By Matt Jordan

Technological advances drive change all around us, affecting the way we communicate, shop, network and market our businesses. Even self-storage signage is being propelled by technology, moving in a new direction that offers distinct advantages over traditional signage. Electronic message centers offer benefits in three key areas: visibility, message content and delivered results.

Attracting Attention

Getting noticed is more challenging than it sounds. In the modern era, our senses are constantly barraged, and we've become desensitized by much of what we are meant to perceive. Traditional signage may help consumers find a business theyre actively seeking, but it serves little purpose if they aren't already looking for it.

When a person is repeatedly exposed to traditional signage, he becomes immune. The signs simply become part of the landscape. No one notices this signage anymore, and that means no one notices the business the signs were meant to promote. Getting noticed is the first step in bringing a new customer in the door.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as much as 18 percent of the population moves every year, which means old customers stop visiting a business and must be replaced. How can a self-storage operation succeed without getting public attention?

Everyone notices and reads an LED-based electronic message center. Whether animated or not, flashing or still, no one ever misses it because those bright LEDs demand to be noticed. What more can you want in a sign than an innate demand to be seen?

Dynamic Messaging

The ability to create and change message content dynamically is the second distinct advantage of electronic message centers. Messages can be created on the fly or methodically timed to appear when most advantageous. Why should commuters see the same sign on the way to work as they do on the way home when multiple messages are possible?

Traditional signage offers little in the way of flexibility. Marquis and movable-type reader boards offer some customization, but the time and labor requirements make frequent changes impractical. Weve all seen holiday messages on reader boards months after the event has passed. What better testimony could there be of their rigid nature?

Dynamic content on an electronic message center isnt just easier and more practical, its far more powerful. On average, a sign needs to be seen for seven seconds to be read. If a commuter is exposed to a static sign for 30 seconds, hell be exposed to the same message for the entire timeif he notices it at all. If that sign includes an electronic message center, the commuter could be exposed to four different seven-second messages, promotions and calls to action. Its very likely he would read each.

Results

The third distinct advantage of electronic signage is the most important: results. According to a comprehensive 11-page study from the U.S. Small Business Administration, electronic message centers deliver them. The study concluded that companies that invest in electronic message centers see an increase in business between 15 percent and 150 percent! It further indicated that no other advertising medium comes close to this medium on a return-on-investment basis.

The future of signage is led by technology and characterized by getting attention, displaying dynamic message content and achieving real results in additional customers and revenue. Find out more about electronic message centers and how they can help your self-storage facility get more business.

Matt Jordan is the director of sales for Infinite Creative Enterprises Inc. (I.C.E.), a supplier of electronic message centers. The company offers signs in 17 sizes. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]; visit www.icesigns.com or www.glowrite.com .