Digital signage is everywhere nowadays. You see it in retail store windows, as you walk into a restaurant and even inside corporate offices. Screens such as video walls, kiosks and digital window displays are used to present a business’s signage in order to communicate its messages. This could be advertisements to draw potential customers into their store, branding to raise awareness or internal communications. Making sure you implement the best digital signage practices can help you keep ahead of your competitors and achieve the best results.
The importance of digital signage is obvious, as 68% of customers say digital signage would make them more likely to buy advertised products.
However, now that so many businesses are using this technology it’s not enough to throw your content on a screen and be done with it. You need to take advantage of everything digital signage has to offer. Keep reading to find out what the digital signage best practices are.
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Make sure your content is clear
Choose an effective display location
Set your goals
When following the digital signage best practices, the first step will be identifying what you want to get out of it. This will help you to set out to anyone involved why you are creating this content. For example, you may be aiming to increase your brand awareness or draw attention to a certain product you offer to increase sales of that item. By doing this you will be able to create much more focused content that has a set purpose. As well as this, you will be able to measure and analyse the performance of your digital signage against the intended goal. This data will inform you if it has been successful or if you need to make changes. Without setting goals for your content during the planning stage you will have nothing to measure its performance against and will not know if changes need to be made. In the long term this will affect future campaigns as you will not have been able to learn from this.
It has been found that marketers who set goals are 376% more likely to report success than those who don’t. To get the most out of your digital signage it is best practice to set goals to help you measure the success of the content.
Make sure your content is clear
One of the most important digital signage best practices you should follow is making sure that your content is clear. You have limited time to communicate your message to your audience with the average human attention span now just eight seconds. This means that your content must be able to inform the audience of your message quickly. If it takes too long for someone to take in the information you are trying to share, they will lose interest and move on. The text on your content should be short and easy to read, this way your message is guaranteed to be taken in by your audience, like in the video wall example seen below.
You can do this using a content management system. With PeakSignage, for example, you can use the drag-and-drop editor to add your text and then increase the size. This will help to make the text easier to read and therefore quicker to consume for your audience.
What makes this even more important is the fact that digital signage has a recall rate of 83% among viewers. This means you should take advantage of the high retention rate digital signage offers by making sure that your audience knows exactly what your message is.
Use dynamic content
Digital screens offer much more variety in the type of content you can show compared to traditional static signs. When it comes to designing your digital signage, taking advantage of videos and motion graphics is definitely one of the digital signage best practices. Dynamic content is much more effective at catching the eye than static content, in fact, digital signage with video or motion graphic content is able to capture 400% more views than a static display.
The movement these types of content offer is what makes your displays stand out and grab the attention of people passing by. Once your signage has their attention you can then communicate your message more memorably.
The added benefit of using video content is that 90% of buyers find videos played on a screen helpful in making their purchasing decisions. Not only is video content effective in drawing the attention of your audience but also a helpful tool for guiding them towards a purchase.
Adding video content to your digital signage is a quick process. If your display has a USB port you can connect a USB storage device that has your desired video on and then begin playing it on the screen. Or, if you are using a content management system you can make your changes from the dashboard. PeakSignage is a cloud-based system which means you can edit your content from any device with a browser.
Schedule your content
If you are using a content management system, you’ll be able to set a schedule for what content is shown on your screens at any given time. This will help you to organise your campaigns and make sure your displays are showing relevant content. For example, if you have a time-based product, like a breakfast menu at a restaurant, you can schedule your screens to display content promoting this. In this case, you could then schedule a new set of content to be displayed at the same time as the breakfast items are stopped. This means you will not continue to promote a sale or products that are no longer available and can instantly begin communicating a new message. The content will be swapped over automatically so you won’t have to spend time manually doing this.
As well as this, scheduling a variety of content to display on your screens will help to keep your digital signage fresh. This will keep your audience engaged, as they will see new content which could persuade them to interact with your business.
PeakSignage provides you with a scheduling tool that includes daily, weekly or monthly views. This lets you plan out your content well in advance, meaning you won’t have to spend time constantly changing your displays manually.
Choose an effective display location
The placement of your displays will have a big impact on who is likely to see them and how effective your digital signage can be. You could have the best possible content designed but if the screen it is displayed on is hidden away it’ll have little to no effect. It is a digital signage best practice to make sure your displays are placed in high-traffic spots to ensure maximum exposure for your content.
The location will depend on the type of screen you plan to use for your digital signage. Window displays are effective facing out of the front of your building and are useful for drawing the attention of passersby. Pairing this with content that entices your audience in-store, such as a sale advertisement, is an effective combination of content and location.
A video wall can be effective close to or above your point of sale. Here you can promote your KPIs or any product you want to increase the sales of. By doing this you can take advantage of the fact that 82% of buying decisions are made in-store. In this location, you can encourage your customers to make additional or specific purchases at the moment that they are most open to buying.
If you are looking to use a kiosk display, this is most effective in a high-traffic location, for example, close to the entrance. This lets you reach as many people as possible helping to boost the awareness of your brand.
Using a combination of screens in multiple locations will have the greatest effect. A content management system will allow you to organise different content for each screen meaning you can have attention-grabbing content on the screens at the front of your store and then content focused on a product you want to sell more of closer to the point of sale. This will help to guide your customers into your business and encourage them to interact.
Ready to add the benefits of a digital signage solution to your business?
You can find out about our digital signage platform, PeakSignage, here.
LamasaTech is a leader in digital display technology with over 12 years of experience. We support customers across a range of industries including retail, military and defence, government and public sector, technology, hospitality and education contact us today!
