Making Your Signs Memorable | Signarama Kearny Mesa

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According to the dictionary, memorable is an adjective that means “worth remembering or easily remembered, especially because of being special or unusual.” While your business can certainly make itself memorable through its quality products and services, you have to get customers through the door before that can happen—which is why having signs that are memorable is so important.

In many cases, signs are going to provide the initial impression of your business, so you want to make sure they accurately reflect your image and the type of experience you have in store for customers. Here are a few tips on creating signage that’s memorable:

• Include a slogan. Make it succinct and easy to remember, so people can recognize it within a few seconds. For instance, a hamburger joint might note, “Best burgers in town” and a candy store might proclaim, “Your spot for sweets.”
• Use color. You don’t have to go wild with hues in the neon family, but adding color to signs, for the lettering or even the background, will make them more noticeable and inviting.
• Create a unique graphic. Budget-conscious businesses may use stock images, but if you can afford it, you should engage a professional to design a graphic that can be easily associated with your business.
• Go glossy. Disregard this tip if you want to blend into your surroundings, but if you want to stand out from the crowd, it’s never a bad thing to make your signs glossy. They may even look more expensive.
• Understand that size matters. “Go big or go home” might be appropriate when it comes to sign size. Staying within the confines or any local regulations, of course, you can make a more lasting impression simply by having a bigger sign.

Our team will work hard to ensure your signs are memorable. We can help if you’re just starting out or you need a sign refresh.

www.sdsar.com

Making Your Signs Memorable | Signarama Kearny Mesa

Making a Strong Impression at Trade Shows | Signarama - Kearny Mesa

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In the cluttered environment of a trade show floor, how can you make sure attendees stop by your booth? In other words, how can you entice people to learn about your company by presenting a display that’s engaging and stands out from your competition?

It can be a challenge, but here are a few suggestions:

• Think “billboard” rather than collage, choosing one or two large photos that will grab the attention of those passing by.
• Complement your photo(s) with a short sentence that explains what the company does. Less is more with regard to copy.
• Take advantage of your location. You might consider using banner stands to direct attendees to your booth or a hanging banner that can be seen from across the floor.
• Create a display that’s as unique as possible, choosing from among the many designs available. 
• Choose bold colors like red, green, yellow, and orange. Stay away from neutrals like brown, tan, beige, and white.

Also, make sure your trade show booth isn’t dated and doesn’t look like it’s been through a war. It’s quite normal to try to use booths and the elements contained in them for as long as possible, but you want to refresh or even replace when necessary.

Signarama - Kearny Mesa can help with your trade-show display needs.

www.sdsar.com

Making a Strong Impression at Trade Shows | Signarama - Kearny Mesa

Video: Google Whiteboard video for Signarama - Kearny Mesa

www.sdsar.com

Video: Google Whiteboard video for Signarama - Kearny Mesa

SBA Thoughts on Signs from Signarama Kearny Mesa

The Small Business Administration (SBA) weighs in on many issues that are important to owners of small businesses, including signage. “Why do I need a sign for my business?” is one of the questions posed on its website—and here are the primary reasons listed:

• Signs are the most effective, yet least expensive, form of advertising for the small business.
• A sign is your introduction and handshake with those passing by, identifying your business to existing and potential customers.
• Signs are always on the job for you, advertising 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
• People often judge a business by how it looks on its sign.
• Many merchants increase their business measurably just by adding a good sign.

Conversely, many have gone out of business because they simply weren’t identified well, so not enough potential customers knew of their existence. As one sign industry professional put it, “A business without a sign is a sign of no business.” 

•  We live in a mobile society. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18% of households relocate each year. As your customers move, you need to replace them by attracting new customers.

If you don’t have signage, or perhaps what you have needs an update, there’s no time like the present to sit down with us and review your specific needs. Signarama Kearny Mesa can counsel you on what kind of signs will work best for your type of business and your location, how many you should have, how big they should be, and how they should be designed.

It’s a new year—so why not celebrate with a new sign!

www.sdsar.com

SBA Thoughts on Signs from Signarama Kearny Mesa

4 Social Media Tips to Start 2014 Off Right

By Olivia Cole | Business 2 Community – Thu, Dec 26, 2013 3:24 PM EST  

2014 is right around the corner, and you’re probably making all kinds of New Year’s resolutions for your marketing  strategy to start the New Year off right. As always, we want to help. Because we’re helpful. So here are a couple tips from  the social media angle that are a great way to launch a new year of social media success.   

Interact on Google+
You know, you know. Google+ is the hot spot for amazing SEO. At this point, it’s been blasted from the rooftops. But are  you actually using it? Honestly? If you’re posting daily, great. But you can do more, and you should be doing more, in  2014. Use it to engage with people: customers, influencers, industry professionals, celebrities. (Okay, maybe not  celebrities. Unless it’s a marketing celebrity. Because those are cool.) These days, everyone is on Twitter. So many people  are on Twitter, in fact, that engagement can be overwhelming. And while you should still be engaging on Twitter,  overwhelming or not, you should take some of that energy and put it into Google+ engagement too. It’s a little quieter  and is a great place to spark meaningful dialogue.   

Pay Attention to Facebook Interest Lists
Facebook still isn’t the number one place to generate leads, but it remains a great place to develop fans, and it will be  even better for you when you utilize Facebook Interest Lists. If you want to create content that appeals to the people you  want as customers, you must ask yourself, “What pages do my fans actually like?” Facebook Graph Search is a handy  tool for this. You can search using strings like:

1. Pages liked by people who like [your page] 
2. Pages liked by women who like [your page] 
3. Pages liked by men who like [your page] 
4. Fans of [your page] and [another page] 
5. Restaurants in [your city] visited by people who like [your page] 
6. Pages like by people who live in [your city] and like [your page]

These can give you some great data about what your fans look at and what they enjoy reading so that you can give them  more of the same. Give the people what they want! Also, don’t neglect Page Insights on Facebook. Paying attention to  who is most likely to engage with your content will give you stronger content foundation as well.   

Get Serious About Guest Blogging 
Blogging is a big part of your social media strategy and next to “Blog more!” one of the most important things to  remember is reach. You want your blog to reach as many eyeballs as possible, and guest blogging is an excellent way to  make this happen. So not only should you be looking for guest blogging opportunities in 2014, you should  be actively looking for guest blogging opportunities in 2014. Here’s a great guide for using Google Advanced Search for  tracking down opportunities and you should read it.   

Start Making Videos Regularly
This isn’t about going viral, ladies and gents. This is about an additional dimension of content marketing that you should  approach with the same consistency as you do your blogs. Why? Because in 2013, video constituted 50% of mobile  wireless network traffic and is expected to rise to 66% by 2017. Because YouTube is now 28% of all Google searches.  Because an Internet user watches 186 videos on average each month. Because visitors continue navigating your website  for an average extra two minutes after watching video content. You get the picture. So put in the time and effort. Make  some video.  We hope this helps, even a little bit, as you approach your social media in 2014.

www.sdsar.com

4 Social Media Tips to Start 2014 Off Right

Season's Greetings from Signarama Kearny Mesa

www.sdsar.com

Season's Greetings from Signarama Kearny Mesa

Take Advantage of the Holidays With Themed Signage

Holidays take place all year long, but we all know that when retailers refer to “the holidays,” they’re talking about right now—the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas—when many of them make a high percentage of their sales. How can you cut through the holiday clutter and make sure customers come your way? Here are a few tips:

• Make your storefront more festive with signs that celebrate the season, providing a subtle reminder that gifts need to be purchased.
• Don’t forget about showcasing special sales; you’d be surprised at how many customers will be drawn to you—even if they’ve never shopped there before—when they learn about your great holiday deals.
• Consider a “countdown” sign that reminds people at the dwindling amount of time they have to prepare for the big day, purchasing gifts as well as getting ready to host family celebrations.
• Make sure you post signage that informs customers of your holiday hours. Many extend their hours at this time of year…but your customers need to know that, as well as when you might be closed around the holidays.
  
• How about posting a sign that outlines your exchange/return policy? People may feel more comfortable buying gifts if they know they can be easily exchanged or returned.
• Decide whether you want to use “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas” on signage, and be ready to defend your decision. It’s not really a matter of right or wrong, but Christmas is not a holiday celebrated universally.

We have lots of experience creating holiday signs for customers, and we’d be happy to assist you as well. Time’s a wasting!

www.sdsar.com

Take Advantage of the Holidays With Themed Signage