Digital signage is more important than ever. Any businesses, with a bricks and mortar presence, can benefit from Digital signage. Digital signage is a powerful tool for communication, grabbing attention, educating and even getting new sales from customers.
So many businesses underestimate the benefits that digital signage can bring. This article will take you through a host of reasons why your business should be adding digital signage in 2021. One way to think about digital signage is as an intersection between the physical and digital worlds, making your brick-and-mortar location an extension of the digital experience. Your physical space can improve upon your digital footprint by adding the convenience and tactile experience of a physical store. You are limited only by your imagination. There are endless possibilities for how digital signage can be applied to your space. The team at CommBox strongly recommends that you reach out to a CommBox authorised resellers who can help you explore the ways to use digital to inform, entertain, educate, and communicate with customers in your store. Remember digital signage is perfect in a school environment or in locations where you need to educate and inform your team.
Here is a quick list of some of the ways that signage can be used:
Inform consumers of new releases
Communicate promotions to drive sales
Provide product information
Emergency broadcast and evacuation notifications
Communicate timetables or be a digital noticeboard
Entertain through videos and interactive games
Turn into a touch kiosk
Wayfinding
Provide information about COVID-19 procedures and check ins
Display menus or food specials
Let’s now take a more detailed look at the benefits your organisation could obtain from using digital signage.
1. Customers Can Self Serve
Informed shoppers, who feel like they have the information they need to make a buying decision, become actual customers. For brick-and-mortar businesses, it’s important to ensure that you are providing customers with the information they need to feel comfortable about making a purchase. Strategically placed digital signage and kiosks can help customers to access the product and purchasing information they need without needing to wait for a sales team member assistance. The information accessed via digital signage will be accurate and can also be designed to be engaging.
Imagine a customer grabbing a product off the shelf, scanning a QR code or entering a product code, and in a second they can access all the same information you would on a website. Information like dimensions, instructional videos and customer reviews. You could add buying tips or a questionnaire to help them self-assess if the product is right for them. You could take it one step further and let them pay for it right then and there – no more lining up at the checkout.
You don’t need to rely on your sales team only, to provide your customers an informed shopping experience that converts them from shoppers to buyers. Remember the impact a poor customer experience can have:
2. Team Communication
Keeping everyone on the same page in any size organisation can be hard. Digital signage in hallways, meeting areas, lunchrooms, entrance ways etc help to keep everyone informed. You can keep your team up to date with new product launches, team meetings, changes to HR policies, team building activities, latest news and more.
At CommBox our office is naturally surrounded by screens. We run digital signage constantly. We play videos about our core values, sales targets, current promotion, key product features and more.
3. COVID-19 Compliance + Emergency Information
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought several changes to the way businesses operate. In Australia, customers need to sign in prior to entry. Most businesses have scrappy pieces of paper, paper in plastic stands or paper stuck to the wall to inform customers to sign in. There is a better way that is less messy and more professional. Pop a screen on the wall or stand and customers can scan the digital signage screen. Other COVID safe messages can be added to the screens as well. Subtle reminders can be placed all over your premise, reminding customers and staff to stay COVID safe. And when the pandemic is over one day, these screen with digital signage can be repurposed to show promotional and other important information.
Digital signs are a useful platform for sharing any emergency information. In the event of an emergency, signs can send alert messages throughout a location and direct viewers on how to handle the situation.
4. Displays Can Be Changed At A Moments Notice
One of the key benefits with digital signage over printed signage is how fast you can change your messaging to adapt to new products, current trends or critical alerts and notification.
CommBox Digital signage is cloud based so you can create an ad or notice and deploy it to all locations instantly. Alternatively, you can select just a handful of locations that need to receive that piece of content. Some stores might have offers that are specific just to their customer demographic, so creating specialised content just for that one store is simple and easy. For large corporates or global brands, you can control your branding from one central location, on the cloud. This ensures that the brand’s identity is consistent across touch points.
So, while one of the benefits of digital signage is the capability to quickly implement new sales, offers, and products, it’s also the best way to keep your brand consistent across different locations. The concept works in reverse, too. Companies can quickly pull offers completely or retool their marketing efforts without going through the lengthy – and costly – process of removing traditional displays and creating new ones to replace them.
5. Show The Right Message At The Right Time
Business don’t have to manually trigger updates to the screens.
By using CommBox rule-based software, one of the benefits of digital signage is that you can program your displays to change throughout the day. This isn’t possible with traditional forms of signage – or at least not very convenient.
Many will have seen this in action at McDonalds. The signage boards that show the menu automatically update from the breakfast to the all-day menu after 10am. Rule-based software can also be used to decide which displays will show which type of content. So, in a retail location, different screens throughout the store could display different ads for the upcoming price changes.
This functionality also works well for schools. Show the before school activity reminders first thing in the morning, in the lead up to recess show recess activities and at lunchtime, show the canteen menu. This can be taken further, show messaging important to Year 7 in the corridors they walk through between classes or show different contact in the school entrance way for parents during drop off and pick up times.
CommBox signage has scheduling built in and it’s simple and easy to use.
6. More Attention From Passersby
Anyone living in a major Australian city will have seen the change real estate agents have made to shopfront signage to showcase properties for sale. The high NIT (brightness) of these screens grab your attention. Displays with digital signage can be used to attract passersby who may otherwise have never entered a brick-and-mortar business. While any type of display may attract attention – traditional signs, product displays, mannequins, etc. – digital signage has a very powerful advantage: it can leverage motion (they can play engaging video or movement can be added to photos. This is one of the reasons digital signs capture an average of more than 400% more views than that of static signs.
7. Greater Recall and Retention Rates
The goal for many in-store ads is just to get customers to take action right away: place an order, make a purchase, or follow some other kind of direction. However, other times, the goal is to let shoppers know about upcoming events – sales, promotions, in-store appearances, etc. When the display utilizes video, one of the benefits of digital signage is that it results in higher recall compared to static ads. The increase isn’t some small amount, either.
When the effects of digital billboards were studied, 83% of people recalled at least one ad they were shown over the past 30 days. 65% recalled 2 and nearly half – 47% – recalled 3.
Some stats, one-in-five people talk about the ad they saw on a digital billboard with someone else – spreading the information to people who may otherwise have never known about it. We know this is due to the combination of display movement, graphics, and content. Content, arguably, also plays a significant role in recall and retention. Check out our next blog article on why its not just the technology but also the content.
8. Increase Engagement + Happiness
You can use digital signage to entertain customers that need to wait for products or services. This has created the perception of reduced wait times. Think about the times you have a waited in a doctor’s surgery. If the surgery provided engaging and informative content that captured your attention, the time you sit waiting is faster. Audiences are more likely to engage with content that is targeted to their needs and wants.
There are also bunch of other additional benefits that can also be considered in your decision to proceed with digital signage:
Signage can improve the appearance of your shop, store, or office. Your location will look more modern, technically-savvy, and professional
Make money from allowing other businesses to promote themselves to your customers
Reduce the costs of replacing printed signage for each new promotion
Motivate staff with inspirational words, leader boards or rewards
If you would like to explore digital signage further reach out to the sales team at CommBox…