Content, delivery, hardware: what you need to win in digital display advertising

The landscape of digital display advertising is evolving. There are more opportunities than ever before for digital signage to make an impact. However, many businesses are failing to harness the full potential of electronic displays and are being left behind as a result. Hardware alone is no longer enough. Content, and the way in which that content is delivered, is as important as the digital signage itself.

Traditionally, signage in retail or corporate environments began and ended at Powerpoint. This is fine for people making presentations at work but not dynamic enough for advertising. Digital signage needs to be eye-catching for anyone to take notice and PowerPoint simply does not stand out from the crowd enough to do the job.

It’s time to expand on the conventional understanding of signage as advertising and start thinking of it as a service. This concept is not new — some examples of implementation include electronic menu boards in restaurants or live share price data in corporate offices — but most companies still do not take advantage of digital signage to realise its full advertising potential.

Dynamic content is a powerful way for businesses to tailor their responses to fit different contexts. Imagine a café that offers specials on ice cream when it’s hot or freshly brewed coffee when it’s cold. What about a store that puts up a promotion on umbrellas when it’s raining outside? By contrast, static content can easily become outdated and ineffective.

Often the most effective uses of digital signage integrates multiple formats of data and imagery to deliver a strong, cohesive message in a visually pleasing format. Static content is simply not enough. Companies need to make best use of the content, delivery mechanisms and digital displays to deliver something special.

Using a dedicated, flexible digital signage solution such as BrightSign to deliver content to displays instead of a computer can make a big difference to the efficacy of the intended message.

BrightSign provides an effective means of combining graphics and data by incorporating dynamic text fields. As a result, it’s possible to constantly update user-relevant content such as prices or schedules and overlay them on top of visually compelling graphics.

The requirements of out-of-home advertising differ from that of TV or web advertising. Digital displays have only a short window of time to make their mark and, as peripheral advertising, are competing with many other distractions to reach a moving audience.

Cycling ads in loops of no more than 10 seconds each, followed by a recap screen that shows several of the previous ads at once, is the most efficient means of maximising this short period of time and delivering the information in a way most likely to stick in the audience’s minds. Recaps can make a huge difference because someone catching the end of an ad of interest to them is unlikely to wait around for it to repeat.

While informative content is the key to a successful digital display strategy, there must be a balance between too much and too little content. Images and text need to be clean and crisp. Too many elements can be overwhelming and look messy. In addition, people will simply not read an ad if there is too much detail on it.

Another concept that must always be kept in mind is continuity, both in terms of visuals and branding. The principles of design apply as much to signage as they do any other kind of advertising. Haphazard, poorly conceived imagery hurts a company’s brand.

Signage must imply professionalism, competency, and be cohesive with a brand’s overall identity and perspective. Custom hardware solutions can facilitate this. For example, BrightSign’s HTML 5 support allows users to pull in content from websites for a truly complementary advertising experience.

Interactivity is another factor to consider. When done well, touch content is particularly effective. Touch interaction allows for far fuller engagement than non-interactive displays. Pushbacks, such as those in televised sporting events, also allow users to keep interacting with a display while the main advertising component is minimised but still present.

Finally, digital display marketing needs to consider the consumer. No matter how good something looks, it’s ineffective if it does not take into consideration user habits and location-specific requirements. As a result, research is a necessary step in any successful digital advertising campaign.

Digital signage can be an extremely effective way of delivering content and growing customer bases, but requires end-to-end solutions. A single technical or content-related mistake can prove a stumbling block to a successful campaign, which is why companies need to connect with the right content delivery partners who intuitively understand the needs of the digital display market.