Does the customer notice digital content enough? Are the measures efficient enough? How can the use of digital signage be optimized?
These key questions surround management and marketers daily. In order to provide a meaningful analysis over the success of the measures, certain performance metrics are required. In this article, you will learn what KPIs are, how to define them and which ones are relevant for digital signage.
KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator. A KPI determines the performance of an activity in a company or organization. It depends on the individual company, its measures and goals which KPIs are used.
According to the definition, the key performance indicator therefore represents a measurable value that indicates how effectively a company is achieving its business objectives. Within a company, KPIs are broken down to different levels for evaluating the success achieved within the organizational structure.
While KPIs at the highest level focus on the overall performance of the company, KPIs at lower levels aim to measure the success of individual business processes such as development, marketing, sales, human resources, and customer support.
Key Performance Indicators measure the success or failure of decisions. They allow a company or manager to gain valuable information about errors and shortcomings. Furthermore, KPIs also simplify A/B tests.
To measure the success of social media campaigns, interactions, or subscriber counts serve as typical indicators. Impressions, site views or conversion rates are suitable for websites. Sales, on the other hand, uses revenue per salesperson or measures cost per lead.
To identify good KPIs, there is a proven method.
When determining KPIs, it is essential to check the accuracy of the selected indicator. This is often done using the S.M.A.R.T. method. With the S.M.A.R.T. approach, the relevance of a key performance indicator can be evaluated very easily.
Define smart KPIs according to the following criteria:
Specific means the indicator is directly related to the process in question. Example of specific: The percentage of repeat buyers for a particular product, or the number of answered calls in the first minute in a call center.
Measurable means that the indicator is measured in any unit. This could be time, quantity or percentage. This attribute is important to evaluate and analyze the exact value of the KPI in more detail. The measurability of the indicator guarantees the capability of its clear definition at any stage of the process.
Achievable means that the value of the indicator can very well be reached in the normal course of the process. In addition, achievability means the availability of measurements, simple calculations and the collection of primary information, as well as the availability of all necessary measurement tools.
Realistic or appropriate means that the indicator is not only relevant to the given process, but also appropriate to use and actually reflects the course of activities.
Time-bound means that a period of time has to be defined in which the target achievement is measured. A periodical measurement (e.g. monthly or quarterly) is necessary to get an objective picture of the effectiveness of the process and to measure the current value of the indicator.
Digital signage is often used in marketing. For example: Sales in relation to the number of visitors during an advertising campaign is a KPI. Sensors on the monitors can be used to determine how many people stopped and for how long. This information, linked to playback times, determines the most successful content.
This helps answer the following questions: Do digital screens at the point of sale (PoS) or point of interest (PoI) reach customers? Are they being addressed? Performance metrics enable reliable measurement of the effectiveness of advertising campaigns in this regard. Digital signage offers a variety of new possibilities for KPIs.
When setting performance metrics, the choice of parameters matters. A good KPI has relevance for measuring the achievement of objectives. Therefore, make sure to measure parameters that truly impact the organization's goals or objectives. There are several approaches.
Digital signage is designed to enhance a company's image, among other things. In addition, it is also seen as brand advertising, which not only has an effect through additional visits to the store, but also increases awareness in the long term.
Visitors are measured thanks to people counting systems installed in the entrance areas or by built-in sensors in the digital advertising displays. The effectiveness of the content is measured here by the change in visitor flows within a certain period of time.
Digital Signage Marketing indirectly increases the reach to the target audience. Especially when integrated into social media networks. One possibility are selfie booths, where customers are encouraged to post a photo on the social network with a hashtag. They receive a discount in return. Besides increasing brand awareness, this has a positive impact in two areas: social network development and customer loyalty. Those interactions can also be measured and evaluated.
The success of interactive fitting rooms can be assessed, among other things, based on the sales growth of products in cross-selling. The system records items of clothing that a customer wears into the fitting room and recommends similar or popular products to the customer. If a purchase of an advertised product occurs, the conversion is recorded.
Other revenue-oriented success measurements are also conceivable following the introduction of digital signage.
It is not enough to just introduce and establish KPIs in a company. A digital signage system provides a good platform for introducing new advertising options and promotions. New forms of advertising in turn create space for new KPIs.
By customizing the advertising format for a specific product, its impact on sales can be measured directly. This is a great way to experiment with new advertising content and assess its effectiveness on driving sales.
If a screen ad also has optical sensors, it is possible to calculate, among other things, how many people viewed the ad, when, and for how long. If the reach is set in relation to the sales for the advertised product, this KPI provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of the advertising message.
In the same way, test a large-scale advertising campaign before launching it on individual digital displays. This can then be optimized if necessary.
A/B or so-called split tests refer to test methods for evaluating different variants of advertising measures, designs, prices and more.
This test methodology has been an integral part of online marketing for several years.
Digital signage also helps here. Let's assume that two different advertising videos for a product are to be tested.
Better equipped digital signage software has configurable reporting features that track the amount of air time content takes to play.
Thanks to interfaces to enterprise resource planning, accounting or customer counters, data from different sources can be merged automatically. An analysis software calculates which version of the advertising content generated more revenue, sales, or foot traffic. The term for this process, by the way, is deep analytics. The software used should have open interfaces.
Even the ROI (return of investment) for the digital signage system can be measured in this way. Provided that appropriate KPIs were available before installation. Therefore, before using digital signage, determine what goals the business or company is pursuing.
The identified KPIs themselves can be presented as content. For example, on the screens of an information system for employees or a digital bulletin board.
Measuring success, made easy – that's precisely the overriding premise of KPIs. Three letters that play a crucial role in the marketing field and help the use of digital signage to succeed. Key Performance Indicators are a convenient and important tool that enables any manager or business owner to identify deficiencies in the company's activities in a timely manner.
Digital Signage solutions enable the definition and automation of new KPIs in this regard. Again, it is recommended to implement KPIs according to the S.M.A.R.T. method. Appropriate measures of success include sales, customer numbers, dwell time and, of course, product tests. Interfaces in the software allow deep analytics.
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