Short answer: the research says yes — loudly. Here’s what national studies have found about how storefront signage and vehicle graphics pull in customers, and what it means for a local business.
In a national survey of consumers, FedEx Office found that signage does real work for small businesses. Roughly three-quarters of people said they’d walked into a store they’d never visited before because of its sign, and about 68% had bought something after a sign caught their eye. The same study found that 68% read a store’s signage as a signal of its quality — and close to 60% are put off from entering a business with no sign or a poor one.
That same survey found shoppers expect a small storefront to carry two or three signs — a clean exterior sign, a window message, and a door or sidewalk piece working together. Curious what one is worth to you? Try the Sign ROI & break-even calculator.
Out-of-home research is just as striking for vehicle graphics. The 3M Visual Attention Study found that about 92% of people notice wrapped vehicles and 85% remember the brand afterward. A joint study by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America and Nielsen ranked wrapped vehicles the most-noticed moving form of outdoor advertising. A single full wrap is estimated to earn roughly 30,000 to 70,000 views a day in a busy area — and because the wrap is a one-time cost that lasts several years, its cost per thousand views typically lands under a dollar, far below billboards, radio, or TV.
Want to run your own numbers? The vehicle wrap CPM calculator turns a wrap cost into a cost-per-1,000-views you can compare against any other ad.
The thread through every one of these studies is the same: people notice good signage and graphics, judge a business by them, and act on them — and unlike paid ads, a sign or wrap is a one-time cost that keeps working for years. For a local business, that’s some of the most efficient marketing money you can spend.
We design and produce both: signs and wide-format graphics and vehicle wraps and lettering for businesses across Buffalo and the West Metro.
Sources: FedEx Office “What’s Your Sign?” consumer survey (Ketchum/ORC); 3M Visual Attention Study; Outdoor Advertising Association of America & Nielsen. Figures are industry estimates and vary by market, location, and how a piece is used.
Tell us about your storefront or your vehicles and we’ll put together a custom quote — no cost, no commitment.