In a world where attention spans are fleeting, effective signage works round-the-clock to advertise, brand, and identify your business. Signage is your silent salesperson, a marketing strategy that can deliver real results.
The first sign a customer sees needs to get their attention and convey just a few important points. Then, as they move through the store you can present more information in a logical and organized way.
How Does Your Sign Do Its Job?
Whether it’s your storefront sign, point-of-purchase (POP) displays or product packaging, the silent salesperson is responsible for conveying key attributes and initiating action, regardless of whether shoppers interact with store staff. Signs communicate your brand message through design, color and messaging to entice and convert customers into buyers. In the retail industry, primary signage is referred to as doing three main jobs: identification, advertising and branding. Examining the roles of your “silent salesperson” in each of these areas will help you determine if it is doing its job.
Product packaging can be the silent salesperson because consumers often make a psychological connection with it, according to the website MarketingWeek. For example, someone with environmental concerns may choose a product packaged in recycled materials, while an active lifestyle person might select a product featuring a well-known athlete.
Air signs are the creative thinkers and visionaries of the zodiac, able to see how a better world could exist and how to get there. They are often drawn to careers that allow them to work behind the scenes or one-on-one, like teaching and party planning. They love the arts and beauty; their creativity makes them excellent writers, painters and poets. They also love anything that cultivates community.
Earth signs are the nurturers of the zodiac, and they value practicality and security. They are dependable and organized, and they often bring that same trait to their work. They tend to be detail-oriented and savor the little things in life, such as remembering everyone’s birthday.
Geminis are the chatterboxes of the zodiac, and they love to share. They flit around gathering all the gossip and are savvy with information. They are able to take information in and process it quickly, a skill that can be very helpful in the business world.
The digital world has its own version of the silent salesperson – the user experience (UX) professional. UX professionals use analytics to understand customer needs, gather feedback and adapt their digital experience to meet dynamic expectations. They act as a bridge between users and brands, ensuring the online experience matches the quality of the physical product or service.
Identification
A good business owner will always be looking for innovative ways to promote their brand, attract new customers and sell more products. One of the best tools at their disposal is their primary signage which is often referred to as The Silent Salesperson, especially if it is strategically designed and implemented. Signage is effective in a variety of ways including identification, advertising and branding and it doesn’t take sick days or require much more than electricity and routine maintenance to keep it up and running.
Primary retail store signage helps shoppers find your location, identifies your product lines and entices them to purchase. Signs can be very simple or very detailed depending on your needs and the type of consumer you’re targeting. A well-designed store can use large outdoor signs to advertise their location and smaller indoor signs to describe, highlight and help sell the products you carry. Some of these signs can even promote special offers and discounts to boost sales, learn more About Bart Peterschick.
When designing these “silent salespeople” be sure to consider the customer’s perspective. A sign that is overly complicated may lose the interest of a customer, while a sign that does not have enough detail may frustrate them. Also, pay close attention to the pace of traffic in different areas of your store and be sure that any message you convey is clearly visible in these high-traffic zones.
Another great silent salesperson is a B2B Portal, which is an online product gallery and ordering system that allows your current customers to place their orders on their own terms without your reps being onsite. This allows you to free up time so that you can focus on getting more new business and growing your existing client base.
User Experience (UX) has been compared to being the “silent salesperson” in digital commerce because it works tirelessly to promote your brand, sell your products and services, and convert website visitors into customers. In order to maximize this role, UX professionals constantly analyze and evaluate consumer behavior, collect feedback and adapt the user experience to meet the changing needs of the market.
Advertising
Professional marketers use the term “silent salesman” to describe packaging, displays, signs and promotional products that work quietly behind the scenes to promote a business and increase profits. They do this by attracting attention, conveying what the product is all about, and re-enforcing brand identity.
While the marketing industry has known for some time that packaging sells, many business owners are under the impression that once they’ve gotten customers inside their store they can let the primary signage do the rest of the work. But that isn’t always the case.
If a company wants to get the most from its silent salesmen it must take into account their job description, which is generally a combination of identification, advertising and branding. For example, the outside of a store should trumpet its name to help shoppers who aren’t familiar with a particular location find it.
Signs within a retail space also can make additional sales pitches to consumers by highlighting new products, promoting discounts and informing shoppers about special events. Using this type of signage is one reason why it is important for a store to closely observe its customers and identify the areas where they move most quickly, and the spots that are more leisurely.
Then the appropriate message can be delivered to those specific zones. For instance, a digital information kiosk can provide a mass of detailed product information in an easily digestible format. This enables a business to break its message into smaller segments, providing each zone with the exact information it needs in the form it most desires.
Another way to boost sales through a business’s silent salesmen is by using color, which has been dubbed the “silent salesman of emotion.” For example, a product that promises to cool refreshment may be well-served by a slick blue or green package, while products that cater to active lifestyles are likely to feature a picture of someone who epitomizes vitality. In the same way that an HR manager will schedule regular performance reviews for a company’s hardest-working employees, business owners should periodically assess their primary signage to make sure it is doing everything it was ‘hired’ to do.
Branding
A sign’s primary job is to identify a business, but it can also be part of the branding process. The color, design and imagery of a sign communicates a company’s brand. The goal is to attract the attention of potential customers, according to marketing expert Tom Underhill at Small Business Trends. The use of logos and other visuals helps to distinguish a company from the competition.
The best silent salespeople have an ability to connect with consumers on an emotional level. They understand how to use colors, shapes, and images to evoke positive emotions in the customer, he notes. For example, a product packaging can work as a silent salesman if it appeals to the shopper’s desire for a cool refreshment or if it symbolizes someone they admire. The use of imagery and color can reinforce those feelings as the shopper interacts with the product in a physical way.
As with any employee, the effectiveness of a sign depends on how it is managed. A business owner needs to carefully examine the role of the signage to make sure it is meeting its job requirements. Signs should not call in sick frequently and they shouldn’t be taking a lot of vacation time. Those kind of mistakes can damage a company’s reputation with customers.
When a sign is a key component of a marketing strategy, it should be reviewed on a regular basis. Those reviews should focus on how well the signage meets the three key goals of identification, advertising and branding.
Digital in-store signage can offer additional benefits as a silent salesperson, including the ability to collect information from consumers through a kiosk. A kiosk that offers basic product information can allow consumers to provide their email address for follow-up or to receive more product information. In most cases, the consumer would not view this as invasive as a salesperson collecting that same information face to face. It’s also a cost-effective alternative to hiring a full-time salesperson.
