There’s no doubt about it. Vehicle wraps can help make your business look as stylish, unique and personalized as… well, you do. And they’re not just one of the best ways to advertise. They’re also highly practical. And they get people talking. So much so, the car wrap market was valued at $2.87 billion in 2018 alone. And that number is only expected to increase by 22 percent in just six years.
But they’re not for every business. And they’re not created equal. Good marketing means consistent results. And if there’s one thing that’s dependable about car wraps, it’s that they’re inconsistent. Almost reliably so. Some can be classy. Others irreverent. And some are just downright silly. So how do you know which is the right one for your company?
Personal design tastes are always the go to standard for any purchase, advertising related or not. But car wraps can be a little trickier to figure out. The right ones mean relying on quality; and sometimes, looks can be sacrificed in favor of craftsmanship. And sometimes even the most attractive vehicle wraps are made so poorly they’ll fade in a matter of months.
Like we said: effective marketing means consistent results. Which also means there’s certain standards to adhere to. And it’s no different with vehicle wraps. Here’s five things to keep in mind when selecting them.
How Successful Are Your Competitors?
Vehicle wraps might be cheaper than a billboard. In fact, they can sometimes be cheaper than some digital marketing companies. But they’re still an investment. And with the cost of a car wrap reaching as high as $5,000 per vehicle, you want to make certain your investment will actually bring in a return.
In advertising, price isn’t everything. But efficacy is. Look carefully at your competitors. Are they actually getting results through vehicle wraps? Have their sales increased steadily? If not, is there something about their design which is bland and easily forgettable? Or is there something about their industry which makes car wraps simply inappropriate? Car wraps can be an excellent sales driver for many small businesses—in fact, some 30,000 to 70,000 unique impressions can be generated by a single vehicle each day. But your daycare facility probably won’t see them same level of traction from them as a furniture store.
Fortune Favors The Bold
Here’s a little secret. Virtually no one is going to remember a vehicle wrap that consists of a wall of endless text.
You have approximately 8 seconds to make an impression on people. And if they’re in a car, significantly less. Make those seconds count. Dare to stand out. You’re trying to gain new sales through vehicle wraps. And no one’s going to remember your company if they can’t decipher it. Use less text. Ensure your images are bold and easily identifiable. Brightness and legibility stand out in car wraps more than clever slogans.
Bigger Doesn’t Mean Better
Hypothetically, let’s pretend you’ve got a fleet of a few hundred trucks. And you have the budget to wrap each truck individually. But just because you have the potential to make 70,000 impressions with each vehicle every single day doesn’t mean you’re going to translate those impressions into sales. It just means you’re making 70 million impressions on drivers.
Start out small before considering an all out marketing campaign with car wraps. Two vehicles with eye-catching graphics and a memorable name will leave a stronger impression than overcrowding the highways with an image of your smiling face. If you’re not seeing results in six months after choosing a vehicle wrap, bombarding drivers with the same message several hundred times isn’t going to help.
How Much Traffic Does Your City Get?
One of the reasons businesses are so successful with vehicle wraps here in Reno is the fact that we have one of the most populated highways in the country. And while anyone who’s been stuck in traffic on Route 95 can argue that’s not necessarily a good thing, it does mean the potential for much higher visibility.
But what works in Reno won’t necessarily work in Alaska. Simple logic dictates that higher traffic means higher visibility. And visibility is one of the most critical factors for a successful car wrap campaign. That doesn’t mean car wraps won’t be effective if your business is located in a sparsely populated city. On the contrary, you might stand out even more next to your competitors. But a higher population means higher sales potential. A much higher potential.
Great Sales Come From Great Designs
We touched on this earlier, but it needs to be hammered down. Your design is the single most critical factor when developing a vehicle wrap. And that means both the initial design as well as the finished product.
Traditional advertising can be successful for any number of reasons. A memorable slogan. High information density. Humor. Shared values. All these constitute one thing: telling a story.
But car wraps are different. Your story is your brand. And your design needs to reflect it. Your story needs to be told through graphics, not a narrative. It needs to summarize your brand in as little words as possible. Believe it or not, there’s a psychology behind typefaces. What does yours imply about you? Strength? Innovation? Sentimentality? Does it say anything altogether?
As we said earlier, fortune favors the bold. Let your car wrap be as bold as your vision.
Your business demands quality. So do your vehicle wraps. At Grafics Unlimited, we’ve served the Reno and Northern Nevada area with custom vehicle graphics and other advertising design since 1993. Find out what we can do for you at graficsunlimited.com
