Will Smartphones Prove To Be The Undoing Of Digital Signage?

It's tempting to think of mobile marketing and digital signage as enemies. After all, both platforms seem to address the same problem: reaching consumers and motivating a response. The conventional thinking is that advertisers will allocate their limited budgets to one platform or the other. Not both. Further, because smartphones are mobile by design, they have a natural edge over DOOH, and thus will ultimately trump it.

In reality, mobile marketing and digital signage form a near-seamless partnership. Their respective strengths and weaknesses complement each other. Moreover, as both technologies continue to evolve, they are likely to dovetail toward a unified front in reaching consumers. With this in mind, we'll take a closer look at the reasons smartphones are unlikely to make digital signage irrelevant in the future.

One of the biggest claims from proponents of mobile is that advertisers will be able to push their promotional messages to millions of users. This claim is overblown. First, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) oversees compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. This legislation prohibits sending commercial messages to those who have not given permission to do so. While there are many people who have opted to receive such messages, they represent a small fraction of consumers.

Contrast this to the delivery of digital signage content. Rather than being forced upon passersby, the content can be observed or ignored based on the consumer's choice.

Those who have opted to receive promotional messages via mobile are often less than receptive when such messages arrive. Most people use their smartphones to interact with friends, look for information online, or to enjoy various apps. When an advertisement arrives, it interrupts these activities. If an offer is especially valuable to the user, he or she may be compelled to investigate further. Otherwise, the ad will be a nuisance.

Here again, digital signage is a non-intrusive platform that delivers content - ads or otherwise - to those who choose to watch the screens. As a result, consumers are more receptive and more likely to respond.

The fact that people carry their phones with them does not necessarily mean mobile is becoming the only platform that will be used to reach consumers. Indeed, there seems to be a move in the opposite direction. Though mobile devices are ubiquitous, consumers continue to receive information from a variety of media, including billboards, print signage, computers, movie screens, and of course digital signage. This trend is unlikely to reverse course in the near future.

Is DOOH a media solution that makes all others irrelevant? Of course not. But neither is mobile.

Consider how websites appear in your browser. Whether you are using a PC or Mac, Firefox or Internet Explore, the sites are readable (if rendered slightly differently). This compatibility is due largely to standards in the coding of the sites. With mobile, there is a lower level of compatibility across the various platforms. A promotion may be easily readable on an iPhone, but decidedly less so on another type of mobile device. DOOH, of course, does not deal with this issue.

A consumer who receives an advertisement on his or her mobile is more likely to respond if all of the information is available without requiring an action. If this person needs to click a link, the likelihood of a response drops. If he or she is required to click twice, it drops further. This is a noteworthy limitation since a mobile device's screen space is limited. The advertiser is essentially forced to weigh a decline in response against the need to deliver sufficient information about an offer.

With digital signage, the viewer is required to do little more than watch the screen. It is a passive activity that has a lesser effect on response.

Smartphones do not signal the death knell of DOOH. On the contrary, the two platforms will be increasingly integrated to reach consumers in ways that lead to a better response, and higher ROI.