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Small businesses can keep an LED sign affordable by starting with one sign out the front, choosing single colour if words and numbers are enough, having it made to suit the site, and hiring or financing instead of buying outright. Our guide to what affects the cost of an LED sign goes through each choice.
Big companies spend big on advertising. Small businesses have to make every dollar work, and that is where an LED sign earns its place. It sits outside your business every day, everyone who passes sees it, and changing the message costs nothing. You don’t need a big budget to have a good one.
What an LED sign does for a small business
- It gets you seen. Light and movement catch the eye far better than a printed sign, so people notice you who might have walked straight past.
- It builds your name over time. People who pass every day start to remember your logo, your colours and what you do, even if they never stop to read a message.
- It shows what you sell. A ten second video or a few photos say more about a product than a paragraph of text.
- It tells people what is on. New stock, the dish of the day, a workshop on Saturday, your holiday hours.
Done well, a sign lets a small business win customers from competitors with much bigger budgets, because the people walking past your door are the people most likely to come in.
Fit it into your marketing budget
The end of the financial year is a good time to look at where your marketing money goes. Add up what you spent last year on posters, banners, flyers and printed signs that ended up in the bin. A digital sign replaces much of that with one screen you can reuse for years.
If the same advertising keeps giving you the same results, it may be time to try something different.
Which sign suits your budget?
- Outdoor signs reach people walking and driving past. See our outdoor LED signs.
- Indoor signs talk to customers who are already inside, with photos, animation or video. See our indoor LED displays.
- Single colour signs show scrolling text and numbers and keep the cost down. Full colour signs add logos, photos and video. Read single colour or full colour LED sign? to compare the two.
We make every sign to suit its site, so you are not paying for a size you don’t need.
Start small
A good way to start is one sign out the front, where it reaches the most people. Once you see what it does, add an indoor screen near the counter or in the waiting area. Starting small keeps the cost down and shows you what your customers respond to.
Is an LED sign hard to run?
Running a sign takes a few minutes a week. You change the message from a phone, tablet or laptop, and we install the sign and show you how it works. Our outdoor signs are built for sun, wind and rain, and if your sign needs council approval, our town planning service helps with the application at no extra cost.
Do you have to buy a sign outright?
You don’t have to buy a sign outright:
- Hire a sign for half a day, a few weeks or a few months, and see what it does for your business. See LED sign hire.
- Finance through Ledge Finance, with no large upfront payment and fixed monthly payments that are easy to budget for.
- Buy outright, with a warranty of 1 to 5 years, depending on the product.
No extra cost to keep it fresh
Once the sign is up, the advertising on it is yours to change as often as you like. Change it daily, schedule it to switch several times a day, or set it up a month ahead. Add a web address or QR code so people can find out more, and run it day and night if your customers are out and about after hours.
Get the most from it
- Keep messages short, so they can be read in a few seconds.
- Show different messages to different customers at different times of day.
- Plan your content a month ahead and schedule it.
- Share your social media posts and reviews on screen.
- Put your best sellers and favourite products up, so new customers can see what others love about you.
Read more in why your business needs an LED sign.
Zac and Ryan from Kirkwood Deli summed it up: “Best money we ever spent on advertising, best thing since sliced bread!”
We design and build every sign at our workshop in Welshpool. Tell us about your business and your budget, and we will suggest the right sign and send a free quote. Call Aaron on 0416 053 335 or the office on (08) 9335 7944.
