Digital Signage Strategies to Help You Keep It Fresh
One of the most important (and fun) aspects of your digital signage strategies should be keeping your content fresh and interesting.
If your content never changes, your audience will eventually stop paying attention. However, that doesn’t mean you need to start from scratch every time.
You can refresh your content by simply swapping in new images, changing the layout, or adding motion.
But beware of falling into the trap of using generic “wallpaper” content just to have something new on-screen.
This type of content is easy to ignore and won’t help promote your brand. Instead, focus on creating content that speaks directly to your audience and reinforces your brand message.
To keep your audience engaged, try varying the length of your messaging. Most messages should be on-screen for around 10 seconds, but for more complex information, break it up with shorter, simpler slides.
Design Effectively
Effective digital signage design is all about maximizing visual appeal and readability.
Here are some key principles to keep in mind:
Resolution and Aspect Ratio:
Make sure your content matches your screen’s resolution and aspect ratio. Stretched or squashed content looks unprofessional and can be hard to read.
Font Choice:
Choose easy-to-read sans serif fonts like Helvetica, and avoid using more than two fonts per slide. Be mindful of font tone and style, as a heavy black letter font might look out of place on a summer sale advertisement.
Colors:
Pair dark text with light backgrounds and use the color wheel to choose complementary or analogous colors. Stick to using no more than three colors, with one dominant color and the others for contrast and accent.
Composition:
Use the rule of thirds to achieve asymmetrical balance, placing important elements near the intersection of the lines. Consider using a simple, clean layout with one-third of the space dedicated to an image and the other two-thirds for neutral background with text.
Motion:
Use motion sparingly to grab the eye and draw attention to key elements without distracting from the message. Avoid using too much moving text, and consider using slow pans over static images or steady shots of slightly moving scenes.
Readability:
Keep your message brief and to the point, using as few words as possible. Make sure your content is large enough to be read from a reasonable distance, and consider accessibility by using strong contrasts and avoiding white-on-black text.
Use Data-Driven Content
Data-driven content is content that is based on real data and analytics.
By using data to inform your digital signage strategy, you can create content that is tailored to your audience’s interests and preferences.
Ways to use data-driven content:
Analyzing website analytics to determine what products or services are most popular, and creating content that highlights them.
Conducting surveys or polls to gather information on your audience’s demographics, interests, and preferences and using that information to create content that speaks directly to them.
Using social media listening tools to monitor what your audience is saying about your brand, and create content that addresses their concerns or interests.
By using data-driven content, you can create digital signage that is more relevant and engaging to your audience, increasing the chances that they will pay attention to and act on your message.
Give your Viewer a Job
When using digital signage, it’s important to include a call-to-action to direct customers to take a specific action in response to the message on-screen.
This can be anything from downloading an app to taking advantage of a deal, but it must be clear and compelling to be effective.
To create a compelling call to action, it’s important to consider your audience and choose a method of action that will be most appealing to them.
You should also make it easy for viewers to take action by clearly listing the steps they need to follow and incentivize action by making the benefit of following the call-to-action obvious.
In addition, your call-to-action doesn’t have to serve just one purpose – consider including a secondary purpose, but be careful not to add too many steps.
When choosing your words, use action verbs and trigger words that will catch the viewer’s attention, and keep the message short and simple.
Finally, make sure the call-to-action is visible and stands out on the screen.
Integrate your Dynamic Content
Utilize your social media accounts for fresh content and a unique voice. Display a live or curated feed on your digital signage using custom modules.
This fosters customer loyalty and reminds visitors of your social media presence, potentially leading to new followers and expanded reach.
Include your handle and a QR code or link for easy following.
Add other live content such as news feeds, sports scores, infotainment, and other dynamic content using tickers or portions of your screen layout to help keep things fresh and interesting.
Consider using a third party such as Seenspire to help you add curated and licensed content to your screens.
Another example of some digital signage strategies for dynamic content is utilizing dashboards to showcase your internal company metrics on your big screen.
Help get your employees motivated and help them stay on track by providing them with real-time company metrics.
Check and Double-Check
Double-check all content for errors and accuracy to avoid embarrassing mistakes. Mistakes will stand out more in minimal text slides.
Read through your content and have someone else read through it to make sure there are no grammatical or spelling errors.
Ensure that you do not direct customers to the wrong location or provide incorrect information, as this can result in missed sales opportunities and confusion for customers.
To create effective digital signage strategies, keep content fresh and interesting by updating images, layouts, and motion while avoiding generic “wallpaper” content.
Focus on visually appealing and readable designs, adhering to key principles such as resolution, aspect ratio, font choice, color selection, composition, motion, and readability.
Utilize data-driven content based on analytics, surveys, and social media listening to tailor content to your audience’s interests.
Incorporate clear and compelling calls to action and integrate your social media presence to foster customer loyalty and engagement.
Finally, always double-check content for errors and accuracy to maintain professionalism and avoid confusion.
