Why sign-write your vehicle?
Signwriting is a great way to get exposure for your lawn care business. It is one of the only forms of advertising that you can pay for once and have it out there working for you year after year for free.
There are some dos and don’ts with signwriting, and I would like to run through them here.
I have seen a lot of poorly done signs by signwriters who did not give good advice or had not had any real training. Ever since cheap vinyl cutters flooded the market, there has been an enormous amount of people making and selling signwriting without any actual knowledge of how to design effective signwriting.
I am in the unique position of being able to offer some real insight into this field as I have been in both the signwriting industry and the lawn care industry for over thirty years. My first business back in the early eighties was a signwriting business, and I have had signwriting and lawn care businesses since then in fact I personally sign wrote both the vehicles in the image below.
What are the benefits of signwriting?
A sign written vehicle and trailer will help you come across as a professional. People feel that a company with signage is someone they can trust much more than a business with an unmarked van.
Unless you have a pest extermination company working in an exclusive suburb or your occupation requires you to carry valuable equipment like band gear around so there is a security risk.
Why would you not have signwriting?
For a business like a lawn mowing company, good signage is a must. Have you ever seen someone walk up to an unmarked van and ask for a card?
A blank vehicle gets no attention and the real benefits of signwriting are…
- You will secure more work with signage as potential customers will feel more comfortable employing you.
- The more your sign-written vehicles are seen on the road, the more incoming calls you will get.
- Your vehicle will be a traveling billboard that will raise awareness of your business. When a potential customer looks at a list of ads, they will usually call the company they have seen driving sign-written vehicles around.
- Potential customers will see you as a serious business.
How to go about getting the best signwriting in town.
The first thing you need is a good company name and a logo. If you haven’t already got a name, then go to this post. What name should I use for my lawn care business? This post will walk you through the process. Come back here to work through this post when you have your artwork ready.
Make sure you get an image file that can be reproduced at any size that you need. If you go to the signwriter with a small jpeg, (a compressed image file), then they may have to redraw the artwork which will cost you more money.
You preferably want a vector file that usually has an extension like .ai, eps, cdr, or png. For more information on what a vector file is, go to this post. Understanding image file types.
Now you will know what format your signwriter will want so let’s move on.
Another thing to think about here is that you may want two different types of your logo. A portrait and a landscape version. Having both will help you be more flexible with your branding. I have an example of my portrait and landscape versions of my logo below.
You are going to need the right vehicle
Now you have your company name and logo you should be starting to get an idea in your head of how you want your truck to look. Remember that your signwriting may last up to ten years so you want a vehicle that will go the distance. Don’t go full-on signwriting an old dented run-down truck unless you have no other choice.
If you are going to go down this road through necessity then do the minimal signage you need. Side doors and back will do. You will have to aim to replace this vehicle within the next year or so. Unless you are a gifted mechanic, you don’t want to put anything on the road that is over ten years old. Newer vehicles will help keep your business looking good and reduce breakdowns and repair costs. Ideally, you want a late model, tidy vehicle and trailer in good condition.
Also, another thing to think about is continuity. You want your branding to be the same everywhere so don’t go changing the layout or colours. White vans are the best for signwriting, but you can go black if that suits you better (although these can get hot when they are in the sun all day). Black and White are the only really consistent colors you can get with vehicles because car companies are continually changing their colors all the time. If you wanted a specific green for your vehicle, you would need to paint or fully wrap vehicles every time you buy one, and this will be expensive. Wapping (changing the color with a thin vinyl wrap) a vehicle is getting easier as the technology develops so it is now a cheaper option than paint.
You need to plan your signwriting for so it creates maximum awareness and brings in a flow of new customers.
Before you start planning your signwriting, please read this post. 21 Great ways to market your lawn mowing business. Pay attention to tip number one and get that 0800 number hooked up and working so you can maximize incoming leads.
If you want to go with simplistic signage, then just the doors and back panel will do. When I say back panel that could be the back of your vehicle if you don’t tow anything or the rear tray of your trailer. This signage is for the benefit of anyone following your truck, and it aims to let them be able to remember who you are so they can contact you when they have a need. This is the best place for a word number.
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Your branding should make it clear what you do
If there are other services, you offer then make a short bullet point list on a side window or side tray on your truck or trailer to let people know.
I heard a lawn care business owner the other day saying that aeration and fertilization were the best extra money makers that he gets from his existing customers. He can increase his income per customer by a sizable amount by offering this service. He was saying how disappointed he was when he turned up at one of his lawns the other day, and someone else had already fertilised the lawn. He felt like he had missed out on one of the most profitable parts of his job.
The reason this happened was that he knew he offered that service but his customers didn’t unless he verbally told them. It wasn’t on his bullet point list on his vehicle or his business card. How was the customer meant to know that he offered that service? I have heard of the same thing happening with tree work and mulching. Have a list of your most profitable services and put them on your vehicle, so your customers know.
When you are writing your list of services, keep it to half a dozen things at the most. You don’t want a novel on the side of your vehicle. No one is going to have the time to read it, and it will look ugly. Six bullet points running down from the smallest line to the longest line will work the best. Keep in mind not to get too busy with your signage the potential customer is only going to see it in passing.
Your fonts need to be easy to read.
Try not to get super creative here and don’t use more than two to three fonts. The same rule goes for your website too. If you want more information on this subject you can go to Google Fonts. It is a helpful site that only deals with standard fonts that are easy to read and are also the best ones for websites. When you click on a font on this site, it will have a “best pairing” section in the bottom left-hand corner. This tool will help you work out a style pairing that suits your business.
Proofread your text before you start.
Using the correct spelling should be a no-brainer, but in my years in the sign industry, I have seen a lot of misspelled signs. I have even done it myself once or twice. Check and double-check everything. Fixups can be expensive especially when the signwriting is printed on vinyl.
I once saw a sign written van belonging to a builder who had misspelt every item on his bullet list. At first, thought that was terrible then when I looked underneath he had written “not much of a speller but a bloody good builder.” I saw that sign over 25 years ago, and I still smile when I think about it.
You can go down that road with your marketing if you want to and it may work for you. If you do remember to keep it classy and don’t overdo it you could lose the message, and that could lose you possible calls.
Put a CTA (call to action) on your vehicle.
Don’t leave the customer wondering what to do next. As any marketer will say, you need a call to action under any form of marketing to improve your results. You don’t want to leave this to chance. When you use good marketing principles with your signage, you will be tilting the scales in your favor. Some “call to action” statements you can use are.
Under your phone number on doors and back door or tailgate
- Call us today.
- Call us now.
- Phone us today.
- Freephone to mobile call now.
On the side of your vehicle
- Ask me for a free quote now.
- Ask about a free quote today.
- Please take a card (paired with magnetic cards).
Have a small square space on the footpath side of your vehicle that holds half a dozen cards with a message above saying “Please take a card.” Keep it topped up, especially if you end up outside a school when the kids get out. Don’t worry if this happens and all your cards go. A lot of them will end up on fridges around town. If you have a wooden trailer or deck on your truck use a square piece of steel with your sign on it, then attach it with screws. I have had calls for quotes where the caller has said that my magnetic card has been on their fridge for years and they have no idea where it came from. I think it was probably the kids on their way home from school. They pick up a magnet and don’t know what to do with it so it ends up on the fridge.
Ask your signwriter for a sample of the materials and colors they will be using.
Your signwriter is going to be using signwriting vinyl on your vehicle. The material you want them to use is called cast vinyl or exterior vinyl, not promotional.
Promotional vinyl can be used for sign writing a vehicle and it will look good when done but will become shabby after a few years. You can usually spot promotional vinyl as it does not go around curves well and it tends to shrink in the sun.
The shrinkage will leave glue around the edges showing where it was originally.
If you are not sure about signwriting vinyl there are a few different types of vinyl. Some signwriters will suggest 3-5 year vinyl on your vehicle, don’t accept this unless you are planning to dispose of the vehicle within the next few years. Even then this kind of vinyl will be harder to remove and will leave more glue that will need more vigorous cleaning. Most of the time you would want a 5-7 year lifespan.
One good way to know what you are getting is to look at the color chart they are using. It should say something like “vehicle grade.” If they have loose rolls ask for some colour samples. Try to get a sample piece bigger than a piece of paper. Try to get a price with some branding on the back. If you are fortunate enough to get this, you may be able to look up the material online. You can test the vinyl at home by applying the vinyl around a curvy place on your vehicle. If it goes on smoothly, you have the right material. If it creases and won’t go around the curves very well, it is probably cheap promotional vinyl.
Do not use dark colors on the windows as you will not be able to read the sign writing. Use a light color every time. If your logo is black, you will have to make it white or reverse it with a white box.
It always looks dark looking at the windows of a vehicle. Have a look next time you drive down a street with shops, and you will notice that none of them has black sign writing. There is a good reason for that.
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Local and national laws regarding sign-writing vehicles.
Before you begin you need to check your local transportation office and make sure that nothing in your design is breaking local or national bylaws. There can be rules about window tinting or which windows you write and how much you can cover on a window.
Another thing to check is your insurance if you are going to get some magnets or signage done on your personal use vehicle. Sometimes sign-writing a private vehicle can void your insurance. You may need to have a modified policy.
Social media icons on your vehicle.
Don’t use any social media icons in your signwriting unless you are active on that platform. You don’t want someone seeing a Twitter symbol on the back of your vehicle and deciding that is how they will contact you only to find that you never use or check that profile. Do not put anything on your vehicle that could lead to a dead-end for your potential customer.
Now it is time to design your sign writing.
The Distance Test,
When you are designing (or helping design) your signwriting then you should use the distance test when done. You will need to print your design showing the front, side or back of the vehicle, you are working on a full sheet of paper. You want the whole vehicle from top to bottom showing on the page, not just the signwriting. Now place the page on a chair and take five steps back from it. Can you read it? How about ten steps? Test it with people who haven’t seen your signwriting before. Stand back and show them the page for five seconds then hide it and ask them what they saw. I know this sounds kind of stupid but believe me, it’s not. A simple test to check the effectiveness of your sign writing can save a lot of regrets later down the line. Remember it’s going to be seen from a distance and the vehicle may be travelling so it needs to be as clear and readable as possible.
Temporary signs for a personal vehicle.
Before we begin, a word about car magnets. If you use car magnets on your personal vehicle then remove them when you don’t need them. They will damage your paint if left there.
Also, there are two kinds of magnet material and you want the thicker 0.85-mm for vehicles, not the thin 0.26-mm for fridges. Do not get them printed on thin magnet material as you will possibly lose one of them while traveling.
Signwriting the front of the vehicle.
Here you want the landscape version of your logo. Put your 0800-word number in white at the top of the window where a banner would be. If you have space available, you can put your web address here but only if it looks good and is uncluttered. Remember the stand distance, is it readable from a distance? Remove the web address if it seems messy.
Do not write your details reversed on the front of your vehicle so it will read correctly in a rear vision mirror. There is nothing clever about this it is a pointless exercise. Out of all the people who will see the front of your vehicle less than one percent will see it with a rear vision mirror. Even then they will only see part of it in the mirror so they won’t be able to read it anyway.
What about emergency vehicles you might ask? They do it all the time. Why would they do that if it’s pointless? Well, their motivation is different. They want people to see them in the rear vision mirror and pull over to let them pass. They don’t want you to remember them or call them back. Their signwriting is informative your signwriting is marketing. These are two different things.
How to sign-write the side of a vehicle.
Starting with the front doors remember that the logo will face in different directions on both sides of the doors. Make sure it fits both ways. Keep it sweet and simple on your front doors. Logo and phone number and CTA “call to action” or even only your word number and a CTA if you will be sign-writing the sides as well. You should also be aware of how your vehicle is going to look with the door open. A little foresight here can prevent some embarrassing moments. I won’t put any photos here as it is a bit off-topic but here are some examples of what can happen from The Sun.
When designing the sides check that they are both the same first. If you have a door on one side and nothing on the other you will need to do your design work using the door side. A design done using the door side will always fit on the blank side, but it doesn’t always work out the same the other way around. Now if you have a van or panelled truck, you are going to have a lot more room here. I usually aim for a big logo in the middle of the vehicle. After the logo, I would list the bullet point services list on the side window closest to the back of a van or a similar place on a truck.
Underneath I would put a banner with my “ask for a free quote” CTA. I would also find space for business magnets with a “please take a card” message above them. Your website address will have to go to the best available spot so you will have to decide there. Keep in mind that higher up on a vehicle is better for visibility, but you can use the bottom panel if necessary.
Signwriting the back of the vehicle.
Here you want all your relevant information to show. This spot will bring you in a lot of work, and you need to set it out properly. You want your logo, word number (with a CTA), and your website address. It can be a bit tricky fitting this information here. I usually put the word number at the top of the back window in white. You can set the web address just above the window in black if you have space. If I have room I usually put my logo on one side and a list of services on the other.
Signwriting your trailer.
I usually sign-write the sides and back trailer in the same way as the back door of a vehicle. Try to make your logo stand out and don’t put any pattern behind the writing. It may seem like a cool idea to use a grass background or a photo of grass and cut your name out of it. Don’t do this it will be hard to read. Keep your signwriting clean, straightforward, and easy to read.
How about using your vehicle as a billboard?
You can get lots of calls if you are prepared to park your vehicle up (without a trailer or equipment) for 8-10 hours on the weekend. Find a high-traffic spot and run your vehicle out there at the weekends. If you have a worker, who lives in a good place you can empty the equipment and send it home with them to park it out on the front lawn over weekends.
We have a van that parks up all around our town with the word number 0800 MOLDMAN. If I ever get a mold problem, I will probably give him a call. If you have more than one van, you can always use it for running errands during the weekend. It can’t hurt to park it up at the local hardware while you pick up a few things for your garden.
Wash your vehicle regularly.
Don’t go driving around in a dirty, dusty vehicle on which someone has scrawled “clean me” in the dust on the back of the van. It looks horrible, and this will affect the standard of work potential customers will expect from you. A dirty vehicle equals horrible work. Not precisely a fair judgment but it is what the customer will think. If you have gone to the trouble of signwriting your vehicle then at least keep it looking clean.
Finally, Drive safely.
Now as a final word, I want you to drive safely.
I am speaking literally.
Don’t speed, cut people off, run red lights, or anything like that. Remember you are driving a sign-written vehicle. You don’t want to leave a bad taste in people’s mouths. They will send out the wrong message and give you the wrong kind of exposure.
I remember waiting to reverse out of a driveway with a trailer, and a van sped around the corner, forcing me to break. To make matters even worse, someone in the side sliding door (which was open) gave me the finger as they cut me off. The van was sign-written, so I rang the owner. He says “Yeah my guys can get a bit rowdy, so what.” I said, “Fine.” Now, whenever I talk to someone looking for a painter, I tell them who not to use. That hasn’t worked out so well for them.
I hope this information helps, and happy signwriting
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