How to Determine Your Outdoor Digital Signage ROI

60% of consumers are more likely to walk past a store without outdoor signage. Therefore, outdoor digital signs give potential customers the extra push to walk into your store. What’s more, excellent outdoor signage builds brand awareness and increases store traffic.

Thanks to technology, you can now invest in outdoor digital signage. Outdoor digital signs are dynamic and more interactive than static ones. These digital signs have a high initial investment. However, if used correctly, outdoor digital signs have a high return on investment (ROI) that offsets the initial investment.

Therefore, you should assess your outdoor digital signage’s ROI to ensure you maximize your signage’s potential. Here are ways to evaluate if your outdoor digital signage maximizes return on investment.

1. Sales Increase

Businesses use exterior signs to increase sales. Most content on window decals or wall-mounted screens is promotional. Therefore, outdoor signs are a great way to market your products to passersby. In fact, 67% of consumers admit they purchased products from a store due to the outdoor signs.

Complement your channel letter or acrylic signs with digital signs that display your products. The sign design of these exterior signs should contain captivating colors, fonts, and typography. 

The more attractive the display, the more likely it will capture the interest of potential consumers. One way of determining the ROI of your digital signage is by examining the sales turnover. Note the sale of specific products before you introduce the exterior signage. 

Advertise these products on your sidewalk signs and track the sales changes after introducing the outdoor signs. If you notice increased sales since you installed your street signs, you are receiving value for your money.

2. Foot Traffic

An A-frame sign helps you capture the attention of the people walking past your store. But, tall building signs with eye-catching graphic designs capture your audience’s attention from miles away. More so, these outdoor signs are more effective when they have attention-grabbing colors and you mount them on busy streets.

High-quality content with excellent resolution will increase the foot traffic to your stores. Actually, studies show 68% of consumers believe the quality of a business’ signage reflects the quality of its commodities. You’ll likely have more foot traffic if you advertise your products on high-resolution screens rather than sandwich boards.

However, not all consumers who walk into your building make a sale. Some will purchase after a month or two. Therefore, it’s easy to miss out on the impact of digital signage on foot traffic since it doesn’t manifest in dollars.

Although walk-in consumers may not purchase anything, they are still valuable. Visiting guests leads to more word-of-mouth referrals that also promote brand awareness.

3. Online Traffic

You can use outdoor signage to drive traffic to your online store, website, and social media pages. While business cards contain website and social media information, you can only reach a handful of people with them. Therefore, to drive more traffic to your online sites, outdoor digital signs can help you reach more people.

The more you market your online sites, the more online traffic you have. As a result, examine your online traffic in addition to physical traffic to your brick-and-mortar stores. The online traffic also determines if your digital signage is maximizing ROI.

To measure your online traffic, analyze the number of online sales, views, and click-through rates since you installed outdoor signs. Additionally, check if likes and shares have increased on your social media pages. Indeed, increased online traffic indicates that your signboard captures your audience’s attention.

4. Engagement Metrics

Instead of static signboards or window stickers, consider using interactive sidewalk signs. Interactive outdoor signage makes it easier to determine if your outdoor signs maximize ROI. For instance, you can use data analytics configurations and webcams to analyze consumer engagement. 

The webcams can identify the number of consumers viewing your exterior signs based on demographics such as age and gender. Additionally, you can record the number of people who stopped to interact with your storefront signs. 

Besides, you can also keep track of consumer engagement time with these types of outdoor signs. When consumers interact with your outdoor digital signage, they receive information about your products making them potential customers.

5. Call-to-Action

A call-to-action aims to invoke an immediate response from the audience. A carefully crafted call-to-action will let you know if your signboards have an impact. Your call-to-action can include simple statements such as buy now, get discounts, and follow us on Instagram, among others.

Moreover, you can include a QR code, a redeemable coupon code, or a mention of the ad call to action. However, with calls-to-action, ordinary metal signs or light box signs aren’t the best exterior signs to use. Digital signage allows you to custom exterior signs to communicate your desired call-to-action.

As individuals respond to the call-to-action, you view firsthand your outdoor signs’ return on investment. Indeed, increased response to your call-to-action means more people view your outdoor digital signs.

6. General Information Calls

If your outdoor signs don’t convey promotional content, it’s not easy determining their return on investments. However, it isn’t impossible. With general information calls, you can assess the impact your digital signage has on its viewers.

For instance, a church may display information about their service times, their pastors, and how to reach them. If there is an increase in calls due to the information provided on outdoor signs, they are maximizing their ROI.

In addition, you can display announcements and frequently asked questions on your digital monument signs or LED screens. Clients will no longer ask about this information since they already have the answers from your signs. Therefore, the reduced queries in these areas indicate that outdoor signs are serving their purpose.

7. Cost Savings

Interestingly, statistics indicate that churches that use digital signage notice a 76% cost reduction in paper, print, and photocopy costs. Outdoor digital signs can help you reduce repair, print, and paper expenses. Traditional static displays required regular printing in case of any updates.

Additionally, you had to find someone to replace the old billboard display and create a new one. However, with outdoor digital signs, you manage the content on your digital screens remotely. When you need to update any information on these wall signs, you do so from your computer.

Furthermore, outdoor digital signs are subject to damage by diverse weather conditions. For instance, corrugated plastic real estate signs are subject to bending or wear and tear. Digital signage offers you special enclosures to prevent damage by weather. 

As a result, you save on repair costs. To determine if your outdoor signage maximizes ROI, you can look at cost minimized due to digital signage. This way, you’re convinced that your digital signage was a beneficial investment.

8. Surveys

You can occasionally ask your audience about the impact your storefront signs have on them through surveys. The surveys can be on your interactive digital screens through URLs that lead to the study. Also, you can conduct surveys with physical forms next to the screens or in your stores. 

The surveys can help you understand what content on the displays compelled them to visit your store. You also know what they dislike. This way, you can custom outdoor signs to increase engagement. Additionally, you receive testimonials from clients on the impact of your outdoor business signs.

Why ROI Matters

You invest your resources and time into ensuring your outdoor signage is up and running. Convincing stakeholders that this is a worthy investment takes time. Therefore, evaluating the ROI is the best way to ensure your digital signage investment is worthwhile. 

You can analyze if you’re maximizing your outdoor digital signage with the pointers listed above. If you’re maximizing the ROI on your outdoor digital signs, then it’s easier to keep funding them. However, if you’re not, make amends that will ensure you profit from your investment in outdoor digital signage.