LED vs Flex: Which is the Better Advertising Choice?

Every day, consumers encounter dozens of hoardings and billboards placed on prime commuter locations, urging them to purchase a product or avail a service. As a marketer, are you even aware of how many people actually end up paying attention to those messages? Can customers even tell the difference between two billboard ads? Are the advertisements contributing to the company’s bottom line? Now, these are the questions that you will never have to worry about with LED display boards as your advertising medium. And this post will discuss the how’s and why’s of the argument.

The human eye is primed to track motion. Which is why changing colors, fonts and images are an instant attention-grabber for customers. A brightly-lit LED display catches the eye of the driver on its own merit. During the 20-second window, which the driver takes to pass by a particular high-traffic spot, a digital signage board can easily disseminate two different messages with equal levels of effectiveness. A static message in the same spot cannot hope to have the same level of engagement.

Furthermore, when flexes age, they become dirty, their colors fade, and encountering harsh winds makes torn billboards a common sight. This is a problem that a marketer would never face with an outdoor advertising LED display. Outdoor LED display solutions today are IP68 certified – which means they are completely immune to water and dust. And with a lifespan of around 100,000 hours, they do not let organizations down with any kind of rundown appearance for a long, long time.

And let’s not forget that changing messages on a flex or billboard is both time-consuming and costly. Any small alteration in the promotional message or the introduction of a new scheme would require the brand to submit an order in the print shop, wait for it to be fabricated, and then assign labor to peel off the old print and install the new one. Phew! Outdoor LED display solutions, meanwhile, let marketers change the messaging instantly and conveniently via software. And this can be done remotely using any Windows, Android or iOS device.

Now, if you are concerned with the upfront cost of a digital signage solution, you must realize that the return on investment that you will be receiving from an LED display is going to be much higher than that from a static flex or hoarding. In a studyconducted by global research firm Nielsen, 75% respondents recalled seeing a digital billboard in the past month and 60% noticed one in the past week. 55% of travelers could even recall the advertising message and 71% felt “ads on digital billboards stand out more than ads online”.

As digital signage technologies continue to improve, the advantages that outdoor LED displays offer over traditional billboards will also keep on increasing. As a marketer, you need to make a decision keeping your advertising budgets in mind. But, remember, while a flex may seem like a more attractive option now because of its affordability, in the long run, a bright, dynamic and highly-engaging LED display screen will provide better returns on the investment.

To learn more about Ösel’s customizable outdoor advertising LED display solutions, click here.