Your prospective customers are bombarded with thousands of pieces of information every day. In fact, according to Forbes, the typical American sees 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements per day. If you want to capture and hold the right people’s attention at the right time, you need innovative and engaging marketing solutions.
Enter digital signage.
What Is Digital Signage?
Digital signage is a term for various kinds of digital installations that show visual, video, or multimedia content for information or advertising purposes. Technologies such as LCD, LED, projection, and e-paper are commonly used in digital signage.
Restaurant menus, seasonal campaigns, regularly updated information such as wait times, and interactive displays are just some of the common use cases for digital signage.
Why Digital Signage Is Essential
Digital signage is used in numerous industries and for many different purposes. It is a versatile medium that can work for almost any business.
Digital signage is highly effective. According to Mood Media, 68% of customers surveyed said digital signage would positively influence them toward buying a product. And 44% said digital signage would make them consider buying the advertised product instead of something they had previously intended to purchase.
Here are just some of the reasons digital signage is essential for your business in 2022.
Lower Costs in the Long Run
Digital signage may seem expensive when you first research the costs involved. After the initial setup, however, digital signage can more than pay for itself in the long term.
If you use exclusively physical media such as posters and signs, these will need to be replaced every time you change the information on them. Though the initial setup cost for a run of print signs may be much lower, the overall costs can add up quickly over time.
More Flexibility in On-Site Marketing
It is far easier to update digital signage than printed signage. The latter will need to be designed, printed, shipped, and hung by employees each time there is a change. The former, however, can be altered with a few touches of a button and with relatively short notice.
This means it is easier to provide up-to-date information quickly and correct any mistakes when they are spotted.
If you have multiple locations (e.g., retail stores, offices, or restaurant outlets), the content can be controlled separately for each location. This means you have absolute control over what is shared to your digital signage on a by-location basis.
Lower Employee Overhead and Training
Digital signage may initially seem complex, but it is very easy to use. With a small amount of training and know-how, your team members can operate it seamlessly.
Because digital signage is controlled from a central location, it takes a smaller team and far less time to update the displayed messages. This further reduces your costs and resource expenditure.
How Can Digital Signage Improve Customer Experience?
When you are running a business, customer experience is everything. Even if you offer a fantastic product or service, customers will not return if they have a poor experience.
Digital signage is one of the tools you can use to offer a great customer experience. Here’s how.
You Can Educate Your Customers
Digital signage offers an effective and versatile way to educate customers about your products and services. You can use infographics, diagrams, or even video tutorials to provide valuable information and instructions to your customers.
For example, at a ski resort, infographics could help demonstrate the basics of safe and effective equipment use to new visitors. You could also use video to demonstrate the capabilities of a new piece of technology, or visual content to show how a particular fashion item could be styled. The possibilities are endless.
Entertain or Market to Customers as They Wait
No one likes standing in line, but it is an unfortunate reality of the modern world. Many businesses lose customers, or annoy them, through lengthy and boring wait times. By using digital signage in waiting areas, you can promote brand messaging, encourage last-minute purchases, or entertain and engage your audience as they wait.
This also gives you the perfect opportunity to upsell. Digital signage is premium real estate for displaying new and exciting products to customers, cross-selling and up-selling to them as they wait.
Vans, a retailer selling skateboarding shoes and apparel, does an excellent job of this. The company uses digital signage to display events information, skate videos, music, and original branded online series as you wait. All the content is carefully crafted and curated to appeal to their target audience’s interests in skating, music, and street culture.
Promote Other Initiatives or Encourage Customers to Interact With Your Brand Online
When it comes to engaging your audience, holding their attention and encouraging them to engage with you in multiple ways is critical. Whether you want them to watch your content on YouTube or interact with a campaign on Twitter or Instagram, digital signage can easily and flexibly display these messages.
Lush is a great example of a company that does this well. As a socially conscious cosmetics and body care retailer, the brand uses digital signage to display messaging related to issues such as cruelty-free beauty, vegan products, and environmental concerns. This aligns perfectly with the values of the typical customer Lush is trying to attract and encourages further engagement with the brand.
Interactive Kiosks Allow Customers to Find Information on Their Terms
Today’s customers prefer to be in control of their experience. Interactive kiosks allow your customers to do exactly this, in their own time and on their own terms. Whether they are ordering products to be picked up, scheduling an appointment with a company representative, or simply finding further information, interactive digital kiosks allow customers to take control.
Clothing retailers have leveraged this technology extensively in recent years, offering digital fitting kiosks to help customers find the perfect fit before they even get into the changing rooms to try on their items.
Boost Foot Traffic by Drawing in Window Shoppers
Window signage has always been key to drawing passing window shoppers into businesses’ premises. While traditional printed signage has achieved this in the past, digital signage offers far more flexibility and more advanced options.
Digital signage lets you rotate or change messages, introduce video content, or even tailor messages specifically to the person looking at the sign. Another benefit is that digital signage is more obvious and harder to miss during darker times of the day, even at a distance.
Get Started With Digital Signage
As you have seen, digital signage is a versatile and powerful marketing tool with nearly endless possible applications. It increases flexibility, offers more opportunities for customer engagement, and makes your advertising and marketing budget stretch further.
Here at Hygrade, our digital signage solutions are about far more than just screens and displays. We aim to provide a comprehensive and immersive experience that engages customers from the moment they enter your business. Our goal is simple: to give you the greatest possible return on your marketing spend.
If you would like to learn more about how digital signage can boost your business or how Hygrade’s digital signage services can help you meet your goals, get in touch today and we will be pleased to advise you further.