Businesses across the world have seen their costs soar. The pandemic has led to supply chain problems, more expensive labor costs, and, in many cases, far higher overheads. Naturally, businesses have had to take stock and find ways to save money.
This has certainly been the case when it comes to advertising. It is an expensive activity, but an essential one. Those firms that do not advertise soon lose ground to their competitors. So, no company can afford to stop running marketing campaigns. But there is a lot that they can do to ensure that they get a good return on their investment.
Re-purposing advertising material and using it across several physical and digital platforms is a really good way to do that. The good news is that it is surprisingly easy to do and usually there is no need to invest too much extra money.
Take for example digital display screens. Most stores, bars, cafes, gyms, salons, and other physical businesses already own digital display screens. A lot of them bought extra ones to remind their customers of the CoVid restrictions.
Now that things are returning to normal in parts of the world, those screens are no longer needed for that purpose, which means that they can be used for advertising. When it comes to marketing digital signage is a highly effective and flexible tool. It can be used for far more than most business owners think. For example, they can be used to give existing marketing campaigns a boost. One way of implementing that is by providing product information through short, engaging videos that tend to deliver more info in less time; in a similar fashion to what ‘reels’ on Instagram and ‘shorts’ on YouTube are doing. To know about other innovative options to display on your digital screen for better customer retention, you might want to check out Loop.tv.
Display social media feedback on display screens
One example of this is sharing social media comments on in-store digital display screens. Doing this helps to create buzz and prompts shoppers to take a look at the items that are being talked about, which increases how much they spend during their visit.
Sometimes it will also prompt shoppers to sign into their own accounts and start sharing those posts and tweets. Especially if they have taken a look at the item and liked what they saw. They may even take a photo and post that as part of their response. This type of behavior is very powerful. The fact that they are commenting, or retweeting gives it a bit of a boost. Plus, there is a fair chance that their followers and friends will also share the post or tweet. You can find out more about how people interacting in this way boosts the impact of social media advertising, by reading this article.
Embed QR codes into your digital screen ads
QR codes are a very powerful way to capture people s contact details and/or engage them in a different way. For example, it is possible to automatically send shoppers to a sign-up page for a loyalty card or to somewhere that enables them to take advantage of another type of offer.
Add physical shoppers to your email marketing list
Email marketing is incredibly effective. Research shows that the ROI has gone from $38 for every dollar spent in 2018, to $42 in 2019. So, getting people s email addresses is extremely valuable for any business. It is a relatively easy way to turn an occasional shopper into a regular one. Someone that enjoys shopping with a business and will happily recommend them to friends and family.
It is relatively easy to put together promotions that are advertised on digital screens that encourage people to add themselves to a business email mailing list. Adding a QR code to the corner of the screen makes it as easy as possible for people to do that.
Use online advertising in-store
Digital screens can display any kind of image. That includes short videos and images that are used in other forms of advertising. For example, offers featured on leaflets, banners ads used for websites, and GIFs or memes that are shared on social media. All of this advertising material can easily be converted using online resources so that it can also be displayed on digital screens.
Use touch screens
If you have an e-commerce website, it is possible to set things up so that people can access it when in your store via a touch screen. This is great for people who are short on time. They can quickly browse what is available, select the items they like. Once that is done, an assistant can bring those items to them to try on. Or the location of each item can be shared with the customer, so they can go straight to each one and decide whether to buy or not.
The above is just the tip of the iceberg, there are many more ways digital screens can be used to boost existing advertising campaigns. With the added advantage that they can also be used in window displays and on sandwich boards to attract people into any retail outlet.