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3 questions to ask before you consider digital signage

Digital signage is exciting. It's a thrill to see your vision come to life on a bright display at a place for everyone to see. However, before you even think about digital signage, you need to ask yourself a few questions.

March 7, 2019 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Marketplace & Food Truck Operator

A few weeks back, we covered eight questions you should ask vendors about their products, but you also need to ask a few questions to yourself about how you intend to measure the success of your digital signage project.

What's my KPIs?

First, you need to understand what are your key performance indicators. These are the metrics you will use to determine if your digital signage campaign is succeeding or falling behind.

You need to figure out what exactly you are going to measure such as:

Impressions.
Conversions (the customer purchases the product).
Brand awareness.
Interaction.
Social media engagement.

If you have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish, you can set a plan in motion to measure your campaign. However, if you just have a fuzzy idea, you should probably wait to buy that expensive display until you are ready.

Where's my content coming from?

Next, you need to consider how are you going to create content for your digital signage. This can involve a lot of step such as:

Establishing the type of content you are going to use (videos, images, interactive, 3-D etc.).
Determining what software to use to create content.
Deciding whether to design content in-house, through a vendor or an agency.
Selecting someone to manage the content regularly.
Understanding your target audience.
Measuring the effectiveness of the content.

It's not enough to simply load up a Powerpoint presentation onto an LCD display and hope for the best. You need to have a clear plan in place on who is going to create the content, manage the content and measure the content's effectiveness.

Are you in it for the long run?

This final question builds on the other two, because it essentially asks, "Are you willing to work on your digital signage over time?"

In order for your digital signage to truly stand out, you need to continue working with it, by updating content, measuring its effectiveness, and possibly upgrading its hardware or software. If you don't do this, the displays will start to look a bit janky and the content won't impress customers.

Digital signage is made up of various building blocks, such as the display, media player, software and analytics that all need to work together to deliver successful campaigns. In other words, digital signage is a long-term investment.

You might be getting discouraged at this point, because digital signage seems like a lot of work. Well, it is a lot of work. But, it can also deliver long-term success that truly boosts your brand and improves overall business. Many businesses have benefited from digital signage, such as a luxury retailer in Sweden and a furniture retailer in the U.S.

If you can answer these questions about digital signage, you are ready to move to the next step: looking for a good vendor. Stay tuned to Digital Signage Today as we'll be offering up tips and insight on making that all-important decision.

Image via Istock.com.

About Bradley Cooper

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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