Marketing budgets have limits, no matter how big or small your company might be. How much of that budget should be allocated to the most basic and most important marketing tools – your signage?
To answer that, we must look at where signage fits into your overall marketing plan, how it affects your brand recognition, and how it enhances your overall customer experience. Signage can:
- Represent your brand
- Provide convenient communication opportunities
- Guide your customers
- Enhance your décor
- Provide instruction
- Make a customer experience easier for the disabled
- And more
In short, we need to view signage holistically as part of an overall business plan. Then, calculate the return on your investment based on your signage's impact on your overall business.
Your signage represents your brand. As you would consider the return on your investment for any marketing tool, consider how your customers and potential customers will engage with your signage and what your end goal for that tool is. Consider how consumers relate to brands like Nike or Starbucks. Do you wish for your customers to equate your brand signage with quality or a specific experience? Do you want them to identify themselves as part of your brand as Harley Davidson riders do? Consider the B2B world of manufacturing and the quality and reliability that your brand indicates to customers.
Depending on the industry, a small – medium B2B business will spend 2-8% of its revenue on overall marketing. Business signage may be part of that sum along with direct marketing expenses, employee salaries, research, training, analytics, and so on. B2C businesses will typically spend a little more on marketing and advertising.
What Factors Affect Your Signage Budget?
Several factors affect the cost of creating and installing business signs. It’s recommended that you plan well and allow flexibility within your signage budget for variations, upgrades, or issues associated with location.
Design and Fabrication
Companies like Lemberg offer design services and can manage the fabrication of your sign. Your project manager will guide you through this process. Working with a designer, you’ll be able to visualize your sign before it is created, getting a clear sense of shape, size, and even how it will fit within the intended space. They can advise you on the costs of different materials, design options and installations.
You’ll have the opportunity to create something economical and straightforward or to create something unique. There are many options available for the design of your sign, including lighting, shape, and digital message integration.
Your designer will help you choose the type of sign that best meets the purpose and location of your sign. You’ll want your sign to be the very best representation of your brand. If your sign will be located outside, your designers will help you meet the requirements of your municipality as well as make sure your sign is made from materials that will withstand the weather and other elements such as road salt. The value of a good designer and project manager cannot be underestimated.
Installation
Once your sign is designed and fabricated, it is ready for installation. The costs associated with installation depend upon the sign's location and whether that location has been appropriately prepared. For example, additional costs will likely apply if your sign is to be lighted or to have an integrated digital message center and your location is not outfitted with electrical service. Additionally, suppose your sign is in a challenging location such as a crowded urban location or high overhead. In that case, your installers may require special equipment or special permitting to close off public areas for safety – all of which have costs associated with them.
Length of Use, Seasonality
If you have a seasonal business, your signage will reflect that in size, shape, and construction. Businesses that are renting space in multi-unit commercial locations such as malls, strip malls, commercial office buildings, and similar spaces will have special rules and possibly more temporary circumstances.
On the other hand, if yours is an established business in a location where you can enjoy some permanence, substantial signage will convey reliability as nothing else can.
What Can You Expect to Pay for Signage?
Depending on your industry, competition, marketing plan, sales goals, location, and municipality, your signage plan could include a budget as low as a few hundred dollars or as high as nearly $8-10k. There are so many factors, as we noted above, that affect the cost of signage - design, fabrication, installation – but to provide some framework, we’ve broken the range down into three groups.
The High End: If you’ve got a location that will make installation difficult, or a complicated design with all the extra bells and whistles of convenience in messaging, as with an integrated digital display, or removable panels as with a large multi-tenant monument sign, or signs made from specialty materials, you should expect to be near the higher end of the expense range.
The Middle of the Road: In the middle range are signs that may be lighted, or of significant size but have a simple design. LED-lit channel letters or other building-mounted signage can be some of the most affordable and most effective signage. They pack a punch with the audience but not with the budget.
The Low End: A small budget can still afford some very effective signage. At the low end are temporary signage, banners, and vinyl wraps. These can be useful marketing tools, especially when taking your business on the road.
What Your Sign Professional Needs to Know
Before asking your sign professional what your signage budget needs to be, it is important to have an idea of what you can afford and assemble your wish list. Knowing your preferences and gaining some familiarity with what is possible for your location and your design will provide a good foundation for your sign design team.
Notice your competitor’s signage. How elaborate are they? Do you feel they are effective at representing the brand or sending the message? Are they missing features that would enhance the message or brand? What about the signs or their location do you like? Are they lighted or have digital displays?
Collect images of the signs that you like. Notice the colors, the fabrication, location, and even the design. Be sure to collect your images at different times of day or night and in different weather. Notice which colors are easier to see or which locations command more attention.
Visit websites like Lemberg’s to learn about the different types of signs and choices for fabrication. Have a “wish list” of features you’d like to see in your sign. Even if your signage budget can’t manage everything on your list, a good designer can work to get you close and still stay within your budget.
Check out Lemberg’s Sign page for helpful information!
Study your own logo. Is it conducive to creating a unique sign or will a more basic sign be best? Is it text heavy or use a symbol? What are your brand colors?
Understand what the purpose of your sign is. Is your sign simply a symbol for your brand, or do you want to use it to communicate different messages such as retail specials, hours of operation, or event information?
Notice the other signs around your business. Are they all the same height or same setback from the main road? Both may indicate municipal restrictions, which your sign professional can help with during installation. Which ones stand out to you or fade into the background and why?
Contact your sign provider and ask for images or locations of signs they’ve produced in the past. Does their style of work reflect the kind of work you need? Have they done projects like yours? For example, Lemberg offers a map of various digital signage they’ve designed and installed in the past. The map allows potential customers to not only see a variety of signs, but also to see signs in their area.
Understand your signage budget – today’s and tomorrow’s. Even if you cannot afford a digital display now, you can plan for one later. Your designer can help create a design that allows an integrated digital display in the future. Knowing your plan can save you money in the long run.
There's a lot to think about when deciding how much money to put aside for your signage budget. If you're looking for more in-depth information on choosing the best signage, download our Ultimate Guide to Business Signage.
Our guide covers:
- Types of Business Signs
- Prominent Types of Lighted Signs
- Business Sign Construction Options
- Business Sign Care
- And more!
If you have questions or already have a business sign in mind and would like to discuss further details contact us online or give us a call at 262-781-1500.
