social media posts use, and how you handle online reviews. All of those aspects shape your brand.
Just like digital marketing, sign marketing is a huge part of your company’s branding. Your sign’s colors, typography, and context all reflect your brand. That means if your outdoor signage is lacking in quality, potential customers may use that against your company’s brand.
An outdoor sign is one of the first things a customer notices about your business and judges your brand by it. A website may have the same effect for customers who are not physically at your shop. That means that both your digital marketing efforts and your outdoor signage need to be in sync and uphold superior quality to help attract the most customers to your business.
2. Both Must Attract Customers at a Glance
When someone checks out your sign, you have their attention for about three to five seconds. After that, you’ve either won them or lost them. That’s why your signage needs to be sharp, clear, and concise to make a lasting impact.
The same goes for your digital marketing efforts. Did you know most users stay on a website for 30 seconds or less? And when it comes to competitive digital marketing strategies like Google Ads and social media posts, you have even less time to make an impression.
Both your digital marketing and your signage need to be effective in that they get your message across to consumers as quickly as possible. Overly wordy signs don’t yield a great ROI just like a three paragraph Facebook post will probably be read by no one. When it comes to marketing, you must keep everything short and sweet. As Michael Scott would say, Keep It Simple, Stupid!
3. Both Need a Good Location
No matter if you’re dealing with traditional marketing or digital marketing, both types of advertising need to reach the right people at the right time to be effective.
When it comes to your signage, are you putting any thought into where your signs are placed? If you’re using billboards, are they being shown in areas where consumers are likely to become your customers? Is your outdoor signage strategically placed to entice pedestrians to come into your place of business?
These same questions can be applied to your digital marketing efforts. Are you posting on social media at the right times to reach the right audience? Are your Google Ads showing to people when they’re most likely to convert into a sales lead?
If you’re not considering the location of your marketing tactics, then you may be missing out. Whether it be a billboard or a social media post, location makes a huge difference.