5 Reasons Why Your Signage Doesn't Need Your Phone Number

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Pop Quiz!

Do you remember your kid's cell phone number?

How about the number to their school?

If you're like the majority of people in our country, your answer is NO to both of these questions.

Now, let me ask you this...do you remember your childhood home phone number?

The answer is most likely YES and you can probably rattle off some other random phone numbers of friends and family or takeout food spots from when you were a kid. Why is this the case? Is our short term memory just failing us or is there another factor at play here?

The term Digital Amnesia has been floating around as of late. It's the theory that our dependency on our digital technology, like cell phones and Google, is making us reprioritize what we deem as important to remember. And as you can tell from your answers above, remembering phone numbers has gone away and remembering other brand identifiers like logos, colors and even URL's has taken its place. When you want to find a business's phone number you no longer need to whip out the giant yellow phone book and scan through the pages to find it. All you need to do is remember the name of the company, type it into Google on your cell phone, and BAM! it's right at your fingertips in the matter of seconds.

Despite this evolutionary shift in our memory habits, at Plumb Signs we still get a lot of folks who would prefer to put their phone number on their sign. We totally get the desire to do this as it's what we grew up with, but today we're here to tell you that it's not helping to get people in your door and if anything, it's actually hurting your brand image.

5 reasons why you should just leave your digits off your signage!

1. The Era of "Digital Amnesia"

A study conducted by the Kapersky Lab found that 71% of parents surveyed could not recall their child's cell phone number and 87% couldn't remember the number to their child's school. Meanwhile, 47% could recall their home phone numbers instantly from when aged 10 and 15. Something is wrong with this picture...

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What does that mean for your signage? It means that if people can't even remember their child's number, then they sure as hell won't remember your business line after seeing it on your sign while driving by. 

Digital Amnesia isn't an indicator of forgetfulness but rather tech dependency. Today, people know that they have their phone to go to for all of their contact information needs. All they need to know is your company name and rough location and they can find your number with a couple finger taps on their smartphone. Why would they try and remember the 10-digit number on your sign when they can figure it out in seconds?

We know you want people to be able to call you. But what we're telling you is you're not doing yourself any favors by putting that number on your sign. You should focus more on having a digital presence to make sure that when a passerby does try and look you up, it's easy for them to find a way to contact you.

2. Takes Up Valuable Real Estate

The space on your sign is extremely valuable. With clutter, comes distraction. If you try and cram every piece of information about your business on your sign, then the viewer is left with an overload of information that they simply can't retain while they are passing by.

The goal of your sign, outside of establishing a landmark for your business, should be to establish an identity for your brand and make it memorable. Make someone want to look up your businesses because your sign stands out. By leaving the phone number off your sign, it allows for a clean design & layout that will keep the focus on your brand name & image.

If you're concerned about not standing out, then try a couple of tests. 

Test 1:

  • Print out your sign mock-up on a piece of paper, but keep it small and in the center so it is surrounded by a lot of white space.
  • Show a few friends or colleagues the sign design.
  • After 3 seconds, remove the piece of paper and ask them to describe all of the elements of the sign.

This will help provide insight into how much information a person is able to retain while driving by and where their focus went on the sign. If there is too much clutter, they will get overwhelmed and be left without an impactful, long-lasting memory for future brand recognition. They will likely remember a phone number was on the sign, but won't remember the actual number. Which showcases the point, that it is a distraction from the brand rather than providing any real value.

Test 2:

  • Place your sign on a piece of paper with 8-10 other signs.
  • Once again, share this with a few friends or colleagues. Don't let them know the intention of this "game" so that they aren't specifically looking for your sign.
  • After 3 seconds, pull the paper away again and ask them to recall everything that they remember and stood out to them.

This test will let you see if your sign stands out among the rest. If there is too much clutter then their focus will naturally move onto another sign that is easier to digest. Due to digital amnesia, the viewer will process the phone number as unnecessary information and move onto the next sign that may stand out with it's cleaner design & layout.

3. Cheapens the Overall Look & Feel of Your Signage & Brand

Let me ask you...Have you ever looked at a sign or a logo with a phone number and said "wow, the way they styled those numbers is awesome!". The answer is no, no way you've said that. 10 non-symmetrical numbers stretched across your sign adds zero value from a look & feel standpoint. If anything, it makes it come off as salesy or like a hard copy version of an infomercial.

When adding a phone number to a sign, it of course is never small. Because what would be the point of adding a phone number if no one can read it. So it's usually huge block lettering that can be seen from a ways. 

You can light it up, make it blink, change the colors. No matter what you do, it's going to take away from the rest of the design and in a sense, cheapen the overall look & feel of your signage.

4. Dates Your Business, But Not in a Cool Vintage Way

Depending on your business model, maybe vintage or retro is the way to go. But please do us a favor and just keep it to the styling rather than the functionality. Technology is here and it's not going anywhere. Understand that people will use it to contact you if they are indeed interested. 

Adding a number to your sign really takes you back quite a few years. Before everybody had a cell phone in their pocket. By you including a phone number on your sign it's an indication that you may not completely understand your target audience and their capabilities.

For some, it may even appear as though you haven't updated your brand image since the early 90's. That touch of subliminal age association could result in a negative impact on your business. If people feel your company is not current than they may choose to go with a different option. It's a shallow way of thinking, but it's an efficient method that helps people filter through their options.

Bring your brand into the digital era. Use your signage to establish a recognizable brand identity so that when a passerby searches for you on their phone it is easy to recognize and find you. The legacy sales model was to give everyone the information up front. Now you need to assume that they are capable of finding that information on their own and you need to be findable in a digital and hopefully mobile way. That's the place you need to make sure your contact information is present and up to date. Not your signage.


5. Phone Numbers Can Change

This one isn't as common, but we've seen it happen enough times that we felt we should still include it. Whether it's updating the number to an 800 number or if you're moving locations and trying to keep the same sign, it's definitely a pain to have to change out your digits. Especially, when it's an element that detracts from other key parts of the sign.

If you've made it this far through the article, I'm sure you can guess where we stand when it comes to a solution for this problem. Treat your number change like a blessing in disguise and just remove it from your signage all together!


Now you ask, "What if we already have our number on our sign?" 

It's not too late! As you're friendly neighborhood signage company we'd love the opportunity to rid the evil that is phone numbers from all signage. Together we can prep all signs for the digital age!

Remove the phone Number from My Sign →

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