4 Keys to a Successful Digital Signage Deployment By Frank Lucer At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

By most standards, digital signage is no longer a new technology. Over the last few years, trends have emerged that spotlight several important steps to a successful deployment. Yet, so often, companies invest tens of thousands of dollars into a network with little regard for how to make it work within their businesses.

In today's article, I'll provide an overview of the 4 factors that influence whether your signage network delivers a positive ROI. We'll discuss (briefly) revenue models, the people on your team, and potential land mines you'll definitely want to avoid.

#1 - Know How You'll Generate Revenue

There are a number of ways that you can generate revenue from your digital signage network. It is critical, before deployment, that you identify the model that you intend to pursue. Otherwise, you risk spreading yourself too thin, leaving your signs to jostle between different - and often, competing - goals.

We've talked about the ad-supported model in the past; it is the most direct approach. A lot of companies also use their screens exclusively for branding campaigns. The focus is not to sell advertising or products, but rather to build and support a company's image. Along similar lines, there is a sales-driven model through which a company will promote only its own items within one particular brand. A good example might be a high-end, brand-specific shoe store. Finally, you'll often see digital screens which display public service announcements. These, too, generate revenue, but do so from public entities.

#2 - Establish Your Benchmarks

Left on its own, your signage network is little more than a collection of nice-looking displays. If you and your team neglect to track measurable benchmarks, you will never know whether your signs are effective. For example, let's suppose that you operate a clothing store and have placed a screen directly outside the entrance. Let's further suppose your goal is to increase foot traffic within your store. Without setting an early benchmark, you cannot know whether that single screen is effectively motivating passersby to visit.

Depending upon the size of your signage network and your objectives, you may need to establish a long series of measurable benchmarks. When you begin to collect raw data, you can compare it to your benchmarks and test changes.

#3 - Assemble The Right People

Seldom will you alone be able to handle all of the tasks that are important to the success of your digital signage network. Perhaps with only 2 or 3 screens deployed within one venue, and with long-term contracts from everyone involved (i.e. venue manager, advertisers, etc.), you can take care of everything. However, even that may be overly-optimistic.

In most cases I've seen, fewer people than necessary are involved with a network deployment. For those people who are involved, the tasks to which they're assigned often lay outside their talents. For example, the person in charge of content creation may also be responsible for sales and marketing. The operations team may be involved with studying venue floor plans.

You need to build a team of talented people who can devote themselves to specific responsibilities. This is critical.

#4 - Avoid Potential Land Mines

As you might expect, there are a lot of potential pitfalls - besides those mentioned above - that can sabotage your digital signage network. Two of the most common I've noticed are a failure to create a reasonable deployment plan and not allocating sufficient resources toward it. The impact of these problems will vary depending on what revenue model you're using and your project's scope. For example, a small 10-screen ad-supported signage network will be less affected than a 2,000-screen multi-venue deployment.

The bottom line is that your signage network's success will rely heavily upon your diligence in planning, budget, team of talent, and establishing benchmarks. And of course, you must know in advance which revenue model you want to pursue. These are the factors that can drive a positive ROI.

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