What Is Digital Signage and How to Use It in Your Digital Campaigns?
As businesses strive to carve a place for themselves within the emerging metaverse, the demand for new, innovative ways to showcase dynamic digital content has never been higher. Digital signage is one of the technologies that naturally places itself at the forefront of this shift. What is it, exactly? And how can you use digital signage for digital campaigns that will propel your business into this new era? Here’s what you need to know.
What Is Digital Signage?
Video advertising used to be strictly bound to television. In the physical realm, visual communication mainly tended to rely on still images. It surrounded us in magazines and on billboards. Even for informational content available in public spaces, print largely prevailed. But that was before video displays took the world by storm.
Screens and monitors have become part of the landscape, providing advertisers with opportunities to capture the consumers’ attention at every turn. And yet few professionals truly explore all the possibilities it offers. They appreciate the value of video content but fail to create well-rounded strategies to take full advantage of it. Building your content around a particular context and ensuring it is highlighted by the medium itself, on the other hand, can make all the difference. Understanding how to get the most out of digital signage for your digital campaigns will give you more sway over your customers’ decision-making process.
What Are the Different Types of Digital Signage Displays?
There are four main types of digital signage displays:
- Dynamic digital signage
- Interactive digital signage
- Automated digital signage
- Advertising digital signage
Within these categories, the technology itself may differ, with some relying on LCD or LED technology, additional sensors that trigger the most appropriate messages, touch screens, etc.
The format varies based on use cases and location. For example, a digital end cap display would be right at home in a supermarket wanting to leverage the benefits of digital labeling.
How Does Digital Signage Support Your Digital Campaigns?
From entertainment to service offerings, promotions, gamified content, and practical information, digital signage lends itself to countless applications. Screen-based communication gives you the benefit of leveraging video content and the ability to renew the content when and however you choose. This means you can also craft situational content to be displayed at the most opportune times and encourage shoppers to take an interest in your online presence and engage with you digitally. It’s up to you to turn this advantage into a marketing plan that will grant you more control over how your customers behave online and IRL.
Showcase Your Content in an Engaging Way
Consumers have become unresponsive to most forms of traditional marketing and advertising. To them, printed billboards, however large, are just part of the landscape. Digital signage naturally draws the eye, giving you a chance to spark interest and create a connection.
Multimedia screens allow you to get creative with your formats and rotate between static ads, animated content, product tutorials or demonstrations, testimonials, inspirational films, and more. The content itself is more thought-provoking than a still image, making consumers more likely to respond to your call to action and engage with your brand.
Improve Your Online and Offline Visibility
Digital signage takes your digital campaigns to the next level. You can use this solution to bridge the gap between the physical and the online world by creating content designed to offer a hybrid experience. Even social media marketing, influencer marketing, and other types of digital marketing can be used to communicate with an in-store target audience through interactive displays.
Electronic shelf labels are a great example of how digital signage brings new interactive services to in-store customers who can use their smartphones to unlock additional information. This carries the experience over to their personal device, thus boosting brand awareness. Engage, the Vusiongroup’s in-store Marketing solution, offers a comprehensive solution that uses digital signage to take your in-aisle campaigns to the next level.
Deliver Customized Experiences
Whether you’re using a TV monitor at your place of business or a screen wall at a public location, digital signage gives you control over how you showcase your content. You can place your buyer persona at the heart of your efforts and change your messaging throughout the day or week to attract well-identified segments.
For example, if you’re displaying promotional video content at your retail store on a weekday morning, you can focus on bargains aimed at household heads. Their goal will likely be to feed their family quality meals at an affordable price. When schools are out, on the other hand, that’s when you’ll maximize engagement around products aimed at a younger customer base.
Depending on the type of information you wish to display, you can also position your screen(s) to amplify the impact of your digital signage campaign.
Boost Your Sales
More granulated control over your communication strategy means better-targeted messaging. By leveraging the entertainment value of your video content, you can invite your viewers to step into a world of your own making, where they can see a more unique side of your offering.
Who needs to see what? When? And where? Refining your digital signage strategy is all about answering these questions to create content that makes people feel seen and heard, fostering a connection that makes them more likely to complete a purchase. This personalized environment borrows from the online shopping experience to promote customer loyalty. If their visit feels special, your customers will want to repeat it.
How to Find a Digital Signage Solution That Works for You
There are as many digital signage marketing approaches as there are advertisers. With such a versatile system, it’s all about finding the one that’s right for you.
The Vusion Engage solution enhances the in-store shopping experience. It provides shoppers with omnichannel services and allows store owners to create relevant digital campaigns for their physical retail spaces. The VUSION OS leverages the power of IoT to design fully customizable, sustainable, secure, and scalable digital signage strategies. Craft captivating video content to recreate the convenience and interactivity of online shopping in your store. The result: A shopping environment that feels both unique and familiar, where shoppers are entertained and guided throughout the path to purchase.
VusionGroup puts technology at the service of physical retail to give you full control over your in-store marketing. This versatility allows you to choose the number of screens you wish to install and the type of content you need to display within the limits of your budget.
Once you’ve selected the hardware, software, and network your setup will rely on, your installation partner will perform a survey onsite. They will confirm the feasibility of your project, install your displays, and give you access to your CMS (Content Management System) to organize your content remotely.
Digital Signage: Closing Thoughts
Using digital signage for your digital campaigns bridges the gap between the online world and physical advertising. It’s all about creating an in-store conversation with your consumers and elevating the shopping experience by meeting them exactly where they are: in the digital space. It no longer makes sense to treat online and physical retail as two, completely different entities. The technologies we have access to mean that, on the contrary, they are very much intertwined in a way that benefits both the consumers and the brands. From informational content to advertising, offering your customers more interactivity propels your business into the metaverse era, powering your messages in a vivid, captivating, and entertaining way.