News

DSA launching ROI calculator

July 21, 2011

The Digital Screenmedia Association announced earlier this week that it has released a first version of the DSA ROI calculator to its members for review and comment.

"Return on investment is a critical factor in the planning and measurement of digital screen media networks. Understanding the costs and benefits in a comprehensive way lends tremendous clarity to the process," said Matt Schmitt, president of Reflect Systems and chair of the DSA ROI Task Force, in the announcement.

DSA's task force on ROI was formed with the goal of providing an ROI framework to be created and maintained by a cross-functional team comprising industry analysts and consultants, vendors and association members that represent end-users.

ROI considerations contemplated and included in the ROI calculator model include:

• Type of venue
• Goals of the network (sales lift, customer experience, advertising, training and cost savings)
• Scope (number of locations, number of displays per location)
• Content strategy
• Costs for capital investments and operating expenses

The ROI Task Force gathered data from respective organizations and industry sources, discussed the scope and the approach to be used in the ROI framework, and have planned for future updates to be more inclusive of all the types of screen media applications, such as interactive kiosks and mobile devices. The first version (marked as a beta model) is intended to provide DSA members with a working tool to be useful right away, while also providing a way to give DSA feedback, questions and suggestions for improvements.

Based on feedback on the first versions of the ROI tool, which is spreadsheet-based, DSA will likely begin to develop an online version, according to the announcement.