Smart Kiosk Guide

A smart kiosk will generate a return on investment through advertising and sponsorships. One of the most popular reasons to implement this technology is the return on investment can be as low as 2 years. smart kiosks can generate revenue through traditional advertising and programmatic advertising.

Smart kiosks have become a platform to generate revenue, especially with the smart kiosks that have a 10 year warranty, such as Rove iQs. Having a 10 year warranty gives you 10 year to make your return with the digital screens. Revenue can be generated by selling advertising on the screens. You have a variety of options when it comes to selling the advertising:

1. Hire your own sales representative

2. Bring in a national media company to sell to larger national brands (resulting in more revenue). National media firms have great relationships and access to more buyers resulting in big campaign buys.

3. Utilize an automated advertising media platform such as SkyOS. This is the future of advertising and a way to generate revenue passively without the use of a national media firm or a sales rep. Utilizing this option with #1 or #2 is a great combination to fill up the open inventory.

4. Some choose not to do advertising and focus on providing great content to market the city or venue. This is the recommend option if your primary focus is to market your city and offer value to your citizens and tourist.

If a city or mixed-use property is in the Top 20 DMA market and in a high foot traffic area, there is a good chance the kiosks could be provided for free given the return on investment possibilities with advertising. There are some cities outside of the top 20, so it’s good to ask if it’s possible when you approach a smart city kiosk company. For the capital expense, this is funded by an advertising media company or third party who sees a return on investment over the course of 5 to 10 years. It’s usually a 10 year contract minimum. Check with a smart kiosk expert to see if you qualify.

Two variables to keep in mind when making your selection

1) Look for high foot traffic areas where people make decisions on where to go next

2) Look where people like to hang out outdoors - such as in a green space.

Often times, we’ll see a smart kiosk placed per city/property block and sometimes two if it’s the highest foot traffic areas. You can also find them coming out of the parking garage, at valet locations, in parks, and at the entrances of entertainment venues.

If your interested in monetizing your smart kiosks with advertising, it’s important to place the kiosks in places where its high car traffic and high foot traffic. This increases the impression rates resulting in high demand placement for an advertisement.

This is a great question and it largely depends on the out come you are looking for.

If your goals are the follow, it’s best to purchase and own the kiosk:

1. Your main goal is to market your city or property and offer value to citizens and tourists

2. You would like to have full control of the digital screens at all times

3. You are interested in generating revenue through advertisements but it’s not the main goal

4. Interested in taking a larger revenue share on the advertising revenue

If your goals or situation are the following, it’s best to have an advertising media company purchase the kiosks:

1. Your main goal is to generate revenue through advertising.

2. You are unable to pay for the kiosks. If you are unable to pay an upfront fee for the project, see if you can request a loan to make it a low upfront cost and spread payments out across a term.

By not purchasing the screens, the media company will own, operate, and maintain the kiosk. The media company will take a larger share of the revenue since they are providing the capital expense.

The #1 problem with smart kiosks is the ability to keep the interactive display cool. When this problem arises, the screen goes dark, it gets black spots, and it turns into a very bad experience. In addition, it makes it very hard for users to interact with the kiosk. About 2-3 years ago, an outdoor interactive kiosks generally lasted 2 years. This leads to an expensive product with the amount of displays you have to replace constantly and amount of service you have to provide. Some customers spend $25,000+ per kiosk and end up with a failing solution which resulting in a $10,000 swap out every 6 months for their digital screen(s). Today you can find outdoor interactive digital screens that will provide a 10 year performance guarantee with full warranty coverage, such as the Rove iQ.

Ask the vendor if they have kiosk in the outdoor environments for multiple years in places such as Miami, Florida - one of the toughest environments. Visit them in direct sunlight and ask the city or entity about the experience with those units. If you hear from a customer that the screens have gone black within a few years or are going darker, stay away! The screen should never go darker. Some companies like to have a demo kiosk come on property. Seeing a “demo” unit one time can be misleading since it’s the first time the display has been outdoors. Any vendor can take any screen whether indoor or outdoor proof and show it to you for 1 day in the outdoors. It doesn’t mean it works well. A good demo or test is placing a smart kiosk in the ground for years and testing it.

Other problems to look out for is vendors who are trying to be system integrators and piece it all together for the first time. Select a company that has a proven track record with the exact application you are looking for. Being a test for a company to deploy their outdoor digital screens is never a a good idea. Go with a solution that has been installed all over the country and has been tested repeatedly. Find a company that provides a software that continues to improve on a monthly basis that way your kiosk stays advanced with the latest technology.