LED has changed how we use storefront signs, when, and where. Outdoor digital signs are becoming a vital marketing tool. A 2022 study by Solomon Partners and OAAA showed outdoor signage outperforms online, television, radio, and print ads on a cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) basis. Real-world signage is no longer a one-way message delivery. It can now collect data to improve your message. Here’s a chance to know who and how many see your sign and get people to interact with it.
Benefits of using outdoor LED panels
Your potential consumers are out there, and they probably don’t know how amazing your products are services are. The first point of contact is integral to a brand. Do it well, and more people will seek you out. With LED technology, you don’t have to be afraid to take your message outside in video, image, and text format. In the rain, wind, and sun, LED panels will withstand all kinds of weather and remain durable while you reinvent your brand with newer, better, and more prolific advertising.
One of the most important advantages of LED displays is customizable content. It means, unlike a static sign, you don’t have to take it down and replace information as things change. You can do it via a software processor.
Video walls offer greater flexibility to get your message across using dynamic and captivating content. You can play your own adverts to a local audience and announce offers, free giveaways, seasonal sales, & discounts, and give more information on company products to the public in a more engaging format.
Schools, universities, and other educational institutions can reach a larger audience to present information about open days, enrollments, seminars, and other similar events. You can make immediate changes to the content and switch between daytime and nighttime activities and events.
How to use outdoor LED panels to gather consumer data
LED displays commonly disseminate information to external and internal audiences to announce, inform, and share information about brands and organizations. But did you know they can also collect information from the audience to increase engagement?
Motion detectors
Built-in or external motion sensors on digital displays can trigger video content based on audience proximity. They can tailor content for different stages of the customer/visitor’s journey to your establishment. For example, as they get nearer, you can display a welcome sign or registration for an event.
Motion detection on a digital screen can implement multiple trigger zones. These can be a lighting effect that grabs attention when a person is far away, call-to-action video content when they are approaching the sign, and the appearance of touch buttons when the person is right in front of the display to prompt action from the visitor.
QR Codes
QR codes can track performance metrics. They can measure the success of a marketing campaign or a product. These insights help you create better marketing strategies in the future. From movie theatres to clinics, accessible QR codes bring a versatile and efficient consumer experience.
They can hold hundreds of encrypted data that translate into URLs and promotional material. QR codes are a practical marketing tool that generates leads. They can gather critical user data without emails or marketing communication from your side.
Enabling QR codes on your outdoor digital displays gives users a familiar web interaction-like experience. It saves time and connects your digital screen to your audience’s smartphones within seconds.
Whether you are offering a free cocktail, providing a brochure download, leading users to a signup page, asking for feedback, taking the audience to a landing page, or giving them the option to RSVP to an event, QR codes are a great way to open two-way automated communication without the need for customer service agents or multiple forms and flyers.
You can gamify your outdoor display with a mysterious “Scan for a surprise” or hide a golden ticket in one of the 10 codes you share on digital screens in the building to prompt a scavenger hunt.
Traffic pattern analysis
Digital signage analytics help you make data-driven decisions for better accuracy. Visitor demographics, such as age, gender, and ethnicity, can be analyzed using facial recognition technology on digital screens. Dwell time on a digital screen gives an idea of the average interests of the target audience. Activities like the number of QR scans, average wait time in queues, and motion sensor gesture-based analytics offer quantifiable data for analysis.
Interactive displays
Interactive digital signage is one of the most productive marketing tools out there. It puts the users at the forefront, offering self-service solutions and a frictionless experience. With interactivity, you are bringing your audience one step closer to you. It establishes a tangible connection instead of your audience viewing your sign and passing by.
You can allow them to choose the product they want to know more about, invite them to take a survey, hold an opinion poll, allow them to make a reservation at your restaurant, let people vote for the dessert you should serve at your restaurant at dinner time, offer wayfinding to specific departments and stores in your mall, and more.
Did you know?
81% of consumers agree interactive content grabs attention more effectively than static content on digital signage or elsewhere.
And,
Interactive video advertisements get 47% more viewing time than non-interactive or static ones.
Run promotional adverts
Outdoor LED panels can advertise and display promotional content in video and image formats. You can time your content to target specific audiences. Whether it is to announce discounts at your bookstore during the school rush hour or to display drinks served during happy hour in the evening, you can control your promotional material in real-time.
Gamification strategies
Gamification is a rising trend in the digitization of signage. You can use it to engage your workforce, students, or consumers. It brings a sense of reward through gameplay aspects. Our natural curiosity makes us want to play along. Whether it is at the museum, a store, or a restaurant, there is room to play. Virtual reality and augmented reality are changing how consumers experience your products and services.
Research shows that gamification features like points, levels, or leaderboards can promote positive user behavior. 70% of Forbes Global 2000 companies use gamification to boost staff engagement, revenue, and employee retention.
Interactive displays and gamification are a pairing worth considering for your digital displays. Whether it is simple as choosing the correct answer to a question or identifying your customers’ likely coffee flavor profile, gamification can keep visitors engaged happily. You can reward them with a freebie, discount, or a coupon.
You can use a VR photo booth added to digital signage for visitors to pose with your products. You can reward them by adding the pictures to a physical photo wall or a collage on social media. It improves social engagement and is an inviting prospect for specifically younger demographics.
Gamification has built-in ROI. You can directly measure the efficacy of your campaign is by how many people play the game.
Conclusion
Outdoor digital displays are perfect for interactive DOOH advertising. They offer personalized and more enjoyable experiences for consumers. These can build more meaningful and closer connections with brands, result in higher ROI, and provide better analytics. Use the latest in digital signage technology to create your outdoor LED panel. LED Craft builds and designs gamechanging digital signage in Missouri. Call us to learn more about expanding your reach and increasing engagement.
