10 Tips to Refresh Your Digital Signage Content for 2024
The start of a new year is the perfect time to review your digital signage strategy. You want fresh ideas that grab people’s attention and build momentum for the rest of 2024. New strategies can include upgrading to a new digital signage software, swapping out digital signage hardware, or cleaning up user accounts.
However, the most important change is updating your digital signage content as it either builds or breaks audience engagement. Indeed, people tune out when they see the same message over and over again. For instance, overused Google slides eventually bore your audience, even if you invest in high-quality digital signage screens.
Why You Should Update Content
Your digital screens compete with a lot of sensory input. In addition to phones and laptops, people have to navigate increasingly stimulating environments. In response to this stimulation, the brain filters information based on importance via a phenomenon called the cocktail party effect. For instance, you are able to pay attention to your company in a noisy restaurant and ignore everything else.
Essentially, your brain pushes things you have seen before into the background. Thus, boring and stale content becomes one of filtered-out information. Your audience needs new content consistently, and repetitive messages ruin your entire deployment.
Tips to Refresh Digital Signage Content
If you are a communication manager or content creator, you may struggle to keep digital signage content inspiring. Thankfully, these digital content signage tips below make the process less stressful:
1. Proofread Grammar
Mistakes on your digital signs can undermine your authority and credibility. However, oversights like often misunderstood phrases, capitalization, punctuation, and incorrect pronouns creep in. So, it is helpful to get a fresh set of eyes to proofread your content. In addition to spotting grammar mistakes, a proofreader can suggest new ways to phrase your digital signage text.
2. Reorder Playlists
Refreshing playlists are a simple way to upgrade your digital signage content. If you have created a playlist with the perfect mix of images and videos, you may be tempted to keep running it on a loop.
Unfortunately, a guest who has seen your messages in the same order before won’t pay much attention. Even if you display evergreen message elements, it is time to move them around in the playlists. The changes can be as simple as displaying a message in the morning instead of the evening or as complex as cleaning out tired messages.
3. Change the Layouts
A new layout for your digital screens may be all you require to recapture your audience’s attention. If you have limited content, a quick makeover to message designs can be quite helpful.
To start, change how the content zone, RSS feeds, logo, weather, date and time, and background images are laid out on the screen. Also, make small but noticeable changes to make your audience linger for longer. For example, instead of the day’s weather, display a three-day forecast.
4. Launch a Custom Theme
Custom digital signage themes are among the quick update ideas that can leave a lasting impression among your audience. Play around with brand colors if you have several of them or look to seasonal themes like Halloween or Christmas for new designs. Additionally, use contrasting colors, add custom images and logos, and personalize fonts to encourage brand recognition.
5. Switch Up the Background
Vivid backgrounds are building blocks to successful content. Many digital marketers get comfortable using the same color schemes for different kinds of messages. For example, visitors may have learned that you use blue backgrounds for emergency alerts, white backgrounds for social media feeds, or orange for traffic information. By switching up on background color palettes or images, you entice passersby.
6. Integrate Social Media
User-generated content from YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook makes for engaging content. For example, encourage your customers to share their experiences in your store with specific hashtags on Twitter to stream on your digital screens.
7. Real-Time Content
Real-time content spares you from the hassle of making regular changes to digital signage content. Ask your digital software provider about app integrations that display real-time messages like traffic, news, weather. If you run a restaurant, you understand the importance of software that makes auto-updates to a digital menu board.
8. Refresh Calls to Actions
A call to action is a measurable way to determine the impact of your digital signage. However, people grow tired if you always ask them to follow you on social media or take advantage of discounts. Therefore, switch up your calls to action with more vivid language or sweeten your rewards.
9. Change Dates
Your digital signage content must be up to date to stay relevant for visitors and employees. Date and time changes show your audience that you keep things current.
10. Shorten Videos
While videos are great digital signage content, overplayed animated content eventually gets boring. Fortunately, you can shorten videos into reels with only the key points as they require less dwell time. Also, inject humor and storytelling into digital signage videos for 2024.
In Conclusion
The above digital signage content tips will get you out of your digital signage rut and revitalize your screens. Keep in mind that people’s attention spans are only getting smaller, and you need awe-inspiring content to stand out.
