Often volunteers are asked to place political yard signs at specified locations for a candidate but are not provided tips on the best way to place them to maximize their effectiveness. Utilizing some important tips can increase the visibility of the sign and improve the chances of people remembering the name on the sign.



The Proper Sign Angle

Placing the signs at approximately a 90 degree angle to the nearby road will allow drivers to begin reading the election signs as soon as possible. Drivers often only have a few seconds of time to glance at a sign and digest the message, so placing election signs at an optimal angle increases the chances that they will be read.

Don't try and grab the attention of all the traffic on the street. When election signs are placed at corners, place them so they are ideally situated for one direction of traffic and not all four. If volunteers attempt to get the attention of everyone driving on the street the sign will probably be difficult for everyone to read and the candidate will not be able to take advantage of a great location. Spending the extra money and placing election signs on all of the corners is an excellent strategy.

Height Placement - Political Yard Signs

Experts recommend situating the election signs a half a foot to a foot from the ground. Signs attached to poles or fences and placed up high are typically not safe for a driver to read while traveling down the road.

Study the area and decide the likelihood of the sign being stolen or damaged. Find out if there is a history of sign damage in particular neighborhoods in your voting district. You can still place election signs in the area but don't place your large signs made from expensive material. Placing your signs in public property areas will increase the chances of it not being removed.

Target Particular Voters

It's not enough just to place sign at heavy traffic areas. If you want to get the attention of young voters place the political yard signs near shopping malls and at their entrances. Place them at nearby colleges and areas of town that are known for nightlife.

Position them at office centers to increase the candidates name recognition with business people. Situating them near schools will increase name recognition with adults who take their children to school. Popular movie theaters and grocery stores are other excellent locations. Shopping centers are good locations when targeting women voters.

Distance From The Road

Check with your local officials regarding how close the political yard signs can be to the road. Most cities require signs to be more than 10 feet away from the road. Also, if they are being placed on actual lawns whether on public or private property keep in mind that the lawns will occasionally be mowed and signs can be damaged or removed from the ground.

Selecting high traffic locations and appropriate places for target groups as well as properly situating the election signs can significantly increase the number of people who will notice the signs and increase the readability of them. It's important that staff and volunteers be trained to effectively place political yard signs in order to increase a candidate's name recognition.

Clumping

Often signs that are placed in groups of three or four properties in a row can give the impression that there are more supporters. This concept of clumping yard signs together can also make a smaller number of signs look like more that what really there. If you get a yard sign request from one residence be sure to ask the residence on either side for their assistance in your campaign sign placement.

Dandelion signs

Every spring, overnight it seems, the green landscape changes to a sea of yellow spots as the dandelions bloom. The reason this change in nature is so noticeable, is because it happens rather abruptly. The same technique can be applied to how you put up your yard signs. Candidates who gradually release their yard signs are missing out on a lot of the impact a political or Business sign can have.

The best way to catch people's attention with your signs is to map out 90% of all your yard sign's locations before your signs even arrive. Then on one evening get all the volunteers you can muster together and put the majority of your signs up all at once. The next morning, your constituents will drive to work noticing the vast change in the landscape. Suddenly they want to know; what this new candidate all about, and why are so many people rallying behind them. First impressions are everything, and this can be an effective "wake-up call" to not only the voters, but also your opponent, and shaken opponents tend to make irrational decisions.

Timing

Probably the most frequently ask question we hear is, "How far out should I put my signs in the ground." While the consulting community has debated this issue for years most would conclude that you want your signs to be release when people have their minds on elections. For most elections this means signs should go up about 30-40 days prior to early voting. (For elections that do not have early voting 30-40 days from the actual election) If signs are put out much sooner than this people begin to get used to seeing them and they forget what they're even about. Yard signs sent out much later than 20 days loose the effectiveness to become household names.