Local Food Marketing: Top Signage Placement

Investing in signage for your business is the first step, but making sure it’s adequately presented is perhaps even more important. Poorly hung, sagging or dimly lit signage presents a poor image and doesn’t help boost sales. Protect your investment with well thought out placement and lighting. We’d like to offer some tips that will help you get the most benefit from your banners and signs.

Placement of your banners inside your retail store:

When hanging your banner or sign, select a place with high visibility for maximum customer impact. Our technique is to enter the store and pretend to be a customer. At the same time, consider the intent of your placement.

1) Is your intent to draw customers into your store? If so, we recommend that you hang your banners in full view of the store entrance, at a height that draws your customers’ eye up and into your store. That way, while looking at the colorful eye catching banners, your customers will also absorb the layout of your store and the full scope of your products.

2) Is your intent to draw attention to your produce section? If so, we recommend that you hang your banners at angles above your produce displays. This will draw customers into your produce department, and create multi-dimensional visual impact over your produce displays.

3) Is your intent to provide a decorative shopping atmosphere? If so, we recommend that you also hang your banners in various locations around your store, not only in your produce or fresh foods departments. Banners should be hung above aisles, at a height that is visible throughout the store at a consistent eye level. The banner placement should not interfere with customer shopping space.

4) Additional recommendations:

a. Hang your banners so they are visible to customers upon entry to your store, not when exiting your store.

b. If you store space requires you to hang your banners against a wall, we recommend you choose neutral wall space that is large enough to accommodate your banner.

c. Although tempting, don’t use your banner as a bulletin board. Clipping on produce signage and in-store sale information will only detract from your display.

d. Make sure the banner has adequate lighting so it is visible and readable.

Placement of your banner outside:

When hanging your banner or sign, select a place with high visibility for maximum customer impact. Our technique is approach your store or farm stand and pretend to be a customer.

1) To draw customers to your farm stand we recommend that you hang your banners in full view of the entrance (driveway or street); at a height that draws your customers’ eye up and towards your display. Make sure you hang your banner high enough so that it is visible from a distance. Take several steps back (or even cross the road) to ensure that your banner is clearly visible.

2) We don’t recommend hanging your banner in front of your farm stand display, as it will not be visible when you are waiting on customers! We also recognize that sometimes this cannot be avoided, because sometimes there's no place to hang a sign or banner except on your table.

3) We do recommend walking out in front of your display periodically throughout the day (if you have someone who can continue to take care of sales while you do so). Is your signage clearly visible during both low and high traffic periods?

4) Make sure your banner is adequately secured in the event of inclement weather and/or high winds.

Next week we’ll be exhibiting at the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market Expo in Grand Rapids Michigan. Please stop by to visit us at Booth #1305. We’ll have lots of our Eat Local Food banners on display!