A shift from printed media to digital is increasingly evident in the advertisement industry today. This shift is due to the numerous ways a company is able to market their brand or business digitally. From social media marketing to LED advertising screens, or even when you walk past a house and see real estate window displays for sale, digital ads have encompassed many of the screens you see daily.
What is an Outdoor Digital Sign?
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Outdoor digital signs and Out Of Home Advertising (OOH) are a kind of advertisement which targets any audience outside their homes. They have increasingly grown in popularity over the last few years, and some recent examples are digital signs for movies or lit-up menus for drive-thrus.
What are the Features?
Some people always think that electronics and the environment don’t pair well together. This idea leads to their notion that outdoor digital signs don’t have the durability to withstand the harshness of nature. However, here are some of the marvellous features of guaranteeing the top performance of those digital signs:
- Casing. A durable tempered glass that can withstand 243°C encloses the LED advertising sign. It can also handle the pressure of about 20,000 psi.
- IP rated enclosures. An IP (or Ingress Protection) rating is given to a chamber to determine how many unwanted materials it can ward off. Two separate digits make up the rating, the first digit is for the intrusion protection, and the second is the moisture protection. Outdoor digital signs are about IP 65.
- Sturdy LED Components. Made from solid-state electronics, the LED lighting used in digital signs is highly durable. These components are compact and do not wear and tear, which is good for the long run.
Types of Outdoor Digital Signs
Depending on what you need, there are specific kinds of outdoor digital signage. Consider the nature of your business or brand in picking what type of outdoor digital sign you need.
- Semi-outdoor. This kind of digital sign is mostly used indoors but still subjected to high levels of brightness.
- Custom enclosure. This outdoor digital sign is in a custom enclosure to meet the client’s needs.
- Stand-alone outdoor. A self-contained display, this kind includes a built-in media player, removing the need to have a separate casing.
Pros and Cons of Using Outdoor Digital Signs
Digital signages bring in a new light in advertising and marketing. In opting for an outdoor digital sign, consider these pros and cons.
The Benefits of Using Outdoor Digital Signs
Outdoor digital signages are undoubtedly a useful and effective way to market your brand or business. Here are some of the advantages of outdoor digital signage.
1. Eye-catching
Outdoor digital signages are noticeable and highly visible. A study done by Arbitron has marked an 83% increase in recall rate of viewers when looking at those signages, meaning these companies using outdoor signages could be more likely to attract customers.
Using a LED advertising screen with their enticing colours and great visuals can make customers want to look at them more. These visuals increase the view of digital signages to 400%, according to the Intel Corporation report. Unlike their indoor counterparts, outdoor digital signs reel in people who are walking or commuting.
2. Multiple advertisements
Outdoor digital signages can display multiple advertisements from single or multiple vendors, such as real estate window display signs. Clients can magnify their revenue from a single advertising site by having multiple advertisements.
3. Cost-effective
While outdoor digital signs may have a higher upfront cost, investing in these signs can be beneficial over time. Business owners can commission a graphic designer to create different signages to display for different occasions, and over time digital signs cost less than printing countless paper flyers. According to the Small Business Association (SBA) study, the exponential growth of 15% to 150% is noticeable for the Return of Investment (ROI) on digital signage.
4. Manageable
Whether advertising another promotion, broadcasting your new policies, or changing your menu, digital signs are very beneficial. Unlike printed signages which need to be printed and require extra hands to install, digital ones are updated by just a click of a button, on-site, or remotely.
5. Eco-friendly
By using energy-efficient LED advertising displays, business owners can lessen the use of paper and ink in producing advertising materials. It is a win-win situation for the business owner and the environment.
6. Interactive and creative
Some outdoor digital displays use a touchscreen capability to engage more with the customers and entice them. Some are also employing videos, some with audio, to catch the attention of any passerby.
Challenges of Outdoor Digital Signs
Although there are a lot of advantages, investing in an outdoor digital sign can have its downfalls.
1. Poor display
Some business owners go for a cheaper alternative to LED display signs, which may be of lesser quality. This can pose an unfavourable response as it loses its appeal to customers.
2. Success is not guaranteed
You can put your digital sign anywhere from the busiest place in a city or the front of your store. But there is no assurance that the number of your customers will rise or your sales will skyrocket. You cannot expect all of the consumers or the passersby to see your sign or even remember what was in it.
3. Measurability
When investing in OOH or outdoor digital signs, while there are some measures to control when/where signs will be displayed and the type of audience it will attract, there is only a certain extent of measurability to fully understand the attribution of the ad to a sale. For example, if you’re advertising for a particular product and place this ad outside your store, you cannot guarantee that a particular person came into the store because they saw that ad, unless surveys and tests are taken on each and every customer.
4. Professional help
When you already have outdoor digital signage under your sleeve, you need constant IT supervision. You can either learn IT skills, which is beneficial, or hire someone to create, maintain, and supervise your digital signage.
5. Hard to install
There are many components of an outdoor digital sign. Software, infrastructure, and hardware can accumulate costs, and the people needed to install everything will cost you more. Furthermore, components will need regular check-ups and maintenance, which will also add to the cost of owning an outdoor digital sign.
Tips to For a Successful Outdoor Digital Sign
Once understanding the pros and cons of owning an outdoor digital sign, you need to create a strategy to ensure your outdoor digital sign creates a profit. For your sign to yield a return on investment, you can follow these tips:
● Know your audience
When placed in a crowded place, do a little research to determine what kind of people are passing by your sign. For example, there are more teenagers when it’s around five in the afternoon? You can display something they can relate to with the research you have gathered.
● Location
Make sure to put your sign in a crowded place, where consumers can easily see it. A good location should have protection from the harsh weather, even if it has an enclosure.
● Brainstorm the copy and creative
The copy and creative you’re going to put on the sign needs to be eye-catching, have the right enticing color palette for the audience which matches the brand, have a catchy phrase, strong call-to-action (CTA) and relatable information for your target audience. Content with audio or video can be especially engaging and successful for outdoor campaigns.
The main point of this article is that despite the upfront costs, the ROI of outdoor digital signs, or any digital sign, is exponential. Outdoor digital signs such as LED advertisement signs and real estate window display signs can be very beneficial for a business in the long run.