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Reading Room Articles
Signs are one of the most efficient and effective marketing tools available
to us. Most of us depend heavily on the signs around our communities to help
generate traffic -- which is probably why drive-by numbers are so high among
our marketing sources, even for communities that are "off the beaten path".
Signs have a great deal of influence when it comes to defining a community's
image. They're so powerful, in fact, that it's difficult to estimate the full
extent of their influence. Other advertising media depend heavily upon the focused
attention of the person receiving the message, but signs can effectively communicate
on more than one level. They can both convey a specific message, and create
a "mood". Their primary purpose may be informational, but it's not
necessary that they receive focused attention in order to convey meaning.
Signs perform three major communication functions for your community:
- Signs give information about your community and direct people to your leasing
center. Your community's signage is the most effective way of reaching future
residents on the move. In this capacity, they can help correct a poor location
by substituting effective Communication for poor site characteristics. If
your community is "off the beaten path" and out of sight, perhaps
off of a busy traffic artery, a sign on a busy street a few blocks away effectively
becomes your community's face to the world, and it's primary means of drawing
and directing traffic to your community.
- Signs are street advertising. They immediately identify your community to
anyone who passes, and reach out to future residents with a message of who you
are and what you provide.
- Signs strongly contribute to your community's overall image. They convey
not only who you are, but what sort of an atmosphere a visitor can expect to
experience within your community. Through effective use of materials and design,
signs can draw a correlation between your community and a particular theme or
lifestyle, or help you reach a specific segment of the market.
The Big Picture View
On-site signage is your most effective and efficient means of communication
with both residents and future residents because it's comparatively inexpensive,
available, practical, easy to use, and always on the job! Signage works as an
integral part of your overall advertising program, which also includes radio,
newspapers, apartment publications, marketing calls, billboards, and internet
presence.
We judge the effectiveness of each of these marketing tools according to six
basic criteria:
(1) coverage of the area, or reach
(2) repetition of a message
(3) readership of a message
(4) cost per thousand exposures of a message
(5) availability
(6) ease of use
Here's how signs measure up to these criteria:
- Signs are oriented to your area. They don't waste resources by requiring
you to pay for wasted advertising coverage. The people who most often see your
signs are the people who already live or work in your area, and are likely to
fit your resident profile.
- Signs are always on the job, repeating your message to potential residents,
twenty-fours a day, seven days a week, week after week, month after month, year
after year. They reinforce your message like no other media can.
- Nearly everyone reads signs, making them an extraordinarily practical means
of communication. Studies have shown that people really do read and remember
what they read on signs. When special items are displayed to convey an even
more specific message, traffic increases.
- Signs are inexpensive. When compared to the cost of advertising in many other,
more active media, the average on-premise sign is very inexpensive. There is
no better advertising dollar value than your on-site sign.
- Signs are widely available and easy to put into place. Other than occasional
maintenance, they require no administration. There are no scheduling concerns
or unpredictable fees, and can be used virtually wherever and however you please.
- Signs are easy to use, requiring no special resources or operation (other
than flipping a light switch and keeping them in good repair). Once the initial
expenditures are made, no special resources or professional services are needed.
You need only maintain your sign.
What a fantastic return on investment! Here's one more tip to consider when using
signs to define and complement your community's image. Ernest Dwight, President
of SouthWood Corporation, says "Although the identification sign is the most
important for the apartment community, anyone responsible for the community's
environmental impact needs to think in terms of a sign system rather than
an individual or unrelated batch of signs. The signs should complement, not compete,
with each other."
If you'd like expert assistance in upgrading or developing your community's
signage, here are two of our favorite sources:
E & S Marketing Resources, Inc., 4903 E. 23rd St., Indianapolis, IN 46218,
Phone: (317) 545-8043, Fax: (317) 545-4255, Point of contact: Sherri Stawick,
Marketing Specialist
SouthWood Corporation, P.O. Box 410888, Charlotte, NC 28241-0888, Phone: (800)
727-6884, Fax: (704) 588-5017, Point of contact: Gene McLaughlin, Senior Territory
Manager, e-mail: swoodcorp@aol.com
As Chief Imagination Officer of The Sales & Marketing Magic
Companies, Tami Siewruk shares more than 20 years of experience in multifamily
housing, encompassing leasing, marketing, management, training, authoring, consulting,
developing, and Brainstorming! For more information on Tami's newsletter, Sales
& Marketing Magic for Apartment Managers; the latest Tools & Forms
Catalogue; The Annual Multifamily Housing Brainstorming Sessions™; or
to receive Tami's top ideas, FREE, via e-mail, please call 727-784-9469 or visit
www.SMMOnline.com.
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Equal Housing Opportunity.