Capturing Customer Recall

Customer recall is a true measurement of a brand’s connection with its customers and, thus, advertising effectiveness. Brands covet and actively attempt to increase this gold standard for establishing loyalty and repeat business. It’s also is a strategic way to influence customer buying patterns; what people recall naturally influences what they purchase.

With various ways to communicate with consumers and therefore impart recall, how effective is dynamic signage compared to television or print? A new study by Nielsen answers this question. The results revealed dynamic signage as the most successful medium, topping all other traditional advertising channels with a 52-percent recall rate, 20 percent higher than television!

The complete results of the study included these media:

• Online Banner: 3 percent

• Magazine: 21 percent

• Radio: 27 percent

• Billboards: 30 percent

• TV: 32 percent

• Dynamic Signage: 52 percent

To maximize recall, ask what impacts recall, which means looking at the audience and environment. Who is available to receive the message and how susceptible are they to retaining it?

Who Is in the “Zone”?

“Presence” refers to determining what consumers are within viewable distance of a particular sign. The zone of available viewing area depends on many elements; size of screen, location, and placement are the most prevalent and controllable by the location. Strategic placement of screens will ultimately establish the perimeter of viewability. But just putting a sign in a prospect’s sightline, doesn’t mean she will look. There’s more to calculating presence than logistics.

First, ask, “Why is the individual in the zone?” Is the consumer open to interacting with signage or is it competing for their attention with many other outside factors? Where have they been? Where are they going? How does this change mindset? Are they commuters on a train home? Are they passersby in a shopping district? What is the state of mind of these different types of individuals? Asking these questions and taking into account the answers can help brands connect better with the audience and create more compelling content hence better customer recall.

Do You Have Their Attention?

Once a consumer is in the zone, think back again to the why. Is the audience there by choice or not? More specifically, is the audience captive or passive?

There are two kinds of captive audiences: a buyer who has entered a sole establishment with plans to make a purchase and a person forced to be in a certain space for a certain period of time.

The customer entering a fast casual restaurant with dynamic menu boards is an example of the first type. The diner has chosen to eat at the facility and is simply deciding what (not whether) to purchase. With the right dynamic signage messaging, you have the opportunity to influence that order.

The train commuter example or passengers awaiting airport security checks are examples of the other type of captive audience. Those passengers are stuck in that space, and the promotions or content they see don’t necessarily connect to their consumer experience. Content on the train may advertise restaurants on stops or retailers, not the transit company.

The passive audience – our commuters — is one typically in motion. These people don’t need to lend their attention to dynamic, making them an even more challenging audience with which to connect. In contrast, browsing shoppers who haven’t made a decision to go into a specific store are more promising. Retailers hope that exciting content might catch their eye. This audience is more impulsive, and smart content creators design messaging that embraces that volatility.

How Long to Connect?

Dwell time measures how long your audience is expected to linger, captivated by your signage. Depending on this measurement and the type of message, you can set an expectation of what that audience may be able to digest in one viewing.

Dwell time is determined by the type of environment along with the type of audience, captive or passive. The average attention span for dynamic is eight seconds, but dwell time can be considerably longer or even shorter.

Let's look at a few different dwell time examples. For a fast casual restaurant, the dwell time would vary due to time of day and possibly day of the week. Friday at lunchtime is a longer wait time than Monday at 4 p.m., for example. And in every minute, from the time a diner walks into the restaurant until he actually orders, dynamic signage has the ability to affect that person's order.

So, a quick calculation: If an average wait time is four minutes and the attention span time is eight seconds, then an eight-second clip can play up to 30 times. If a brand has 30 chances to express some message, exclusive of just menu items and pricing, what should that message be? How can the brand further test if the customer retained anything within the wait time and beyond the customer experience?

The simple answer is, “What do they want to sell – daily specials, combos, more desserts?” To test the power of influence within dwell time, a fast casual should consider measuring daily specials. Specific content would be delivered in eight-second segments promoting the daily special. Keeping all other factors the same, the brand can track sales for those specials, looking for spike indicators related to times of day and days of the week.

This isn’t an exact science; any number of factors outside dynamic signage can impact what is ordered, including individual mindsets and habits, such as those who choose their order before entering the restaurant.

The other captive audience, the train passenger, not necessarily apt to be persuaded to recall or even act. And the content playing on a screen like this is most likely promotions for services or products not related to the actual consumer experience the individual is currently having. Thus, the power and ability to recall must be greater. If someone views a promo for a new hot spot downtown during the weekday commute, will that message stick much later down the road?

This type of recall isn't new; it's the basis for most traditional television advertising. However, the audience on the train can't change the channel or walk into another room. The content on the dynamic screen also keeps rotating with the chance of even hundreds of views per travel time. The sheer volume of likely views, despite many other distractions for modern-day commuters, can explain why dynamic signage advertising content has a higher recall than TV commercials.

Context and Mindset

Mindset, in terms of recalling dynamic signage messaging, is acutely influenced by where someone is going or where they have been. This psychological factor is applicable to captive and passive audiences. In our commuter example, whether the person is going in to work or is finished for the day, has an effect on recall.

A commuter heading in for the day may be more distracted trying to catch up on emails or phone calls. More anxiety or lingering sleepiness is likely present. A good strategy for morning content, then, is to keep it brief, simple, and bright in color. A commuter on the way home may be more relaxed and reflective, possibly thinking of dinner or entertainment options. Messaging at this time of day should be longer and more sophisticated to take advantage of the chance that recall may be higher.

The consideration of context and mindset can help mold dynamic signage content to best leverage recall. How and what the audience is thinking are integral parts to shaping impactful content.

There is no doubt that the quality of content matters in dynamic signage. Much more than color palettes or images, peeling back the psychology of why someone retains information and the amount of time the brand has to communicate that message is essential in developing the overall strategy of a dynamic signage project. Understanding objectives and how to produce better results by maximizing customer recall ensures brands have high returns on their investment in dynamic signage.