What is Digital Signage - How Does it Work?
Digital Signage is seen everywhere from airports to fast food restaurants. These signs are a digital installation that displays video or multimedia content for information or advertising. There are endless uses for digital signage supporting a wide range of business and customer needs.
What is Digital Signage used for?
Businesses use digital signage to inform, alert, and educate their audience. Audiences of digital signage can include customers, employees, patients, students, etc.
Digital signage can be used for any industry:
In restaurants to display menus and specials
In corporate offices and manufacturing plants for company announcements, employee training, room bookings, HR information, and emergency alerts
In schools and college campuses to display announcements, school events, wayfinding, room bookings, emergency alerts, and lunch menus
In hospitals and doctor’s offices to display their services, show patient testimonials, improve wayfinding, educate patients and visitors, train hospital staff and reduce perceived wait times in waiting areas
In government offices and facilities to educate the public about government services, train employees, for interdepartmental communication, real-time alerts, to display court dockets, and to show appointments and meeting schedules
In banking for self-help kiosks, queue management, displaying interest rates and stocks, and to improve the in-branch customer experience
In retail for branding, to showcase new or hot products, promote sales, and enhance the in-store customer experience
In hospitality businesses to welcome, direct, guide, entertain, serve, and inform guests
In entertainment venues to answer questions, display concessions menus, wayfinding, event schedules, ticket prices, special offers, and to reinforce safety
In the transportation industry to show transit options and schedules e.g. for buses, trains, bikes, etc., and location-based advertisement
In real estate to showcase property listings and virtual home tours, display neighborhood profiles, and highlight realtors and their successes
In fitness centers to display a schedule of classes, share testimonials, showcase training tips and tricks and run advertisements
Why is it important?
Effective communication is the primary goal for digital signage implementations. However, the rewards of this digital installation are unlimited.
Some benefits of digital signage include:
it reduces the cost of communicating by eliminating printing and reaching more people
it adds aesthetic appeal and modernizes a facility
increasing employee productivity by 21%
it reduces perceived wait times by as much as 35%
it reduces workplace injury by 20%
showcasing dynamic content instead of static content improves retention by 83%
it creates a 31.8% increase in overall sales volume
increases footfall by about 24% in brick and mortar stores
influencing the customers’ decision-making process to boost sales
boosting impulse purchases for retail businesses
doubling up as a form of entertainment
improves brand awareness by about 23%
it increases interest and attendance to events by 20%
improving internal communication
allows for real-time messaging, keeping audiences well informed at all times
Components of Digital Signage
A digital display or screen This consists of any screen with an HDMI port. We recommend using commercial-grade displays because they have better and longer warranties. They are designed for longer operating hours, and they support both vertical and horizontal orientations.
Media player The media player or digital signage player is a device that displays content on its screens. The player is connected to the screen via HDMI. It needs to be connected to the internet to receive and download content from the software.
Digital signage software This is the brains of the entire display. Software is where you create or upload your content and deploy it to your screens. The software is often cloud-based and can be accessed online on a simple web browser.
Content This is what you will display on your screens. It is what your audience will engage with, which makes it the most important determinant of success and achieving an ROI. Content can be images, videos, PowerPoint presentations, or dynamic content like weather, news, RSS feeds, social media, webpages, event listings, and more.
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