1- Size: do you need a Smart car or a BMW X5 (i.e. what are the dimensions of the LED screen you want to install?)
2- Power: do you want to drive it at race circuits or you need it just to do the grocery? (i.e. what's the resolution of the LED screen?). Note for beginners: resolution = distance between the pixels: the closer they are, the better is the image at shorter viewing distances.
3- Reliability: premium car brands use premium materials and are therefore able to provide longer warranties (i.e. so do LED screens' manufactures)
4- Credentials: how much do you value the world-class service provided by Toyota? (i.e. beware of newly established Asian companies without a proven technology and history)
5- Training: BMW gives a 2 days safe-drive course to any Customer that purchases the new sport series. (i.e. beware of LED screen manufactures that offer no or minimum training on how to use the display effectively)
Before purchasing a LED screen you should ask yourself these questions and rank them depending of the importance that each point has for you. In this simple way you can define the specifications and profile of the ideal screen and manufacturer you are looking for.
Now, if you need to have exact numbers, here there are some real figures:
1- Size: the smallest led screen size I recommend is 2 x 1.5 meters: of course it depends on the pixel pitch, but in general that's the smallest size I recommend.
2- Power: the best price/performance ratio resolution I recommend is 10mm: again, the resolution depends on the average viewing distance of your audience, but in general 10mm is a safe bet.
3- Reliability: the warranty should be ideally 2 years or more. some entry-level products might have a 1 year warranty. If this is the products you are looking for, make sure that maintenance contracts are available. And if they are, beware of companies asking 25% of the value of the screen starting from the second year for maintenance it might mean that they consider their product at risk.
4- Credentials: for the credentials of the company I recommend you don't only check the website because anyone could insert a nice picture on his website (e.g. there are a few pictures of an Italian manufacturer screens published on other websites). What I would recommend you to do is to get the name of at least 2/3 Customers that are already using the screen and then talk to them. Or ask for video-testimonial (indicating the details of the person speaking).
5- Training: concerning the training, make sure that your supplier can provide you at least a basic training on how to use the screen. I'm not talking about a technical training (that's should be obvious) but I'm talking about a training that shows you the best techniques (and the worst mistakes) to create ads, market your screen, find and win advertisers etc.
A final note concerning the price: if you are approaching the LED screen industry for the first time, I think you should consider a minimum investment of about 20/30.000 Euro to purchase a display similar to the one I described above. If you get an offer for a lower price, go through the 5-points-checklist and make sure you are aware of what kind of LED screen you are getting.
Led Screen Vs Lcd
Here we go with other terrible mistakes you should absolutely avoid when creating new content for your LED screen. As you can very well imagine, the KEY role in the LED screen content creation is the designer. Many people don't realize how fundamental this role is, because they are too concentrated on selling the ads spaces. The point is, if you have a good designer, your ads will sell themselves. If you don't have a good designer, it doesn't matter what a great salesman you are... you will not sell a single space!
So the first rule of designer is: one more little effort. If you installed a LED wall, you probably have made quite an investment. I know at this point you don't want to hear about further expenses anymore. I perfectly understand that. But please, please, do not make the unforgivable mistake to save on the Ads designer. Having an inexperienced person creating the ads (i.e. your teenage nephew) is like giving your brand new Ferrari to a first-time driver. I know you already spent lots money, but try not to waste more by poorly managing your investment.
Second rule of designer: know what you (he) do (does)! Sometimes I look at ads that are so badly designed that I actually would like to call and complain. I feel like even I could do better than that and I bet other people think the same. To avoid such situations, send your ads designer in front of the screen at least 1 hour a week, to check by person what is he doing and how the ads appear to the final audience. I promise you that the first few times, he will change 50% of the content of each single ad.
After you took care of the designer, you must absolutely take care of the content he/she creates. Here the basic rules of content. First rule of content: complex vs. simple. There are two different schools about the ad content. The first claims that the ad should be as creative as possible, in order to get the attention. It seems a pretty clear and justified goal: a paying customer should get the most memorable ad possible. the second school, on the flip-side, claims that the memorable ads may boost the agency pride, but not the customer's profits. So making an ad too funny or too memorable, might not be the best for your customer. Usually this would happen because people concentrate so much on the content, to become blind to the brand or product. From my point of view, in this case as everything in life, balance is the best solution.
Second rule of content: fresh is king. On your LED screen there must be always be some fresh, updated, curious or useful content. Not ads only. Otherwise people get accustomed to the LEDwall and will stop looking at it. You must always provide constantly updated content: ideally you should upload new useful content every day! Yes, every day. Even basic information as the temperature, the weather forecast for the next few days, the fact of the day, the name day, the random quote of the day will incredibly increase the stickiness to your LED screen.
If you manage to get people looking at the LED display over time, for example because they are curious about the next random quote, you simultaneously achieve two results: 1. people will start comment and therefore talking about the LED screen, which is free publicity and 2. probably most important, you get an incredibly strong selling point with your Customers because you can somehow prove them the reason why people will look at the display and in the end why they should advertise on your LED screen.
