Unwrap these 12 Gifts of Digital Signage

When you hear the words “digital signage”, you might think the term simply refers to signs that are digital. However, effective digital signage goes far beyond what those words encompass. Digital signage is actually something that can bring new life to your business or environment. There are so many benefits to digital signage.

Digital signage catches the attention of people who see it – whether those people are internal or customers – and is more likely to deliver messages that actually resonate with them. Simply put, digital signage is any digital display that delivers messaging meant to improve the experience of the viewer.

Need proof? Digital signage has been shown to increase brand awareness by 47%. Furthermore, 4 out of 5 brands noticed a bump in sales after adopting digital signage. The fact is humans are visual creatures and reaching them on that level is proven to be more effective than using other methods. Digital signage can show graphics, text, and video, to name a few. It encompasses anything from small simple screen display to a complex video wall display. Interactive digital signage takes things to another level, offering the ability for customers to have interactivity with the display by directly engage with the display.

12 Benefits or Gifts of Digital Signage

As 2020 comes to a close, many businesses are preparing for the holidays and also working up budgets and plans for the coming year. Digital signage can be a key piece of an effective marketing, customer support, promotions or internal communications initiative, but organizers may need to develop an impactful business case. As we all look to the holidays, we wanted to share 12 benefits of digital signage – one for each day of the “12 days of Christmas”. Now is the perfect time for your company to unwrap the gifts of digital signage – keep reading to learn why!

1. Provides Information in Real Time

The first benefit of digital signage is it provides key information right when people need to see it. This is particularly helpful in instances of emergency, in a school or healthcare setting. Consider the benefits of sharing weather, inventory, statistics, social media feeds or order information with patrons. This is also helpful when it comes to time sensitive advertising. In-store digital signage offers retail the ability to quickly change marketing campaigns and reflect new imagery, copy, and photos. If your company needs to quickly adapt messaging for consumers, in-store digital signage offers up-to-the-minute messaging that is more likely to resonate. Share metrics with your sales or customer support team, right in the office space where they sit. This can help content mangers use analytics to update their marketing strategy. Watching their numbers climb is bound to be motivating!

2. Enhances Flexibility and Versatility

One of the most powerful benefits of digital signage is the ability to “set it and forget it”. You can schedule content based on different times of day, different campaigns, and so on. But you can also change the content quickly as needed. Creating content for different audiences or different times of day is the best way to ensure you’re reaching people (for example, a restaurant showing a breakfast menu on their menu boards during the morning). Flexible digital signage means you can create as much content as you need and be creative in how you display it.

3. Creates Opportunities for Customized Content

Digital signage has the ability to influence users authentically. That’s because there are limitless options for creating content, and you can even get customers in on the action with user-generated material. For example, customers social media feeds like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram can be posted immediately on your digital signage display! Personalize messaging with reviews, contests, photos – truly the options are endless when it comes to what to put on your digital signage.

Furthermore, messages can be changed in an instant. That feature provides so many opportunities, including updating with inventory information, wait times, status updates – whatever is useful to your organization!

4. Cost Reduction and Efficiency

This benefit of digital signage is one we hear from clients across every industry. Comprehensive in store digital signage can answer commonly asked questions, taking less time from floor staff. This is also a helpful feature in healthcare such as in a surgery center. Your digital signage can share information that saves on printing costs, support staff time, collateral, and more. Rapidly updating and accurate digital signage means customers get service faster, queues will move faster and overall, businesses will see savings in operational costs and potential increase sales or increase revenues.

5. Saves Resources

The cost savings we mentioned above can come in many forms, but users almost unanimously find that digital signage enables them to use less resources overall. For most businesses, enabling customers to feel comfortable enough to make a purchase is key to making profits. If you have ever had the experience of waiting around for a team member to answer your questions, then you understand how valuable it is to provide key information to consumers. Your staff can spend less time walking around and answering questions with proper signage.

Remember that today’s shoppers are influenced by the Amazon Effect – and they expect to have product or service information at their fingertips, without asking. Adapt to changing consumer needs by letting digital signage do the heavy lifting for your employees.

6. Increases Employee Engagement

Digital signage offers better retention and recall rates. Most people know that’s great for end users, but the same is true of people who work within your building. Signage can not only display information that your staff will find interesting, such as announcements, but it can constantly rotate things like FAQ’s, recent wins, employee spotlights, and so much more.

Keep digital signage in areas that are accessible to everyone. Use the content to provide information that’s interesting to your employees. For example, with the holidays coming up, you might create content around your PTO policy, progress toward end of year goals, and some photos of recent charitable work your company did. The end goal, in this example, is to improve internal communications.

7. Creates Brand Loyalty

Retail digital signage can increase a customer’s interaction with the brand substantially. Whether you display information that helps them to make a purchase, or have options that encourage people to interact, compelling digital signage makes your place of business easier to work with and more memorable. That’s important because “loyalists” – or a store’s most loyal customers – make up a whopping 37% of shoppers.

“Easy to work with” and “memorable” and two key traits that create loyalty for a business. Whether you are a store, restaurant, church, or healthcare center, leveraging your signage to communicate with users and make their experience a better one is more likely to encourage them to return (and tell their friends, too). Creating brand loyalty is an important benefit of digital signage irrespective of the industry.

8. Supports Marketing and Sales Efforts

Your marketing team is working hard to come up with fresh, compelling content all the time. Executing new campaigns – especially across multiple locations – requires time and forethought. Digital signage can make that process easier, and include important branding elements like taglines and color palettes. Everything a potential customer sees should reiterate your brand. It’s important that these elements are consistent across locations, no matter what type of business you are.

Effective digital signage solutions make it easier to display content that aligns with your organization’s latest marketing efforts. Even if you’re not promoting a certain campaign, you can use digital signage to reinforce your unique selling propositions, customer reviews, or other marketing messaging (using your unique branding, of course).

9. Boosts Employee Morale

Digital signage can help to create a positive, more productive, and more engaging workplace for employees. How do you implement this benefit? This goes beyond bulletin boards and memos, and share information in a way that is more likely to attract attention and be remembered. Digital signs for business can communicate personalized information in a way that’s interesting or entertaining.

Consider using in-office digital signage to share key metrics (that are positive) that will get employees excited. Share recent wins or new client logos with the office. Thank a departing staff member for their work, or display weather updates or traffic information for their commute home. Some of our clients have implemented a program where staff can share positive stories about each other that are displayed across the digital signs in their office.

Think about employee activities that are tied in with productivity, and then find ways of communicating about those activities. Get creative – even ask your team what would give them a boost throughout the day. You’d be surprised how much daily encouragement can impact employee outlook (and therefore overall morale).

10. Minimizes Perceived Wait Time for Customers

Nobody likes waiting in line. In fact, when it comes to retail, a long line can be enough to make someone leave the store. One study showed that this lack of willing to wait cost retailers an estimated $38 billion in potential sales.

However, “occupied time” feels shorter than unoccupied time. That means that people have a much easier time waiting in line when there’s something to take their mind off the actual wait. The restaurant industry picked up on this a long time ago, which is why many dining establishments encourage patrons to look at a menu while they wait for a table.

Similarly, retail stores can distract waiting customers with product videos, news, weather reports, or even sporting events. Not only does digital signage provide some last-minute opportunities to advertise, it helps customers feel less frustrated with their wait time.

11. Reduces Waste and is Safer for the Environment

In today’s world, we all need to think about sustainability. Digital signs for business are a great way to communicate effectively, without printing on paper or the cost of print advertising. Whether you need to communicate inside or outside your organization, consider the ways that using digital signage could save paper resources (and the costs that go along with them).

Think about this: 500 kgs of paper takes about nine trees to produce, and about 13,000 liters of water. The use of digital signage accelerates environmental conservation, which is good for all of us.

12. Round the Clock Advertising

Engaging displays can do the work of advertising, even when no one is around. In one study on banking, for example, digital signs with movement attracted 400% more views than static signs, which meant increased traffic for the buildings in the study. Similarly, any establishment with a storefront can leverage digital signs in their windows, whether they are open or not. Set signage to display messaging 24 hours a day in busy areas. The signs automatically do your advertising with no effort from staff.

By using digital signage and tailoring it to your customers’ needs, you can radically improve their experience and their perception of your brand and office. Furthermore, digital signage offers so much flexibility and customization, it’s a perfect channel for increasing engagement whether your audiences are internal or external.

Consider gifting your organization a digital signage solution this year. The possibilities for creating brand loyalty and engaging employees are endless – so it’s the gift that keeps on giving.

To learn more about our end-to-end, affordable digital signage solutions, contact our expert team or visit our resource center.