The presidential election day is quickly approaching. On November 8, registered voters across thee country will cast their ballots for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Republican candidate Donald Trump or a third-party candidate, such as Gary Johnson or Jill Stein. Specific feelings and political leanings aside, there is always one telling sign that an election is about to take place: yard signs.
While many candidates now use television ads and social media to garner support, traditional yard signs are still an essential component of an election cycle, especially for candidates at a local level. If you are considering running for political office and aren't sure about the merits of yard signs, here are three main reasons why this is one essential form of advertising you don't want to pass up:
Name recognition
Name recognition is everything in a political campaign. Without it, candidates will like struggle to secure any votes, no matter how solid their political platform may be. For example, in a recent sign.com survey with more than 1,500 responses, over 40 percent of participants said they learned of a local candidate for the first time because of a yard sign. The study found that of those respondents, two out of five said they may have voted differently simply because there was no name recognition for a certain candidate.
Yard signs provide your campaign with the precise level of name recognition it needs. When supplemented with online and television advertising, many candidates see instant results in the amount of interested potential supporters. To stand out in a crowd of candidates, however, political contenders must make smart and savvy design choices in terms of color, font and graphics. While patriotic colors are common, many successful candidates choose colors strategically to contrast each other for eye-catching results.
What happens if candidates have similar or common names? To address this, candidates should use a recognizable graphic or logo on their yard signs that will make it distinguishable from others. Even if voters struggle to remember names at first, they will learn it easier if they have an interesting logo to easily identify the candidate by.
Neighborhood influence
"Keeping up with the Joneses" may be a common English idiom, but it does have merit when describing just how much people trust their neighbors in regards to political leanings. While there are notable exceptions, many people report being at least slightly influenced by political signs in their neighbor's yards. An age-old advertising principle is that buyers trust recommendations from their close friends and family, so why should political yard signs be any different?
"Yard signs are extremely durable."
Affordable and durable
Political campaigns are costly, no matter the level of office. Whether a candidate is running for a small-town mayor's seat or the presidency, the campaign can be a serious drain on donor and personal finances. While television and online ads are proven to be extremely effective, they are far more costly than traditional advertising methods.
Atlas Obscura revealed that while purchasing one yard sign doesn't make any sense, buying thousands or tens of thousands is still relatively affordable for many political campaigns. In contrast, Entrepreneur wrote that it costs hundreds of dollars to run just a single local television ad. For candidates keeping on top of their finances, yard signs prove to be the perfect option.
Meanwhile, yard signs are extremely durable. Unlike one-time political events, quickly vanishing social media ads or sparse television ads, yard signs offer instant and long-term visibility for every candidate. However, not all yard signs are made the same. Candidates who want to make an impression on their constitutes must partner with an expert sign maker who not only designs them well, but does so with high-quality materials.
At Stranco, our yard signs provide a flexible, economical solution to support your next political or marketing campaign. Our signs offer outdoor durability, yet are surprisingly lightweight so that you and your supporters can rest assured that your signs will remain legible and intact in the weeks leading up to the time to head to the polls. We manufacturer all of our yard signs in our Indiana production facility and will provide graphic design services to bring your ideas to life.
If you are getting ready to launch your local, state-wide or national political campaign, consider Stranco for all your yard sign needs. With our economical factory-direct pricing model and quick project turn-around, you'll be glad you did. Contact one of our representatives today to learn more.
