In today's tough economy, finding a promising new market isn't easy. But solution providers need look no further than the dazzling array of digital screens and panels that are appearing in stores, restaurants, schools, banks, hotels, offices, airports, military bases, hospitals and elsewhere.

That market is digital signage, which experts expect to continue to shine.

iSuppli says the digital signage industry was worth $2.5 billion in 2007 and will grow to $4 billion by 2011. InfoTrends predicts that revenue for the industry will grow at a compound annual rate of 18.5 percent between 2006 and 2011. Brad DeSent, president of Apex Consulting Group, which is part of Sherlock Systems, a systems integrator, has been seeing 15 percent to 20 percent annual growth. By any of these measures, digital signage revenue is growing quickly.

"Print pubs are on the ropes and advertisers feel they don't get good ?bang for the buck' from non-targeted TV," notes Stuart Armstrong, president of EnQii North America, a digital signage integrator. "Some of the ad dollars from these media are finding their way into alternative marketing vehicles such as the Internet and digital signage. These are becoming more mainstream."

On the business side, signage profit margins are excellent for solution providers. Once installed, digital signage is mostly service (content creation, content management, network management, etc.), says Majdi Khatib, vice president of marketing at solution provider Coast to Coast Technology. This leads to margins of 25 percent to 30 percent, well above those of most hardware and software.

Despite signage's potential, only those savvy enough to know how to exploit it will enjoy success. Digital signage, says Mike White, president of AV systems integrator Multi-Media Solutions, "is complicated and can involve a long sales cycle."

White once attended a training seminar called "You Can't Learn To Ride A Bike By Reading A Book." This holds true for digital signage, he says: "If you don't earn your education, you will likely lose money."

To take the pulse of the green scene, Channel Advisor talked to three solution providers who are all "selling green" by meeting the needs of their clients.

Mastering Multiple Disciplines
Experts agree that success with digital signage requires a multidisciplined approach. EnQii's Armstrong cites the following essential disciplines:

• Operational issues, such as surveying a site to learn what needs to go in which locations
• Installation issues that involve dealing with local building codes and wiring
• Media, including knowing what to program, how to create content and how to schedule the programming
• Technology, such as working with satellites, the internet, networking and various content formats

To succeed in digital signage, you must master all of these. The technology's complexity suggests that newbie signage providers should use their own facility for their first installation, working out the kinks where no one sees them but you. (Ingram Micro did this at one of its distribution centers). To test your savvy, Khatib recommends installing screens in both portrait and landscape modes, connecting screens at different distances to test signal strength and experimenting with diverse content such as live data feeds, video and PowerPoint.

Many signage providers partner with others to complement their weaknesses. If you are strong in technology, for instance, but lack the ability to create content, a partner can be valuable. Dave Sallander, president of Sherlock Systems, notes that more and more advertising agencies are getting involved with the creative side of digital signage. Your technological prowess and their creativity can make for a strong team.

To help you get up to speed, Ingram Micro has digital signage specialists able to provide creative services, as well as marketing assistance and technical support. Candace Lance, marketing manager for Micro's Digital Signage Division, notes that "digital signage solutions can be as simple or complex as you want." If you want to keep it simple, then outsource those aspects of the solution beyond your capabilities.

Use Your Imagination
Once you've mastered the technical basics, it is time to begin approaching prospects. First, drag out your Rolodex or open your digital address book.

"One's existing client base is always a great place to start," says Bijan Chavoshan, director of digital signage at The ICN Group. "You have the trust factor, and clients are more approachable with new ideas."

Be creative in your approaches. Most companies have lobbies, conference rooms and break rooms, all potential sites for digital signage. When Chavoshan approaches existing customers about signage, he explains the benefits as they relate to their specific business and needs. Some, he notes, want to entertain their clients while they are waiting, others want to motivate their employees and others want to impress visitors. Still others want a return on their investment, such as through increased sales (as with a store or restaurant) or by selling ads on their digital signage network (which has potential with stores, restaurants and professional offices).

Lobbies give a company a chance to "wow" visitors with an impressive wall of panels. Phil Ferranti, CEO of The Technology Company, says he recently installed a 10- by 12-foot video wall in a company lobby that ran to six figures. Within a month, he got a second job from someone who saw the first wall and liked it. This, in fact, is a benefit of digital signage solutions: Your work is often in high-traffic areas where lots of people see it.

Still, not every signage solution involves screens on a wall. Kiosks with touch screens can be an effective variation. Another creative example comes from the manufacturing industry. One of Chavoshan's customers sells solar panels to manufacturing plants so they can be independent of the electric grid. This customer is considering installing digital signage at these plants to show its own customers how much power the solar panels are generating and how much money they are saving.

Marketing to Verticals
Coast to Coast's Khatib agrees it makes sense to start with existing clients, "but then I think it's best to pick an industry and focus on that," he says. Learn that industry's needs, devise targeted solutions and create marketing programs that highlight your solution's benefits.

The Technology Company's Ferranti carefully studies an industry before approaching it. At a restaurant, for example, he can provide a study that shows digital signage boosts the sale of draft beer (a profitable item) by 18 percent. Such information helps address customer concerns about costs and ROI.

Ronald Gross, CEO of DynaTek Media, which specializes in digital signage, spends upward of six months studying a market before entering it. "We try to put ourselves in the shoes of the business owners to figure out what they need," he says. He interviews the principals, learns where they make their money and their weak and strong points, and then devises collateral that demonstrates how signage will help them.

He usually suggests allowing him to set up a demo, a key marketing tool for digital signage providers. While many set up a demo for 30 days, Gross does 90-day demos. Part of the demo is having the customer's staff or an outside company survey customers to learn their reaction to the signage. During the first 30 days, he will survey to learn respondents' initial reactions: Did you notice the signage? If so, did you like what you saw? What information would you like the signage to provide? Have you seen signage elsewhere that you liked better? He follows with another survey during the demo's final 30 days, when the signage is no longer a novelty, to see if perceptions have changed.

Turning Point Solutions, a managed services provider, uses another marketing tactic: a combined customer appreciation/ technology expo. At a recent expo, a hospital showcased its digital signage project, says Turning Point Solutions owner Lynn Hudgens. He then talked to prospects from smaller businesses such as doctor's offices about how they might scale down such an installation to their needs.

Hudgens also targets smaller credit unions and community banks. "When people queue up, it's a great place for a bank's signs," he says. "They have a need, but not the ability to support the technology, because their IT person is already slammed trying to keep the IT system up and running." A need for digital signage and a need for designing, installing and supporting it -- that's the ideal situation for solution providers.

Digital signage may not be for every solution provider but many find it to be effective in building stronger relationships with existing customers, while providing a means to attract new ones. "If they don't jump into this market now, someone else will and take those customers," says Ingram Micro's Lance. "There are tons of opportunities today with digital signage."