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So, you’re about to start a new marketing push for your business or a particular product and you’re reading this blog post, so I’m going to assume you’re serious about using yard signs are part of the overall marketing strategy. Good for you! Besides being very cost effective, yard signs can be a great way to spread the word about your business/product locally – giving you a local feel that adds great value to your message in a lot of customer’s eyes.
While making sure you design your signs correctly, using this excellent guide if I say so myself (semi-sorry for the other-blog-post-plug), the creation of the signs is only really half of the planning needed; the next part is where are you going to put them and IF you’re able to.
Don’t take the below tips and more than just tips, they should help you with starting your research of where you can put your yard signs at.
Public Property
When looking for locations to put your yard signs, don’t just decide willy-nilly on those locations – there could be restrictions, or worse, laws that could result in fines or other forms of punishment. Once you’ve decided on those locations, be sure to reach out to the city, county, and even state government to make sure there are rules that would restrict your placement.
As an example Thorton, Colorado has quite light restrictions on yard signs. There is no fee to place a sign and the sign can only be up between the hours of 5:00 am on Fridays through 7:00 am on Mondays. Signs can’t be larger than 6 square feet in size (which is quite large, and larger than signs we sell.)
Many locations across the country are going to have similar laws and rules as Thorton. A quick online search and/or a phone call to your local municipalities will get you headed in the right direction.
One possible strategy is to target areas with high demand for a better service. You could hire some additional help to get them to put out in the right locations or you and your existing team could do it yourselves after every sale or installation. You'll know how effective the signs are by getting a call tracking service for the phone number you display on the signs. By keeping track of when and where your signs are placed and checking to see how many phone calls are being generated, you'll be able to identify the highest demand from your local markets.
Private Property
Ask the owner.
There isn’t much else to say when it comes to putting a yard sign on private property. Just ask. If you get a “no” then you need to move on to another location, but if you get a “yes” move on to working with the owner of where you can place it. That pretty much sums up the basic requirement for placing yard signs on private property. If you don't get permission from the owner, don't put out the signs. It's really that simple.
Take a few minutes to review these pointers with each member of your team:
As people drive or walk by, they'll notice if a sign isn't standing up straight from all angles. It seems petty, but it makes a better first impression when the sign isn't leaning at an angle. It also makes the signs easier to read from a distance.
If the property owner has a small or regular sized yard, one sign neatly placed in a good spot will most likely be sufficient to draw enough attention to their property. If the owner has a large yard or even several acres of land, it's best to be strategic and spread out the yard signs. A good rule of thumb is to place the signs every 600 feet or in highly visible areas, but remember to not make the signs too distracting for drivers. And make sure trees or large bushes aren't blocking the view of passersby.
Design your yard signs with a simple call-to-action. Identify the product or service you're selling, include your phone number or website, add some urgency, create a clean design and let everyone know if it's a new service. And that's all. If you put too many words or too much fluff on the sign, you may end up turning off potential buyers.
Snap a picture of a recently placed yard sign and post it on social media! It can be a fun way to promote your business online. Again, ask permission from the property owner and, to be safe, avoid street signs, house numbers or anything else that can identify the location. There's no need to tell everyone exactly where you made the sale or placed the sign.
Be Consistent
Whatever you do, be consistent with your strategy and give it enough time to determine the effectiveness. Don't ditch the yard signs until you've given them sufficient time to generate results. People are naturally skeptical and sometimes they need to see the yard signs several times before they call your number or visit your website.
But, if you follow these best practices for placing yard signs, your chances of getting more sales may go way up!
