As the owner of a mid-scale business or large corporation, you’ve probably heard a great deal about digital signage and the extent to which it can be used to your advantage. Given the current tide in advocating for the rising and enduring popularity of digital content, the business world can only benefit from being up to speed on digital signage and the different ways it can benefit businesses.
So, what exactly is it? Sometimes also referred to as electronic signage, it refers to various display technologies such as LED walls, projection, and LCD monitors that can display websites, videos, restaurant menus, marketing messages, directions, special announcements, and the like. This article covers four important points to remember when it comes to digital signage and the various ways in which it can benefit companies.
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1. Ways to Use Digital Signage
As outlined in the introduction, digital signage is a convenient way of providing public information to help share details regarding a certain product or service. It can also be used to communicate internal messages to staff, or increase brand recognition and help advertise different promotions. It’s a wonderfully effective way of influencing consumers and converting them into loyal clients by creating a visual and visceral way to connect.
To break things down further, you can offer promotions utilizing the technology of digital signage by advertising products, services, special events, and sales. The screens can use animation to different graphics, which is a boon to advertisers since they are far more effective when compared to static ads. You can incorporate video testimonials since these work extremely well in a retail setting.
Another specific way in which digital signage can be used is to advertise different offers. Paper menus will always be the gold standard, but plenty of restaurants are now looking to promote their food in interesting ways, and a digital sign can help a great deal in that regard.
You can also use digital signage to display the news, company memos, or even inspirational quotes. The benefits and usage of this particular form of technology are numerous and it can be adapted according to your business needs.
2. Costs
When looking for different technology providers to help set up your digital signage one thing you should consider is the cost. As recommended by industry stalwarts OmniAlly, you should always perform a specific cost-benefit analysis when finding the right digital software for the business.
There are plenty of expensive digital signage software options that will offer you a variety of quirks and flashy elements that you may never use. And yet, they factor into the cost in a major way. So, before signing up for a service, keep an eye on the cost, as well as the contract. Check whether or not you can cancel at any time, and if you are able to switch to another provider with ease if you are uncomfortable with the first one you signed up for.
3. User Friendly
Another important element to consider when looking into digital signage is whether or not it is user-friendly. The technology can become unnecessarily complicated and unwieldy, which defeats the purpose. Digital signage is a more sophisticated version of the bulletin boards of yore, and they will be very unwieldy to use if you can’t just as easily update them. Technology should make life easier and shouldn’t make things more complicated than a simple bulletin board.
The kind of technology you’re looking for when purchasing digital signage software should make updates a breeze and ideally come with a few preplanned templates which can help solidify your organization’s branding and visual identity. Keep your eye out for templates that are easy to edit and can be published straight away without any issues.
If you have more than one digital sign at several locations, you will also want the software to enable you to make updates simultaneously everywhere without any issues. One of the more annoying things that can happen is that one screen has a different update than another within the business’ space, which makes things extra miserable when you’re unable to make an emergency announcement or things of that nature.
4. Scheduling
This is a good moment to expand upon the idea of simultaneous announcements, or making sure that your technology enables the scheduling of different things quickly and easily. Scheduling is arguably the most powerful tool and absolutely needs to be part and parcel of any digital signage software you purchase.
When it comes to scheduling, you are afforded the capacity to display the right message at the best time to your potential clients in order to maximize your brand recognition. Scheduling is especially effective for chain restaurants when they design menu boards for public consumption. Digital signage is a great way of showcasing one meal item at a time during a specific time of day.
For example, the breakfast menu in its entirety can be displayed in a way to help advertise the best food. Then, the digital sign can be switched up to do the same for the lunch menu during the lunch hour. This can all happen automatically and requires minimal intervention from you once it’s been set up, which is fantastic.
At the end of the day, digital signage is a major investment, and the scheduling element, alongside the templates, is crucial to have a powerful piece of technology at your disposal. You also need it to be reliable, and not something that will crash suddenly or frequently, without a proper backup on the Cloud. People expect these services to work perfectly these days, so it makes sense to ensure that these key elements are at play when purchasing the software.
The bottom line is that digital signage can be used in a multitude of ways for businesses. It is an effective way of getting your message out there, in a compelling and visually interesting way. If you feel a bit stuck in terms of choosing and implementing smart marketing techniques, then digital signage is an incredibly interesting tool to consider.
