How To Increase the Longevity of Your Signs

Store signage is an important part of your business’s marketing strategy. Retail stores rely heavily on signage all throughout the store to promote products and increase sales. This is why you want to make sure to get as much use out of your signs as possible by taking good care of them. There are several things you can do early on to take care of your store signs and make them last longer. Keep reading to find out how to increase the longevity of your signs in order to get more use out of them for extended marketing purposes.

Store Signage Examples

If you don’t already have a fleet of store signs at your disposal, here are some examples of the most common business signs that need maintenance and care. Any type of sign that you display indoors or outside your business walls needs the right care. Everything from your front store sign outside to a poster frame hanging inside needs regular inspection and maintenance. Keep reading to find further examples of indoor and outdoor signs below.

Indoor Signage

Indoor signage is often spaced throughout the store and featured heavily at the store entrance or storefront display. Especially at this time of year, around the holidays, businesses start to run more advertising and promotions than ever, which indoor signs help achieve. Some common examples of indoor signage to take stock of and watch out for during your maintenance include:

• Poster frames
• Metal signs
• Hanging signs
• Tapestries and fabric posters
• Directional signs
• POS (point of sale) displays
• Window graphics (for indoor or outdoor use)
• Easels
• Stand-up frames
• Banners
• And more!

Outdoor Signage

Outdoor signage needs to hold up through all different kinds of weather, lighting, and other conditions. Outdoor signs are what catch your potential customers’ attention first, so you want them to be in a good, readable condition and placed prominently outside your store. To give you an idea of what signs to watch out for, here are some common examples of outdoor signs:

• Illuminated signs
• Window graphics
• Flags and other fabric media
• A-frame signs
• Sidewalk signs
• Stand-up frames
• Banners
• And more!

Make sure to take note of any of these signs that your business currently uses. You’ll want to inspect and care for each type of sign using the following tips.

Caring for Your Signs

It might seem tedious, but inspecting and tending to your individual store signs is crucial to keeping them in good condition. You’ll get the longest use out of your signs if you treat them with care. Caring for your signs involves several different steps, which depend on the location, size, and other factors of your sign. Explore the different steps to caring for your signs in more detail below.

Inspect Your Signs

It’s important to inspect your signs regularly. Some signs, like posters and banners, will be easy and accessible for you to take down from windows and walls for a closer look. Others, like outdoor signs and electronic installations, don’t allow for much movement, meaning you will have to inspect them from a certain distance or as close as you can get. Either way, a close inspection helps you identify damages to the sign, as well as wear and tear, readability issues, and more. If you notice any parts of your sign are unreadable due to wear and tear, fading, or dirt, now you can proceed to address these issues before the damage gets any worse, and your signage may not have to go to waste.

Clean Your Store Signs

Making sure that your store signs are clean and readable is key to their everyday display value and to their longevity. Whether indoors or outdoors, signs collect dust, dirt, and debris, which leads to further wear and tear when left alone. During your sign inspection process, check the cleanliness of your signs. If they look like they could use a good dusting or a wash, go over them with a soft cloth or feather duster to remove layers of dust. Then you can apply them with a cleaning solution and water mix to remove the more stubborn dirt and stains, especially in the case of outdoor signs. A clean sign will always be more effective for your business and will last longer to boot.

Electrical and Software Maintenance

Pay special attention to your electrical signs. This type of signage is a big investment for most businesses, so you want to keep it in good working order. We’ve all driven or walked past a half-lit sign at night before. While it’s sometimes humorous to call out the remaining letters, you don’t want this poor electrical situation to happen to your signage. During your sign inspection, check your electrical signs at night specifically so that you can pick out any dying or flickering bulbs that need replacing. Additionally, with more technological advancements in signage, make sure that you’re keeping up with your software updates and programming health to ensure your digital signs are in tip-top shape.

Weather Protection

Outdoor signs take a lot of hits from the elements, depending on the climate where your store is located. For example, some parts of the world experience snow and blizzards this time of year. You may want to consider protecting or even removing your signage before such large weather events and foul-weathered seasons. Taking down your outdoor signs (excluding any large installations such as illuminated signs) can help expand their use and lifetimes by preventing their exposure to harsh conditions.

When it comes to preserving your store signs for the future, these are the best methods to use. Now that you know how to increase the longevity of your signs, you can get more use out of your own store’s marketing signs. And if you’re looking for more tools and tricks to keep your materials safe, check out The Global Display Solutions, where you can find sign sleeves and so much more. Our sleeves, frames, and other signage tools will help ensure that you’re presenting your materials carefully and effectively.