What digital signage really costs, beyond the screen

Why the screen price misleads

When businesses first look at digital signage, they usually compare screen prices. That's understandable: the screen is the biggest single purchase and the easiest to see. But over the years a screen is in use, it's rarely the biggest cost.

Total cost of ownership means adding up everything you'll spend to get screens up and keep them useful, for as long as you expect to use them. It includes things that are easy to forget, like the hours someone spends changing content, and things that are easy to overlook on the other side, like what the current way of doing things already costs you.

We won't quote prices here; they change with the market, the size of the screen and where you buy. What we can do is give you the list to fill in.

One-off costs

These are paid once per screen, at the start, and again when something is replaced.

• The screen: size, brightness and whether it's a consumer TV or a commercial display built to run all day. A window facing the sun needs a much brighter screen than a back wall.
• The player: either built into the screen (many smart TVs and commercial displays can run signage software directly) or a small separate device. Using what's built in can save a box per screen.
• Mounting: a wall or ceiling bracket, a floor stand or a frame. Portrait screens and ceiling mounts usually cost more than a simple wall bracket.
• Power and cabling: a socket where the screen goes, cable channels to keep it tidy and, in some places, an electrician's visit.
• Network: a reliable Wi-Fi signal or a cable to the screen. If the signal is weak where the screen goes, an access point or a cable run is part of the cost.
• Installation: whoever puts it on the wall and sets it up, including travel to each location.

Running costs

These come back every month or every year, for as long as the screens are in use.

• Software: most digital signage software is a subscription, usually depending on the number of screens. Check what's included in that price and what's extra.
• Content: photos, videos and designs. Some businesses make them in-house, some pay an agency, most do a bit of both. New prices, seasonal campaigns and new products all need something on screen.
• Staff time: the hours someone spends changing content, checking that screens are on and going to a branch when something's wrong. This is the cost most budgets forget, and it's often the largest.
• Electricity: screens running ten or more hours a day add up. Turning them off outside opening hours helps.
• Support and repairs: what happens when a screen goes dark, and who fixes it.

Replacement and lifetime

Screens and players don't last forever. Consumer TVs aren't designed to run all day, every day, and may wear out sooner in that role; commercial displays are designed for it and usually cost more up front. Either way, plan for replacements over the years you expect to use the system, and spread that cost across them when you compare options.

Software lifetime matters too. A system that only runs on one brand of player ties you to that brand when it's time to replace hardware. One that runs on several systems lets you choose what's best value when the day comes.

What you're paying today

Digital signage shouldn't only be compared against zero. It should be compared against what you already spend to get the same messages in front of people.

• Printing: posters, menus, price cards and window signs, every time something changes, in every branch.
• Delivery: couriers or staff trips to get prints or USB sticks to each location.
• Visits: someone going to a branch to swap a poster, change a file on a TV or check that it was done.
• Waste: prints thrown away because a price changed a week after the run.
• Out-of-date content: a promotion that ended still on the wall, a sold-out item still on the menu. This doesn't show up on an invoice, but it costs sales and trust.

Add these up over a year for every location. For many multi-branch businesses, this is the line that decides whether digital signage pays for itself.

Questions to ask any vendor

Two offers with the same monthly price can turn out very differently. These questions bring the differences out.

• Is setup included, or is it charged separately? Who connects the screens and gets the first content running?
• Which screens and players does the software run on? Can I use the ones I already have?
• Is support included? How do I reach you, and in which language?
• Are updates included, or do new features cost extra?
• Can I change content from a phone, and can several people manage it with their own accounts?
• Can I see from the office whether each screen is on?
• Can I plan content by time of day and week, so it changes without anyone doing it?
• What happens to my content and my screens if I decide to leave?

The takeaway

The price of the screen is only the start. Count the one-off costs, the running costs and especially the staff time over the years you'll use the system, then set them against what printing, deliveries and branch visits already cost you. Ask vendors what's included before you compare monthly prices.

With Jonza, a change goes out to every screen from wherever you are, content follows a weekly plan by itself and you see from the office which screens are on, which is where the time savings come from. We set up your own compatible screens remotely, or ship Tochi screens with Jonza ready, so the screen and the software come from one company in Türkiye. Pricing depends on how many screens and locations you run; tell us your numbers and we'll put together a plan.