If you're selling advertising throughout your signage network, you obviously need to cater to your advertisers. One of the ways in which project managers try to do this is by measuring a number of variables. By showing a potential - or even a current - advertiser how deploying an ad campaign can lift sales or generate leads, a network operator can sell more space and improve their subscription rate. The problem is that the relentless pursuit of trackable data may not actually yield much benefit.

Below, I'll explain some of the potential issues that are inherent with tracking various types of data. We'll also look at some of the things you might consider measuring (for example, sales) and why doing so may be a waste of your resources. We're going to focus primarily on tracking variables related to ad campaigns.

What Are You Measuring?

Your first response may be "We're trying to measure sales, of course." But, there are actually a lot of metrics that you can track and though it sounds counterintuitive, some may hold more value than sales data. Plus, not only is there a long list of variables to measure, the value that an advertiser places on each will be different depending upon their goals for a campaign. We'll explore this more detail below. Making matters even more complicated, there are a variety of ways to measure key metrics.

It's not enough to say that you need to track the effectiveness of your signage project. Instead, you need to identify which metrics are most important to your advertisers and which are a waste of time. Then, you need to determine how best to measure those variables.

Is It Worth Measuring?

The best way to illustrate this is by using an example. Imagine that you are operating a 1,000-screen network over 100 retail venues. One of your advertisers is Ford Motor Company. Further assume that Ford is planning the launch of a new SUV and have developed a signage campaign in order to support the launch. Chances are, they won't be interested in raw sales data that comes from the signage campaign. So, is it worth devoting resources to track and measure sales? Probably not.

Ultimately, the advertiser determines which variables are worth tracking. That's the main reason why it's not wise for network operators to track a laundry list of metrics without first knowing whether they're even necessary. It's common for signage network operators to think that providing potential advertisers with a number of measurements will improve their chances of selling the client. But, without knowing what those clients want to track, doing so is usually a waste of time and money.

Final Thoughts

I realize that I've made it seem as if there's little reason to track the effectiveness of your signage network. However, what I'm trying to explain is that tracking certain variables can add enormous value. But, you must be able to identify which variables are truly important to your clients. For example, you might be tempted to measure the number of impressions available throughout your signage network. But, if your current or potential advertisers don't care about that metric, measuring it provides little to no value.

Most of your advertisers - both current and potential - will likely be interested in knowing certain data points. Your inability to provide them will rarely kill a subscription deal. More importantly, they'll want to know whether you can generate the results they're looking for. Proving that usually requires a test run. And frankly, proven results are far more valuable than nebulous data.