In a world where so many experts are driving home the importance of online marketing and SEO, do you still think about how you can physically advertise your store?
If you own a coffee shop, what would you rather: Hours and hours spent agonising over the perfect Instagram post, which aims to market your business in a cool way but without looking like you're trying too hard... or a nice-looking sandwich board that simply looks inviting. For many, there's a lot of truth to the idea that we're focusing way too much on the virtual world and not enough in the real world - the one that we live and breathe in every day.
When advertising on the street, it's understandable that two planks of wood stuck together with words written on it just doesn't feel like you're doing enough to drum up some trade. Well, just like when you're constructing a Tweet or Facebook post on your business account, it all comes down to being different from everyone else. If you walk around the city, you'll see a lot of sandwich boards that look more or less the same. Some have a joke, others are fairly tame ("Come on in, we're open"), but occasionally you'll see a sandwich board made out of stainless steel and emblazoned with a cool logo and an arrow pointing towards a coffee shop. Now, that's a sandwich board that makes you take notice.
People like the signs that think outside of the box, like one which says: "You just walked past an awesome coffee shop, how does that make you feel?" Will every person walk back and check out the shop? Perhaps not. But 1 out of 10 might, and those are pretty good odds over the course of an entire day. Thinking differently could also mean abandoning the sandwich board completely and opting instead for roller banner printing. As you can tell, you can get way more experimental with these, as you can print pictures, instead of just having words on a chalkboard.
One of the best things about advertising in the real world is guerrilla marketing. This is perhaps the best chance you can get to be super creative about how you market your business. Flyers, posters, and an ad in the paper are one thing, but a fun and quirky advertisement which spreads via word of mouth? That's priceless. When people share images or videos of your advertisement look here to get inspired then you barely have to do any of the heavy lifting.
People do care about shop signs, they just want something that makes them stop and stare. Online marketing is important, but never forget that the best impression will always be something in the real world.
