Your New Year's Resolution: Try Dynamic Signage

Print is not dead. With new technology and innovation, print continues to be an important medium for conveying a message to an audience. That hasn’t changed even with the evolution of dynamic signage. Dynamic doesn’t work for everything, but pretending it’s a fad or something only for certain verticals is burying your head in the sand. Dynamic is here to stay; it’s made its mark and proven to be an important part of the signage industry.

Dynamic signage has become a dominant player in the customer experience, shaping consumer behavior and impacting brand awareness. Because it’s no longer an unknown, and, as the data shows, produces real quantifiable results, it’s time to make your 2015 resolution to try dynamic signage. Here are seven critical reasons why now is the time to make the leap.

1. Your customers are already considering it. Think about the percentage of your business that comes from reprints, specifically reprints due to minor wording or pricing changes. If you have customers who submit a large number of these types of reprints, you may need to offer dynamic in order to retain this business in the future. When fast casual restaurant owners want to change their menu regularly, maybe even between meals, it starts to make more sense for them to employ dynamic signage, thereby controlling their own changes rather than submitting new art and waiting for a print turnaround. These types of customers represent both a threat and an opportunity. The threat, of course, is that you lose the business because you don’t offer the service they desire. Instead, take the opportunity to explore dynamic signage together. If you have a relationship and have garnered loyalty, then you can build a dynamic signage program together. Remember to track data and results. It will be important to expanding your customer base.

2. Barriers to entry have never been lower. You no longer need a large capital investment to embark into the realm of dynamic signage. Screens are now more affordable than ever, and purchasing them wholesale will reduce costs further (look to purchase from those that sell to providers, like Synnex or Newegg Business). Basic software is often free, and with so much competition in this space, negotiation matters. Again, look to software providers that sell to providers rather than end users, such as Haivision’s CoolSign. Labor also doesn’t need to be pricey. You may already have talented designers on hand who can create content. And luckily, you no longer need to be an expert in technology to deploy dynamic signage. Aligning yourself with the right partners for software and hardware gives you the ability to learn and receive support. Financial challenges are not the barrier they were 10 years ago, so it’s easier to take a chance on diversifying.

3. Dynamic signage yields ROI. One of the biggest reasons end users have resisted the leap to dynamic is that they don’t think there is any real return. Recently, a provider I consult with talked to me about convincing a fast casual chain to convert to digital menu boards. Their position was that they had tried it in limited markets and didn’t believe it had an impact. But what was being measured and how? To understand if dynamic signage
is impacting the bottom line, you need much more than “Yes, sales went up.”

To begin to calculate ROI, start with a strategy: What do they want to sell? What message do they want to convey? What type of experience do they want the customer to have with their brand? These are the building blocks of strategy. Creating content that answers these questions and understanding the audience’s mindset sets up positive ROI. With these answers in place, measurements can begin. Measurements can consist of sales on single items, spikes in sales at certain time periods (plotting this out in graph form with content type helps you identify which factors influence behavior, brand awareness – for example, post experience surveys – and speed of service.) There are solid, definitive research and case studies available that are great study guides for measurement that can help you set up ROI expectations. Will putting up a flat screen increase business? Not always. It’s all in the execution.

4. You already have a competitive edge. You have reaped success as a graphics provider for a reason. Your shop produces great work and understands the fundamentals of creating pieces that work to enhance the experience of your clients’ spaces. Many of these skills and your years of experience translate to dynamic signage. Dynamic signage that is effective is often deeply rooted in imagery. The same eye you have used to create print pieces is just as necessary for dynamic.

We’ve all had customers who were convinced that their photos of their food were perfect. A regional quick-serve chain I once worked with had a new menu item they wanted to roll out. They were convinced their cinnamon roll pictures were mouthwatering, but the team I worked with quickly pointed out that too much light in the wrong areas was causing them to look like plastic. Most people may not have noticed, at least not consciously, that these photos were not capturing how delicious the cinnamon rolls were – and that’s something a large-format print expert would recognize immediately.

You already have a great grasp on retouching photos to enhance them in print formats; use that same expertise for dynamic. Additionally, you already have years of experience with signage placement. Looking at how people queue up or at the sight line for passersby is a fundamental skill set that takes time to acquire. Dynamic signs often replace print signs, and the placement is typically the same (with a few adjustments depending on size of screen and mounting options). These competitive advantages allow you to more seamlessly expand your product base to dynamic.

5. Lower overhead. New machines for digital printing are huge investments. As discussed earlier, the costs of dynamic signage hardware and software have declined significantly. Thus, the investment to diversify is less than the cost of innovation in print. Because most software is cloud-based, the infrastructure and networking costs are minimal. Run the numbers. Determine the impact and possible revenue from new print machinery versus dynamic. Once you have a forecast and have calculated the required investment and expected profit, you will have a clear picture of what would be most beneficial for your business.

6. Expand the skill set of existing employees. Developing your human capital is just as important as expanding your product line. There are talented, skilled employees already at your disposal. Cultivating the skill set of your current workforce allows you to transition easily to dynamic signage. New training will be essential to successfully honing your staff, but investing in them and therefore their success also earns their buy-in. When venturing into a new line of business, your employees may initially feel threatened. Allowing them to be part of the decision and the establishment of a new department can ease some of the challenges of growing pains. It won’t be a perfect fit for everyone, and hiring additional staff with previous experience will be vital to your new endeavor. But take a good look at who on your team has the right skills and initiative to venture into something new.

7. Increase per project revenue. If you currently bid on projects that include dynamic signage, you are missing out on possible revenue. If you can provide all the signage for a project, you can also offer a savings to your customer. You can reduce costs, too. Install graphics and dynamic signage at the same time to maximize your labor. Achieve additional savings with bulk shipping. A decade ago, before dynamic was so prevalent, you probably had a larger piece of projects. However, as dynamic signage has taken the place of traditional print, sales have shrunk. Having the capabilities to provide a cohesive, single-vendor experience for your customer increases your share of their budget and leaves them with extra dollars. You’re also guaranteed residual revenue from support fees from dynamic. Reorders for large projects, with the exception of often-updated signs like menu boards, can be slow. If you construct quality work, a canvas, acrylic, or vinyl piece should have longevity, with new orders for existing locations years apart.

Each new year opens with the spirit of possibilities. Shops with long-term success are unlikely to have achieved it by allowing their business to become stagnant. And in the evolution of signage, dynamic has certainly earned its place on the continuum. Start 2015 with a plan to diversify, with careful consideration of the risk versus the reward. It could be a resolution worth keeping.