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3 ways to build a better advertising strategy

Average consumers often find advertisements to be annoying and irrelevant. Digital signage, when done properly, can help give advertisements a customer experience makeover.

November 1, 2016 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Marketplace & Food Truck Operator

When I was in college as an advertising major, I would often give presentations for my advertising classes. I would pull up Youtube videos of advertisements to illustrate a particular strategy, but I would often have to skip an annoying advertisement just to get to the main video. The entire class would point out the irony that even as advertising students, we would still get annoyed by ads. If advertising students can't stand ads, then what does that say about your average consumer?

Travelers at the Clapham Common subway station in London sponsored a kickstarter to replace all the advertisements with pictures of cat photos. Travelers were sick of the ads and wanted something a bit more cheerful. The reasons people can't stand advertisements can be narrowed down to three main points:

• Annoying: Customers don't appreciate loud, annoying advertisements they can't get away from.
• Irrelevant: A craft beer enthusiast doesn't care about Bud Light, and a single person doesn't care about diapers.
• Deceitful: With the advent of the internet, it's more difficult to fool the average consumer with a sales pitch.

Digital signage companies have a lot to offer to help advertisers reduce these negatives and pump out more positive advertising, whether in DOOH advertising or in-store displays. There are many advantages to digital signage, but we can narrow them down to three main points:

• Smart content management: With so many tools for remote content management, it's easier than ever to deliver fresh and relevant content to potential customers. You can customize the content based on the time of day, demographics, events and more.
• Get customers engaged with interactivity: JCDecaux recently launched an advertising campaign for Lay's in Spain, where soccer fans got to play with an augmented reality display. Customers could take soccer themed selfies with their favorite team's colors. Interactivity works because it gets the customer engaged.
• Offer public service and information: Digital signage can offer public service during natural disasters and amber alerts by providing information on outdoor billboards to drivers. They can also provide information on other events, such as the latest score of an NFL game.

Customization, interactivity and relevant information are the keys to engaging with customers. Companies around the globe have been working diligently to improve customer experience, since they recognize that customers of today are more informed and they will quickly jump ship to a competitor that offers a better experience. This same principle applies to advertising, especially with consumer's general negativity towards the medium.

Digital signage can help provide the keys to drive better customer experience in advertising.

Image via iStock.

About Bradley Cooper

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Bradley Cooper is the editor of ATM Marketplace and Food Truck Operator. He was previously the editor of Digital Signage Today. His background is in information technology, advertising, and writing.

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