How To Get Your Money’s Worth With Your Programmable LED Signs

Smart tips for every responsible LED sign user.

Once you’ve made the decision to buy programmable LED signs for your business, it’s important that you fully maximize their uses to make your investment work for you. They are indeed powerful platforms that are an essential part of a growing business, but only when you know what to do with its features. 

Find out how you can be a responsible digital signage owner and see how you can leverage it as a marketing tool in this article.

Before installing the sign, make sure to…

Have a clear purpose and audience for your content

You would want to make sure your message gets out and is communicated well to your audience. To achieve this, the content should be geared towards achieving your purpose and reaching your intended receiver. This will shape everything from the type of programmable LED sign you purchase, the type of content you will feature, how long it stays on the screen, and where the signage will be placed.

Having a content strategy will set in place all these elements into one cohesive plan, so make sure you make one before making a purchase

Choose brevity over word count

Always remember that out-of-home advertisements ー most of which LED displays fall under ー have an audience that is on the go either on foot or driving on their vehicles. It will be a waste to put a lengthy paragraph on a neon LED billboard or complex sentences on a scrolling LED sign. Your message must be punchy and direct to the point so that it grabs the public’s attention right away.

Even when you will be using an LED display indoors, a strong voice is still the preferred way of getting your message out. It may seem like a challenge but the right copy from a trusted writer is all it takes.

(If deemed necessary,) include visuals in your campaign

While not all signages require images, some content types such as advertisements or event announcements will get a huge boost if visuals were added. Still, practice caution as too many details and graphics might just muddle the messaging. A strong copy that’s paired with stand-out imagery is the magic formula to making impactful digital signages.

Get in touch with a graphic designer who can help conceptualize and execute your vision for this campaign.

Take advantage of their customizable nature

The advantage of programmable LED signs over traditional types is that the former can be revised in a snap. Older forms of outdoor advertisements such as tarpaulins and posters are produced through printers. Meanwhile, digital displays such as scrolling LED sign signs can be updated easily with a few keystrokes on a console or a few swipes on an app. Some establishments that display different messages all throughout the day on their display boards (e.g. restaurants, hospitals) would greatly benefit from this particular feature.

This is a form of targeted messaging and is much more effective at capturing an audience than a static display.

Be wise about where the signage will be displayed

Another thing to factor in to make sure you’re effectively using your LED sign is the location where it’s going to be displayed. Having strong copy and visuals won’t suffice if not enough people can see the sign, so make sure the location you choose has a wide reach that it reaches your target audience and leaves an impact on them.

Always refer back to your content plan for your campaign’s purpose and audience to figure out the perfect location for your signage. Whether that perfect location is indoors or outdoors, doing so ensures that your intended message reaches the right recipients.

Once the sign goes live, you must…

Observe how your audience responds to your sign, then act accordingly

As with any other marketing initiative, audience feedback is very important to gauge its success. Is it getting the reactions you want or not? It is important that every signage campaign you run has a clear call to action for its intended audience. Again, this is achievable if you have a clear objective in mind. Next is to observe if you are getting the expected behavior from your message’s recipients. If yes, then your campaign has succeeded. If not, it’s back to the drawing board as your approach may require a little bit of tweaking to become effective.

Use the controls for power and brightness control

LED displays don’t need to be turned on the whole time. The changing light conditions throughout the day mean that there will be times when signages would have to be completely turned off. That’s because during times when the sun is at its most powerful, displayed content on LED screens may be rendered totally unreadable. An automated power system where you can schedule when the device will be turned on and off is certainly a useful feature to take advantage of. Even better are those that have sensors that get triggered by light conditions which automatically switch on and off the signage as needed.

Remember to conduct regular maintenance checks throughout the year

Any device that’s regularly used also needs to be regularly checked for wear and tear. While LED is known to last longer than other light sources, it won’t hurt to have regular check-ups from experts (twice or thrice a year) to see if all are working as they should. This is especially recommended for outdoor signages which get constantly exposed to variations in weather and the changing seasons.