Bandit Signs - A Great Way To Advertise
If you’ve been a real estate investor for more than 10 minutes you’ve heard of bandit signs. You know - the signs on the side of the road with catchy phrases like "home for sale by owner" or "we buy houses." If you ask another more experienced investor if they are effective, the answer is generally "They sure are." Ask if the investor is using them regularly and you will probably get a less positive answer. Usually something along the lines of "They are great but I just don’t have time to put them out."
So the question is what can be done to make your bandit sign advertising as effective as possible?
There is no mystery. But it does involve a bit of work.
Your bandit sign results can be dramatically improved by testing.
What are some of the things you can test?
- The words on the sign - Are you conveying a message that can be absorbed in a glance or are you trying to write a book on the bandit sign? You want to have a simple, clear and concise message on your bandit board. "For sale 3/2 Call 555-1212" is clear and concise. "For sale 3/2 in a nice neighborhood with many upgrades and a fenced back yard. Call 555-1212 for all the details" is not concise. And it is probably not clear because if you put all those words on a bandit sign, the readability goes way down.
- The color of the words and background - Colors make a difference. You should make note of all roadside signs when you drive around and just see what colors jump out at you. When you notice sign, it might be good to pull over and take note of the color of the words and of the background. And it might be good to take note of the other signs in that area and see if you can figure out why you didn’t notice them. Certain color combinations will pull better than others. But it can very from area to area so it is something you can test.
- The size of the words on the sign - The words have to be large enough to be read by someone driving by the sign at say 45 MPH. If they are not, you will be missing a lot of action. If someone can’t read your sign, he can’t respond to the message.
- The call to action - Does your sign tell the person what to do in a clear and concise manner? Or is it sort of vague about what you want the person do to. For instance, I’ve seen signs that say something like "House for rent" and on the next line "http://www.xyz.com/houseforrent.html" or something similar. This has no call to action. And another probably problem. First, a web address on a sign is probably a big no-no. Most are not easily absorbed at driving speed. Second, the sign doesn’t even tell me what to do. A sign that says "House for rent Call 555-1212" is much more powerful. It tells the viewer what to do - in this case call a phone number.
- The location of the sign - Where you place a sign will have a large impact on how well it does. Is it an area that gets lots of traffic? Is it an area that gets lots of the right traffic? Is it in an area where you won’t get the city knocking on your door for putting up a bandit sign? If you are doing basic lead generation, an area that gets lots of traffic is desired. If you are trying to accomplish something specific - like sell or rent a property in a specific part of town, it is better to put the sign in that part of town so the calls are relevant to the property.
- The visibility of the sign during peak traffic periods for that location - Can people see the sign long enough during busy times on that piece of the road. If peak traffic is also peak tractor trailer traffic, the cars might not be able to see the sign for more than a second while driving by the area. You really want to see how far away from the sign it is visible (i.e. readable) and how traffic patterns affect that. Sometimes moving the sign just a few feet can make a big difference in response.
- The way the sign is made - professional printing Vs magic marker printing - In some instances a professional sign works best. In others, an amateur sign works best. It all has to do with peoples attitudes. Some groups want to work with a person because they feel they are getting a better deal. Some are more comfortable working with what they perceive to be a company. Again, test out both types and see the results. Heck you could even get two phone numbers and put both types of signs in the same place to see which got the most calls.
- The day of the week/month - This can make a big difference. People have a certain rhythm to how they handle things so you may find certain days are peak calling days. By knowing that, you can know when to put up more signs.
- The length of time the sign is up in that location - Many times a person will drive by a sign a few times before calling. There are lots of reasons but the most common one is that it takes a few viewings before the person consciously reacts to the message and takes the time to write down the phone number. I can’t count the number of times I’ve driven by a sign 3,4,5 times before saying to myself that I need to remember and write down the phone number the next time I pass the sign.
By testing these elements, you will find the combination of all these factors that produce the best results on a consistent basis. It can be quite a bit of work to handle all these situations and track the results. But what if it means that you get three times more calls per bandit sign you put up? How much is that worth to your bottom line?
No doubt about it. Bandit signs can be your most effect advertising method on a cost basis. And with testing, they can be your most effective advertising method bar none. So next time you see a bandit sign on the side of the road, study it and see if you can make a better one for yourself.
