By Samantha Martinez, Marketing Advisor at LED National
We have a sign; why does my business need a message center?
Consider for a moment the speed at which traffic passes by the average business. A motorist has only a few seconds to see and comprehend any given sign. For example, on a street with traffic passing at 45 miles per hour, a car that is 500 feet in front of a given sign will have only 7.6 seconds to read the sign before it passes, under normal driving conditions. A business’ sign must be conspicuous if it is to catch the attention of passing motorists within the limited amount of time available.
Motorists often spot electronic message centers quickly because the copy changes, the letters are illuminated, and the signs have traditionally been used as public devices. Additionally, electronic message centers may have greater visibility from further distances, especially in poor lighting conditions , giving the motorist additional time to read the message displayed while safely maneuvering his or her vehicle.
Message Centers act as a consolidating type of advertising. In other words, they offer businesses a way of posting a variety of information in one place rather than relying on numerous signs and banners displayed in windows, for example. This can be a real advantage for a business located in a district with strict rules about temporary signs.
Most importantly, the electronic message center almost always increases a business’s share of revenue . This is a result of the “branding” of the site through the use of specific logos, reinforcement of other advertising messages, allowing for public service notices, generating exact impulse stops, and helping to change customers’ buying habits once they have stopped.
Is an electronic message center a cost-effective advertising medium?
Yes. Businesses often select their advertising medium, and messages, based upon the cost per thousand exposures of their message to the public. Ob this basis, no other form of advertising comes close to matching the efficiency and cost-effectiveness, dollar for dollar, of an electronic message display. Compare the figures below:
- Newspaper advertising – the cost on average is about $7.39 for 1000 exposures within a 10- mile radius of the business location.
- Television advertising – The cost on average is approximately $6.26 per 1000exposures.
- Radio advertising – The cost is about $5.47 per 1000 exposures.
- New LED electronic message center display – The cost is less than $0.15 per 1000 exposures. How? Assume, for example, that you spend $30,000.00 on this type of system, and that its useful life is about ten years. The amortized daily cost of the message center would equal about $2.74. Add to this the daily cost of electricity for this new LED unit (approximately $0.20), thus giving your business a daily message center expense total of $8.82. With a daily traffic count of 20,000 vehicles passing your business, you would have a cost of less than $0.45 per thousand exposures (counting drivers only)!
Best of all, with an electronic message center, a business does not have to worry about missing its target audience, becoming “yesterday’s news,” or facing expensive production costs for changing its message , as happens frequently with the other forms of advertising mentioned.
With an electronic variable message display:
- The business owns the form of advertising
- The advertising works for the business 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
- The sign acts as the “salesman on the street” attracting customers into the business
- The advertising speaks directly to the potential customers as they drive past the business location, and the EMC makes the business a landmark in its community.
Finally, many message center manufacturers provide leasing programs, which include service and maintenance, thereby providing another option for covering the cost of usage.
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