We don’t need to tell you that downtime between tenants is probably one of the most painful aspects of commercial real estate — particularly for property management companies.
Strategic signage has a few key ways of mitigating this, which we’ll highlight below.
- Monument signs
- Post and panel signs
- Entrance signs
- Community maps
- Advertising new apartment units and amenities
If you’d like to speak with someone right away to explore these options, call us at:
Advertising Specific Niceties, Such as Ability To Upfit Rental Spaces
Many business owners are concerned that if a great space was previously used by a different type of business, it won’t be an ideal fit for them.
For instance, a restaurant that will need sinks, vent hoods, and freezer rooms may not feel a transition to a former office or retail store could work. If you work with contractors to handle upfits between tenants, which is common with malls and shopping centers, it’s a huge missed opportunity not to advertise this.
If a business owner passes by and thinks, “Wow, this would be a great location!” seeing a reassurance about upfit capabilities could mean the difference between them calling about it or just shrugging and going about their day. Because in the latter case, they’d probably dismiss it as a “darn, oh well,” moment.
Because the quality of the sign matters so much for prospective tenants, we recommend thinking beyond banners.
Banners are great for promoting events, but they don’t communicate the sense of permanence that monument or pylon signs do.
When it’s somewhere a person is thinking of living — or where a business owner will be running their livelihood — that sense of permanence is extremely powerful.
Apartment Monument Signs Are Strongly Linked To The Perception of Quality
Plenty of firms have conducted studies and polls about signage in all industries. While exact figures vary, it’s pretty telling that often as much as 79% of customers say that they gauge the quality and modernity of any business from the signage they see in front of (or on) the building.
Basic signage might be a temptation any time it’d only be needed temporarily, or periodically.
Studies have even shown that neighborhoods with quality signage and overall good aesthetics tend to retain higher resale values for homes, even during economic downturns.
However, with this kind of correlation between a sign’s pop and public interest, giving the signage a low priority just doesn’t bear out against the value of each signed lease.
Making it clear where a prospective tenant can find the office to ask for a tour or apply is the second impression they will get about the property. If they have trouble finding the office, they may begin thinking how they won’t want to deal with this hassle every day driving through the complex.
Monument and Pylon Signs For Retail Areas
Providing strong wayfinding signage is another strong move for shopping centers and apartments with large parking areas.
Approximately 76% of consumers have entered a store they had never visited before based simply on its highly visible signage, for instance.
Great navigational signage removes the friction from the experience, of course. But in a subtle way, it also conveys forward thinking and quality service. From square one, you’ve shown a willingness to invest in their experience.
Good Branding Planning Avoids Unnecessary Spending
There’s a lot of talk about the value of cohesiveness in branding, and usually professionals provide the context of how buttoned-up a business looks with consistency. But here’s an example of where consistency also extends to marketing priorities.
A local organization in Winston Salem we worked with recently knew they wanted a redesigned website, along with all new branding. It was a beautiful step forward, but rather separately they were also acquiring a new location for their office. The timelines for one were not taken into account for the other.
Building renovation took longer than they would’ve liked, and they didn’t want to showcase the new branding and signage until everything was finished.
The end result was a finished website and new branding that had to be set aside. As a consequence, they’ve had to pay for two web hosting setups for almost a year. One to keep the old website active, and the other to preserve the new one until it’s ready.
The takeaway here is that having an organized view of your branding ― knowing when and how you’ll roll it out ― can save a lot of hassle. This is just as true with your signage.
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We can help you simplify this part of your operation. You have options — let’s explore them together.
