Digital Signage Marketing To Hearing-Impaired
According to the World Health Organization, by 2050, nearly 2.5 billion people are projected to have some degree of hearing loss. Disabled hearing loss is determined by those experiencing a hearing loss greater than 35 decibels in the better-hearing ear. With such a high-numbered audience neglected, businesses are looking for the right inclusive strategy.
Digital signage is the answer to connecting businesses’ hearing-impaired clients and customers to bridge the gap. As we look toward the future, every business with a firm commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion will implement digital signage. Additionally, they will maximize the “togetherness” it will provide this neglected audience and successfully communicate the intended message.
Why It Matters
As a business, you want to deliver the best customer experience. Potential customers with hearing impairment shouldn’t be an exception. As a business, make it a priority to ensure that not just your product offerings but also the marketing campaigns for these products are inclusive.
Inclusion is a legal obligation. You want your business on the right side of the law, especially with accessibility lawsuits being on the rise. Actually, the Americans with Disabilities ACT (ADA) has some guidelines for web content accessibility that digital marketers can use as a reference. Also, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) highlights the rights of consumers, one of which is inclusion.
Additionally, you must recognize how powerful an emotional driver inclusion can be. Today’s customer is always on the lookout for service providers and brands committed to inclusivity. Everyone is keen to see real action and not just lip service. Therefore, customers are looking at the type of content you put out, your efforts towards improving inclusive customer engagement, and any new product you launch.
Businesses that have made intentional advancements towards inclusion and earned positive testimonials have a high brand awareness profile and enhanced brand reputation. In fact, up to 57% of customers are more loyal to brands that embrace diversity and inclusion.
Benefits of Digital Signage for Marketing
Digital signage isn’t only a powerful internal communication tool but also an excellent addition to your marketing campaign. Digital signs are eye-catching and attention grabbers, reaching a wider audience. Choose your content well, and you can look forward to the target audience engaging more with your screens. Digital signage content also has a recall rate of 83%, which is quite remarkable.
Additionally, updating and managing digital signage content is relatively easy, so you will always have fresh and engaging content for your ads.
You can also easily track some metrics and stay on top of how well your digital signage is doing. This tracking provides insights on the return on investment you are getting from the digital signs as well as areas that need improving for better results.
These are only a few of the many capabilities of digital signage. It’s no wonder that digital signs are used across various verticals, from healthcare to retail and the education sector.
Accessibility in Digital Signage Marketing
Accessibility defines the intent to create an experience accessible to as many people as possible, including those of the hearing-impaired community. Actually, achieving accessibility should be a primary objective when defining your strategy for digital signage marketing to the hearing impaired.
You can increase accessibility and make your digital signage marketing strategy more inclusive for your deaf and hard-of-hearing customers by doing the following.
1. Use Inclusive Language in Your Marketing Message
Always use the right language for all your digital signage content. Inclusive language ensures that the marketing message you have on your digital signs doesn’t alienate anyone.
Your choice of language shouldn’t include any slang or expressions that discriminate or communicate, even subliminally, a bias against your target audience. For instance, imagine displaying on your video walls a playlist that includes the phrase “follow the sound of the birds .” This, alongside wayfinding digital signage solutions, would be perfect for your resort. However, while you may not have meant it, that phrase alienates anyone watching the video who may be hard of hearing.
There are tools available to help analyze word choices that can help you ensure the language you are using is inclusive. Even better would be to have a deaf person, be it a member of your team, or outsourced, review your material. Therefore, every word you put up on your digital signage display counts, and you need to be sure you are using the right ones.
2. Include Closed Captioning
Closed captioning displays dialogue at the bottom of the informational or entertaining video playing on your digital screen. This includes both subtitles and essential sounds, so the hard-of-hearing potential customers don’t miss out on any part of the video. For example, you can use on screens close captioning for all your video displays, from the ones in your retail stores to the billboards.
What’s more, have your content management software automatically create these captions for you. Alternatively, you can make your captions for the videos by uploading subtitle files. Whether relying on the digital signage software or doing it yourself, ensure you review the captions for accuracy before publishing
3. Incorporate Content Transcription
While closed captioning is great for making your digital signage campaign inclusive, the downside is that video ads may run too fast for potential customers who are hard of hearing to keep up with while reading the captions. This is where transcribing your video content becomes an advantage and a great addition to your content strategy.
You can have a transcribed version of all your promotional materials. This includes the “how-to” videos highlighting your product’s unique features to your user engagement videos on social media. For instance, you can use a standard template for all your videos and always check for accuracy, as with closed captions. An in-house team can transcribe your video content, but you may want to engage a video transcription service if you are dealing with a large volume of content.
4. Deploy Interactive Kiosks
An interactive kiosk can be a powerful marketing tool. Several inherent advantages inform why retail stores should be using interactive kiosks.
Most people prefer to avoid human interaction, and your hard-of-hearing customers are no exception. This is especially so given the apparent challenge of one-on-one conversations in this context. Again, no one wants to put up with long wait times to get assistance from the store assistants when they can avoid it altogether.
Ensure the customers can find all the resources they may require from the interactive kiosks. The touch display technology allows users to find exactly what information they need.
5. More Contact Options
The call-to-action is one of the most critical elements of any digital signage marketing message. Your target audience has seen what you can offer, as seen on the promotional content across various display screens; now what?
“Call now for more information” is a go-to CTA in many ads. However, as you try to make your digital signage marketing more inclusive, you will need to offer more contact options. To cater to, and accommodate your hard-of-hearing customers, ensure you provide the option to email or text.
Do It Right
There is no denying that people who are hard of hearing are a part of your potential customer base. Including this group in your marketing plan will only help to increase your conversion numbers and expand your client base.
As outlined in the guide, you need to be deliberate about making your digital signage marketing inclusive for the hearing impaired. Use closed captioning, transcribe videos, deploy more interactive kiosks and diversify your contact options to reach this audience. In itself, digital signage is powerful for marketing, but with some adjustments, you can reach and include customers who are hard of hearing.
