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Engagement is primary for digital signage

Engaged employees display higher productivity, do more to add to profitability and deliver customer satisfaction, and digital signage can be the medium to engage them.

December 29, 2014 by Sean Matthews — President & CEO, Visix, Inc.

Gallup's State of the American Workplace study shows that companies who engage employees have higher productivity, profitability, and customer satisfaction. They also have lower turnover and absenteeism, and fewer safety incidents. With this kind of proven bottom-line impact, it's important that we focus on digital signage engagement instead of just messaging.

According to the Gallup study…

Thirty percent of the U.S. workforce is engaged in their work, and the ratio of engaged to actively disengaged employees is roughly two to one, meaning that the vast majority of U.S. workers (70 percent) are not reaching their full potential — a problem that has significant implications for the economy and the individual performance of American companies … Engagement has a greater impact on performance than corporate policies and perks.

Your digital signs are competing with a lot of stimuli and daily distractions for your audience. In order to engage, your content has to stand out and grab attention. Not only that, but it has to have some way to connect and motivate viewers to interact with the information in some way.

Uniqueness

People are more likely to notice something if it's out of the ordinary. Although you may want to incorporate brand standards to coordinate colors or templates for digital signage messages, you need to leave room for creativity and distinctiveness in communications. If you have a message that needs to stand out – make it do just that. Design a unique and stimulating message so your audience will notice and remember it. However, keep in mind that if you do this for every visual, your important messages will get lost in the crowd again.

Personalization

Although it's not practical to tailor messages to each viewer, you can reach out to viewer types or groups that you've classified for certain communications. If you're advertising student events, be sure to use keywords and visuals that appeal to that age group, or include popular social media content. If you're working on an employee benefits campaign, use emotional triggers like family photos or a retirement home on the beach. You'll get more attention and retention if people connect on a personal or emotional level with your message.

Participation

Sometimes you may have more success telling part of the story than all of it. Audiences like to be part of the narrative. You can let them join in by delivering messages that prompt them to ask questions or seek out more information. Sometimes a teaser is better than a text-crowded announcement. Prompt people to go to a website or touch the screen — any call to action to get them to engage with the content and participate in the story.

About Sean Matthews

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A veteran of the visual communications industry, Sean Matthews is the president and CEO of Visix, Inc., a company that provides content management software, award-winning content and room sign solutions to help organizations communicate better.

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