Generating a Tangible ROI With Digital Signage

Generating a Tangible ROI With Digital Signage

Doug Bannister
February 3, 2019

Digital signage is now found in nearly every corner of the modern world, and a substantial swath of new companies are discovering the benefits of strategic messaging that can be deployed across the globe via the simple touch of a button. However, the question many newcomers are asking, though, is: “Will digital signage really generate a tangible Return on Investment (ROI)?”

The simple answer is yes!

Business goals and objectives
The first step to generating positive ROI is understanding how your digital signage aligns with your business goals and objectives. What are you looking to achieve? Increased sales, reduced costs, enhanced customer experience, and brand awareness are just a few of the many positive benefits organizations derive from digital signage. Understanding your business goals and aligning that to your digital signage strategy will help create a positive digital blueprint for your organization. Make sure you have SMART (Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time-sensitive) goals. It is also important to consider how you will measure success. What constitutes enhanced customer experience? What costs are you looking to reduce and how will you measure their reduction?

Tangible metrics
If it exists you can usually find a way to measure it. Tangible metrics that are often measured in relation to digital signage include increased sales, reduced costs, reduced wait times, and improved customer and employee satisfaction. One way that airports and other public facilities are currently deploying digital signage is as a wayfinding tool. The ROI on these types of deployments is evident in reduced wait times and employees having more time to help service other areas of the business.

On the revenue side, the average increase in sales from digital signage is somewhere between 3-5%. There is also an additional increase of margin per transaction of 2.5-3% based on customer upsells from attractive Point-of-Purchase (POP) displays. Surveys estimate that nearly 20% of customers have made an impulse purchase after seeing a product displayed on digital signage, making it is easy to see how quickly digital signage can provide a hard ROI, especially when displayed to large volumes of consumers.

In another case study, a bank was able to reduce perceived wait time 10.8% through digital merchandising.[1] Product awareness doubled from 22% to 45% and customer recall for digital signage in branch reached nearly 63%. The positive impacts of a better customer experience and enhanced product recall are not always as easy to see as fluctuations in sales numbers, but they are never-the-less important barometers for the success of digital signage strategies.

Measuring engagement
It is also important to think outside the box about what is possible with digital signage. The rise of social media platforms and related applications gives businesses completely new, and often untapped, opportunities to engage with their buyers in a completely novel way. For example, one way to increase engagement and ROI might be through a targeted Twitter campaign that uses specific hashtags and measures growth in Twitter mentions and followers. The value of being a thought leader with millions of followers is potentially massive.

Your customers are busy. Your customers are distracted. The best way to bridge the gap between a prospect and a sale is through digital signage that connects and influences buying habits, all while improving interactions. ROI doesn’t need to be elusive. Whether your organization is seeking out revenue increases, better brand awareness, or improved customer experiences, digital signage can provide galvanizing opportunities.

[1] https://www.digitalistmag.com/industries/retail/2014/05/02/how-digital-signage-drives-marketing-roi-01249973