The great thing about supply and demand is that when things are popular, they often drop in price. Probably the most cited variation of this fact is how mobile phones used to cost an absolute fortune, and nowadays just about everybody has one.
The rule doesn’t always work. For example, modern gen games consoles are wildly popular, but thanks to microchip shortages brought on by an interrupted supply chain and thanks to cryptocurrency miners pushing up the price of GPUs, modern gen consoles are still stupidly expensive.
On the bright side, the cost of digital signs, the hardware, software and services, have never been cheaper. Small businesses can benefit the most from digital signs, so here is a small business guide to digital signage.
Start Very Small
Do not invest in digital signs in a big way. Many times, small businesses buy up several cheap signs without realizing how much work goes into them. Creating content is far more difficult than it first seems. You need to create content that works in tandem with what people are experiencing in your store or at your location. You may think your ads on your digital signs are cutting edge and highly convertible, but they may conflict with the sales you have in your store right now. They may even conflict with what your competitor is doing across the street.
Start small and find a good use for your digital signs. Once you are getting the most benefit from your single sign (and you have suitable content for it), then start investing in more signs and ramping up your digital sign campaign.
Do Not Power Your Signs With Your Computer
It is possible to use a PC tower to power your digital sign, but that method is a little overkill. Other people use a flash drive to play the same content over and over again, but this idea is fraught with problems and leaves your digital sign very underutilized. A good way to make the most of your digital sign is to use something like the Apple TV Digital Signage hardware. It is a digital streaming device from Apple, but instead of streaming TV shows, you stream your content onto your digital signs. You create your content on a computer, but you do the actual streaming with an Apple TV device.
Utility, Branding or Sales
There are several ways you can use your digital signs. Examples of “Utility” include when clothing stores use them to tell people when they can use the checkout or the changing room, or when restaurants use the signs to tell people what is on the menu, or when train stations use them to show you maps or allow you to buy tickets.
Branding is probably one of the most common uses for digital signs. They can do everything from showing fancy graphics with your brand on it, to highlighting areas in your store, or leading people around stores. They may demonstrate your brand through the use of demonstrations, through associative methods, or through instructions on how to use your products in the most efficient manner.
You can make sales with your digital signs if you have the right content. Some companies use digital signs simply to highlight if they have a certain product in stock. They may also show stock levels, current prices, and current waiting times. Sales can be made by using your digital signs the same way you would use sales posters, or you can run ads on your signs, or run demonstrations that show off the many varieties of your product or its variety of functions.
Learn The Best Schedules and Transitions
If you run a sign with just one advertisement or one poster, then you are not using your advert to its full potential. On the other hand, if you run too many ads, then people will lose track. On a similar note, if your ads and videos are too good, then you will have people standing there watching them rather than buying things. You have to strike a balance between grabbing people’s attention, and then convincing them to stop watching.
Quite often, people will stop watching when they think a video has just started its repeat cycle. Make it very clear when one ad ends and when another begins. Also, beware of adding a soundtrack because it will frustrate your staff as they have to listen to the same ads over and over again.
Digital Sign Placement
Where you put your digital signs is going to depend on what you are using them for. If you are looking to sell things by using your digital signs like moving sales posters, then put them in places where people have a hard time avoiding them. You can put them in changing rooms, in shop windows, and near the checkout. Do not put them in the very entrance of your store because you do not want people standing around. Do put them near the products that the videos are selling so that people can finger through your products while they see them being advertised on your digital signs.
