Traditional Marketing: Yard Signs 101

What are Yard Signs?

Yard signs are a great way to bring attention to the work you are doing in a neighborhood for people who are walking and driving by. The business that comes from posting yard signs can work really quickly or take some time. If you have a really lucrative promotion or catchy unique selling proposition, you may find that you get more business from them than if they are more generic branding tools you use for your business.

Typically, yard signs are pretty affordable to get made so they are a cost-effective way to get more brand awareness and drive phone calls. If you are working in a neighborhood off of a busy road or with a lot of street traffic, they may be more effective than if you are in a more isolated area.

How are Yard Signs Used in Home Services Marketing?

Most home pros will place yard signs in existing customers yards for a period of time with their permission. Sometimes, they’ll offer a promotion or small discount in exchange for the advertising opportunity. These signs can also be placed at busy intersections or at the end of freeway exit ramps.

What are the Pros of Yard Signs?

The biggest pro for yard signs is that they are a cheap way to let people in a neighborhood know that their neighbor selected you for their business without having to rely on the neighbor asking or for your customer to give the referral. They can also drum up a lot of business if they are placed in well targeted areas.

What are the Cons of Yard Signs?

The biggest cons of relying on yard signs as a marketing channel is that they are really unpredictable ways of knowing when your next job will come in. If you aren’t in an area that is in high demand for your service, they won’t work that well. If you choose to go the route of placing them on busy streets/intersections, they can also get taken down.

What are the Key Elements that Should be Done to Ensure Yard Signs are Successful?

You want to make sure that your yard signs include:

• Your business name/logo
• Your unique selling proposition or why someone should buy from you
• Your website
• A UNIQUE phone number for tracking

You can set-up unique tracking phone numbers that all get routed to your main business lines. This is a great way to know how much business is coming from your yard signs versus other marketing strategies.