Is Digital Signage Beneficial for Small and Medium Businesses?

In the advertising world, digital signage has recently been thrown into the spotlight as one of the most preferred advertising methods of 2016. With so much attention being placed on this new marketing medium, it’s important to take a look at just how effective digital signage is, and how feasible it is for small and medium businesses to begin using digital signs as a part of their marketing campaign. Despite the recent hype about digital billboards, we believe that digital billboards are best suited to larger companies. Let’s take a look at some reasons why.

The Cost

If you run a small or medium business, it’s not likely you have an excess of funds sitting around to be applied to marketing efforts on a monthly basis. The average cost for a small 2X8’ LED digital billboard is roughly $4,400 per face, and that doesn’t include the cost of parts and shipping. If you decide to rent the billboard face, expect to pay about half that cost on a recurring monthly basis. Needless to say, unless your small business has done some serious planning and budgeting, digital signage is much more expensive that most companies are able to afford.

Finding Space

As we mentioned earlier, smaller digital billboards are roughly 2’ X 8.’ While the size is optimal for businesses who need to advertise to passing traffic farther than fifty feet away, it can be difficult for companies operating out of a smaller storefront to find the space to house a billboard of this size. If space is an issue, many companies will have to turn to a billboard rental, which costs much more than owning a billboard and may be unaffordable for start-ups and smaller businesses.

Experienced Set-Up

Unless your company plans to use regurgitated or pre-programmed content, it’s not uncommon for owners of digital signage to need to employ and IT expert or digital designer to help them program their advertisement into the signage. Once again, the cost of hiring outside help can throw many businesses over their advertising budget. Digital signage may be the right solution for businesses with a significant amount of working capital to invest in advertising, however many small and medium companies will find that the total cost of investing in digital signage is far beyond their marketing budget. Unlike standard signs, most digital signs and billboards must be strategically mounted in areas with access to an electrical outlet or power line, limiting the number of areas the sign can actually be installed. These hurtles in finance and space can be extremely difficult to overcome for small and medium businesses, however larger companies with enough revenue and space to overcome these challenges may see immediate benefits of incorporating digital signs into their marketing campaigns.