High Return on Investment with Digital Signage

It isn’t easy to articulate ROI for digital signage. Some may suggest it can't be measured at all. The truth, however, is that digital signage ROI is determined by ROO (Return on Objective).

The ROI formula for digital signage begins by identifying an objective for your investment. It's easy to measure the financial impact of your signage once you know why you need it. You may need digital signs to catch the eye of prospective customers if you're operating retail stores. For other organizations, you may need a wayfinding system or video wall to reduce anxiety or improve communication.

The Case for Digital Signage

Customers today have what's called a digital imagination. They learn about your company long before they visit your locations in person. This information creates an image in their minds of who you are and helps them decide if they'll make a purchase. Your brick and mortar stores, therefore, need to be consistent with your digital image.

Digital signage allows retail organizations to create crisp images consistent with their digital marketing. They can replace their static signage, such as posters and print ads, with interactive kiosks and video walls. This gives their branding a new level of depth and movement to attract the attention of potential customers.

Beyond retail, digital signage provides benefits for other organizations. It improves communication in a corporate office or helps guests find their way around a facility. These devices are cost effective as well. Organizations save money on printing charges and save time by streamlining information.

Your digital signage objectives may include any one of these potential benefits. Identifying them is the first step in determining your ROI, or more specifically, your ROO.

Objectives and Returns

We use this formula to determine ROI:

[(Amount Profited - Amount Spent) / Amount Spent] * 100

Gathering the variables for this formula is tricky. "Amount Spent" is evident. "Amount Profited" can be difficult to nail down.

For example, a university or hospital may have a wayfinding system to help guests navigate its campus. This form of digital signage doesn't directly provide dollars and cents. However, it adds value to the organization by reducing frustration and improving the visitor experience. Visitor experience will ultimately be reflected in your profit.

ROO is a different story. Rather than simply contrasting amount profited against amount spent, it measures results against a set objective. These objectives provide benefits that will increase your ROI over time.

You'll need to determine an objective for your digital signage and a clear metric you can apply to it. What aspects of your visitors' experience could be improved by this solution? Could you display content on your video walls to reduce perceived wait time? Will you bring more customers into your store with a visually appealing storefront?

Answering questions like these will help you get the most out of your digital signage.

Digital Signage and Real-Time Data

Digital signage also has the ability to run advanced analytics and gather real-time data. These analytics are similar to those your website uses. Your digital signs can determine how much time each viewer spent interacting with them. They can also identify demographic information such as age and gender.

This data will give you valuable insight into what's attracting customers or improving your visitor experience. It's also information that can be used as a metric of success for your digital signage objectives. If these objectives include attracting certain people, this data will let you know how well you're succeeding.

Successful ROO will require planning and preparation. An AV integrator can help you determine your objectives and measure their success.

At Continuant, we've helped our customers get the most out of their technology for more than 25 years. Our AV experts will come alongside you to create a plan to maximize your ROO and ROI on your digital signage. We also offer our full suite of AV managed services with our 24-hour live support and real-time proactive monitoring.

Ready to get the most out of your digital signage? Schedule a call with one of our AV experts to get started.

* Editor's Note: This article was originally published in May 2019 and has been revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.