Digital Signage Systems: A checklist for beginners

by Matthew | 11 July 2012 8:30 am

By Clive Fort
Digital signage is much more than just an electronic version of posters or billboards. When deployed properly, it uses content—from virtually any source—to connect to a wide variety of dynamic displays for a highly impactful, interactive communications experience. Digital signage can inform and influence passersby, promote and explain the benefits of products, provide directions, reinforce branding, manage key performance indicators (KPIs) and more.

The following checklist provides a starting point for organizations that are new to the medium, whether they are looking to deploy a small number of displays or thousands of screens around the world. The listed criteria are recommended for consideration when evaluating various digital signage systems.

1. Start easy with a pilot.
Digital signage pilot deployments are essential for learning. They should be conducted with the goal of determining how best to engage viewers, with an experience that will excite them. At this point, the only limits to the system should be one’s imagination.

2. Compare standard and customizable systems.
Digital signage can be started up very quickly by using a simple, ‘out of the box’ system, as its capabilities should meet almost all of the network’s needs. At the same time, however, there is no need to sacrifice the ability to customize digital signage to ensure the desired user experience.

3. Keep it intuitive.
The digital signage software should offer content creation tools and easy-to-use templates, balancing sophisticated technological capabilities with the simplicity of access through any standard web browser.

4. Consider SaaS.
A digital signage network with the option for Software as a Service (SaaS) will help enable the aforementioned web-based access to its content management system. This approach can reduce upfront costs and reduce the support requirements for the organization’s information technology (IT) department.

5. Manage centrally.
With a SaaS approach, the software should relay all information for the displays through a single database, delivered over the web. This will make any multi-location adjustments easier, allowing constant and instant display updates across the entire network.

6. Connect with multiple data sources.
By automating the use of content, the digital signage system can continuously pull up new information from multiple sources, including the client’s existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) and/or customer relationship management (CRM) systems. This way, screen content can become more meaningful, delivered in a timely fashion.

7. Schedule content.
Look to be sure you can control the timing of viewer schedules throughout the network. You don’t want your content to go stale and micro-scheduling your displays can help keep things fresh for your audience.

8. Start with a stable, proven platform.
As organizations gain experience with digital signage, their networks can grow from a handful of displays to perhaps hundreds or even thousands. The IT platform for such a system must be proven, robust, reliable and scalable.

9. Measure performance.
A digital signage system needs to be able to tell its operators which content has been played where and when, especially if the network is a large-scale deployment. Only then can the organization feel confident the system is reliably delivering on its promise.

10. Connect with mobility.
Mobile devices provide an opportunity for digital signage to become more interactive and improve the audience experience. Quick Response (QR) codes have become a popular type of integration point, with passersby scanning them on screens to download related content. This means a viewer can still receive information even after walking away from the screen.

11. Consider kiosks.
In a growing number of environments, particularly retail stores and banks, self-service has become a standard part of the customer experience. Indeed, many people seek out interactive kiosks for faster, easier and more accurate service, so these devices have come to represent an important integration point for digital signage.

12. Use social media.
Another emerging trend is connectivity between social media and digital signage. When organizations’ customers and employees are already discussing brands on the web, digital signage provides an opportunity to connect branding with social media to reach them.

13. Respond to advanced analytics.
The ability to combine digital signage with advanced analytics software, especially in retail environments, can help turn information into action. This kind of software can identify non-linear patterns involving customers and products, many of which may otherwise be far from obvious, enabling retailers to more accurately anticipate future purchasing behaviour. As such, analytics can help program digital signage to automatically target the ideal message to the right customer, at the optimal time and place.

14. Keep content dynamic.
Digital signage software should allow on-screen content to be changed quickly and easily. Some elements of this content can be automated, such as weather forecasts, advertised product prices and inventory-related data. This approach avoids the time and expense involved in creating entirely new content.

Clive Fort is director of product management for Scala, which provides software for digital signage. For more information, visit www.scala.com[4].

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/a-checklist-for-beginners/

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